Discrimination against Indians in Mumbai

While Indians were raving and ranting about the discrimination against Bhajji in Down under by the natives, Mumbaikars had to face one too.

The almost riots like situation on Sunday, Feb. 3 - 2008, came as a rude shock to the residents of Mumbai. Especially those who are from North India. It is no longer an issue of being an Indian and a non-Indian. But this has been decentralised and come to the very core of being an Indian.

Raj Thackeray and his party (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) members have created chaos in Mumbai suburbs. Raj Thackeray made controversial comments against north-Indians and Amitabh Bachan is particular. He voiced out his belief that maharashtrians were being discriminated against when it came to jobs and other amenities. The northies seem to be all over Mumbai, making it their 'earning' home, but not accepting it full-heartedly.
This entire fiasco was more of a political propoganda and an attempt to woo the 'true mumbaikars'.

It is an expected thing that when the Big B is bad-mouthedc his extended family, Amar Singh - member of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has to come to his 'adopted' brother's rescue. And this is what happened. Amar Singh too indulged in a verbal spat with Thackeray, turning it into a violent clash between the two parties.

MNS attaked a theatre playing a Bhojpuri film and pelted Big B's house with liqour bottles in the wee hours of monday morning.

Thackeray should be told that what the mumbaikars really want is a state that has amenities to provide like water, efficient drainage systems during the rain, adequate housing amongst a few. Rather than indulging in verbal and violent games.

How does it matter if Big B is building a school in Up, if he is so concerned about the lack of education facilities in Mumbai - why doesn't he build one? But NO that is that the issue that he fought on. For him it was a case of people earning in Mumbai but spending in their home town. He claims they are not 'Mumbaikars' at heart.

What does he have to say about those 'Mumbaikars' who are maharashtrians, but not living in their home-town? They are not supporting the city in any way what so ever. They are spending in the cities/countries that they have adopted as home. Should they be called 'mumbaikars'?? Should they be allowed to come back to Mumbai if they wanted to??

On what basis is Thackeray discriminating against north-Indians? Should the other states too start treating the migrated-mumbaikars the way MNS has? Shall we all ask them to pack up their bags and return to their city?

If we start discriminating on people on the basis of inter-state, then where will India stand in the global community? We were dividing people on the basis of religion and caste. Are we now going to adopt the policy of discriminating against people on the basis of which state they come from?

The combination of caste + religion + inter-state is going to be a lethal one that could cause repercussions far and wide.

I love Laloo Prasad Yadav's response when Thackeray asked the obnoxious question, "Why are the Railways full of Biharis? Are Maharashtrians less able?"

"Localisation will not be tolerated in an era of globalisation!" Laloo retorted.

Yes, I completely agree with Laloo.

Pattas no panacea: Irula sore with leaky roofs

Watery settlement: The 165 Irula houses in Kalaignar Nagar, constructed by the government with the help of NGO CREED, have rain water stagnation. This is due to the lack of proper drainage system provided at the settlement.

Cuddalore: The 165 Irula families, living in the Kalaingar Nagar of the Killai Block for the past three decades, are now burdened with maintenance and, electricity bills, health problems due to stagnant water and the lack of drinking water, thanks largely to post-tsunami housing programme. Earlier, they were living in kachcha houses made of thatched roofs and mud walls.

The Government and the Centre for Rural Education and Economic Development (CREED), and NGO completed the construction of these 165 houses, over six acres of land, by the end of 2006. The Irulas were also given pattas (land deeds) for their houses. Each housing unit is built over an area of 350 square feet at the cost of Rs 1.5 lakh, consisting of a small room that is also used as a common room, a kitchen, bed room and an attached toilet cum bathroom.

Block Development Officer (BDO) of Portonovo, P. Natarajan said, “This community was a second line victim of the tsunami. Water seeped into their houses, destroying them. We sought this opportunity to build houses for them.”

While the settlement, from a distance looks like a neat row of houses with cement roads, a closer look reveals stagnant water and a lack of a drainage. Residents complain of mosquitoes and other insects. A kilometer into the settlement and the cement road ends with 40 houses and the primary school where the Irula children study, without access. A resident, Rani, said, “We have asked both the government and the NGO repeatedly to complete the road on this stretch. They do not pay any heed to us. During the rains our children have to walk through the muddy waters to go to school.” Not surprisingly, most children skip school during heavy rains.The interior of the houses is also in a pathetic condition. Each house was provided with one bulb and one tube light, but in most cases either one or both do not work. A fisherman residing here, Ramalinga, said, “We are provided with electricity only from 6 pm to 10 am everyday. I have taken the bulb from the entrance of my house and fixed it inside as the tube light does not work.”

In addition are problems like leaking ceilings during the rains - a result of the poor maintenance of the houses. People complain they do not earn enough to feed themselves and cannot afford repairs. Another resident, Pushpa, said, “My husband earns only Rs 50 a day by selling fish. We barely have enough to feed our children. Adding to that they (the government) expects us to pay for the maintenance? Why can’t they do it?”

An anthropology student freelancing with CREED, Stefan Inglin, said, “While building the houses, the government did not consult the residents. They did not think of how the people would maintain the houses. They just built the houses with the intention of giving the Irulas a house.” He further added, “Even though the Irulas were given bulbs and tube lights, they have to foot the electricity bill.”

The Irulas refuse to use the toilets attached to their houses as they believe that the water used in the toilets is what they would get for their other household chores like cooking, drinking. The Director of CREED, Nadanasabhapathy, said, “We have provided them with two septic tanks, yet they refuse to use the toilets. What can we do?”

Drinking water is another problem that the community faces. Every house has been provided with a hand pump, but not all work. For every four water pumps, only one is functioning. People have to use their neighbours’ pumps. Rani said, “We have told the panchayat president innumerable times about this problem, but nothing has been done to solve it.” Neither the BDO nor the NGO commented on this. Nadanasabhapathy said, “Ensuring continuous water supply is not our job. The Panchayat has to do something about it.”

Being given a patta for their house has not solved the problem of the Irula tribe, instead, it has raised more complicated issues of maintenance and basic amenities.

Samiyarpettai’s fishing woes

Fishy tale: (From left) Rajendra, Subramani, Narayana and Vella, fishermen in Samiyar Pettai, removing their day's catch of Sardines from the fishing nets. Rajendra's mother Kasima (sitting in the centre) sorts the fishes for sale.

Samiyar Pettai: “I want my son to study and earn a better living than me, but I have no money. The banks refuse to give us loans, as we do not have any collateral. We are helpless,” said Subramani, a 55-year-old fisherman. Lack of money for education coupled with the problem of dwindling fish catch is cause of concern for the fishing community in Samiyar Pettai. Many of the fishermen are in debt.

Samiyar Pettai is a small fishing hamlet in the Portonovo block in Cuddalore, with a population of 2215. During the tsunami 24 lives were lost along with boats, motors and fishing nets. The fishermen were given token amounts of Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 by the government, but this was not enough to piece their lives back together. It’s been three years since the tsunami struck this village but the government refuses to pay heed to the villagers’ problems.

Rajendra, a 54-year-old fisherman said, “I lost my boat and nets during the tsunami. The government gave us boats but no motors. I am using my old motor. The amount given for our nets were not sufficient. We had to pay from our own pockets.” A new engine would approximately cost him Rs 40,000, which he said was unaffordable. He added, “We do not catch enough fish to even pay for our diesel. We earn Rs 50 per day and our monthly income is Rs 2000. We are in debt to meet our diesel costs.” Due to this a few fishermen prefer taking their thoni (small wooden boats traditionally used by fishermen) as it means lesser fuel costs.

Nahgayam is 50-years-old and she sells her husband’s catch in the market. She said, “The last two days we got good catch and we earned Rs 100 a day. But during the storms, when the sea is rough, the men cannot venture out and hence we do not earn for days.” She also added that during the 45-day ban imposed by the government between March and April, the fishermen are deprived of their livelihood. They do not have any alternative work during this period. The fisher folk are left with no choice but to dry the fish caught previously and sell the dried fish. Some of them make fish pickle, but the market for this is not very good.

The fishermen do not want their children to take up their profession, as they see no future in it. They are doing all they can to ensure that their children get good education. Even this is a burden for many, as they do not have the money to educate their children beyond the XII Std. Subramani, who took over his father’s thoni at the age of 15 said, “My son is studying in the XII Std. I want him to do engineering, but colleges are demanding Rs. 5 lakh just for reserving a seat. Other fees are additional.” He lamented that he could not get any loans from banks, as he had no collateral.

Four hundred fisher folk like Nahgayam have registered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA). But this too has its own problems, as the fisher folk are allotted work irregularly. They work in the mornings at the NREGA site and come back by three in the afternoon. After which they eat and go fishing in the sea by six in the evening. But there are also fishermen like Rajendra and Vella who say that digging up roads and desilting ponds was not what their forefathers did and hence neither would they. Despite the problems faced by them while fishing, they are adamant about not doing any onshore work like digging. Rajendra emphasised, “We are not educated and hence there is no chance of us getting another job. But we will not do manual work.”