WUNRN
Women’s
Feature Service
India
- Illiterate Muslim Woman Turns a River's Fury into
It was in the aftermath of the Kosi floods in Bihar in 2008
that Kulsum Khatum, an illiterate Muslim woman from a backward caste,
discovered leadership qualities within herself - she formed a group of
10 women, who started an informal co-operative business. (Credit: Bula
Devi\WFS)
By Bula Devi
Sirwar,
It was in these
dismal circumstances that Kulsum Khatum, an illiterate Muslim woman, discovered
leadership qualities within herself.
Trapped as they were
from the river's destruction, local people understood that earning a livelihood
became the first issue they needed to tackle for their survival. Kulsum formed
a group of 10 women. They jointly decided that instead of falling back on their
traditional sources of income generation - which was fruit and vegetable
vending - they would adopt a more innovative and contemporary approach. A loan
of Rs 25,000 (US$1=Rs 44.6) was sought from the government and with that money
a small-scale business cooperative was launched.
The first thing the
women did with the money was to buy five goats. The livestock was carefully
tended by the women and within a short space of time the goats gave birth. The
women then sold the kids and, with that shared money, each of them was able to
pay Rs 50 per month towards the repayment of their loan. They had to pay back
only Rs 15,000, since the government waived the rest of the amount. "That
was how we helped our families live through the most difficult crisis they had
ever faced," recalls Bhawani Devi, 35, a member of Kulsum's group.
Kulsum belongs to the extremely backward Rayeen caste. She had all the disadvantages of being an illiterate woman living in an impoverished, male chauvinistic society. Fortunately, she was also marked by a strong sense of optimism and a determination to persevere against the odds.
Today, despite the
class and caste consciousness that marks rural
Sitting under the
thatched roof in a mud hut, about a kilometre away from the Kosi river, Kulsum
holds informal meetings regularly with the women of the village and tries to
infuse the spirit of unity among them so that they, in turn, can fight for
their rights. "Unless we stand up together like the five fingers of our
fist we will never get justice; we will always remain weak and be oppressed by
corrupt people," she tells them, while suggesting ways to resolve
problems.
The women in the
village are illiterate but in terms of articulating their points of view, they
can surpass even experienced, city-bred politicians. Near Kulsum's thatched
home is a big concrete school compound. The apathy the school authorities
demonstrated on a long pending promise to construct the first floor of the
school building had become a contentious issue between them and the villagers.
One morning, when
some important functionaries were to visit the school, Kulsum and others
collected at the compound and gheraoed the authorities. "If the 'sahibs'
can weave dreams for their children, so can we," said 40-year-old Ghurni
Devi from Kulsum's women brigade. When pleading didn't help and before the
situation could turn ugly, the school officials assured the women that they
would attend to their promise. Now the floor is being constructed, albeit
slowly. Now not only will more children be accommodated in the local school, if
the Kosi was to flood again, at least the people here will have a safe place to
take refuge instead of fashioning some precarious perch for themselves or
run towards the railway tracks, which
are generally built on an elevated area.
There were other
important concerns too, like the poor availability of foodgrains. For some time
now people were forced to buy their rations from the open market because the
local dealer of the Public Distribution System constantly turned them away on
the pretext that stocks had not come in. The government gives each family 12
coupons in a year to get rations every month from the PDS outlet. But so poor
was the distribution system that on an average 24 tokens per family over a
period of two years remained unused, although they were kept very safely.
Ultimately the struggle for rations became so unbearable that local women, led
by Kulsum, mobilised the villagers and hired a boat to reach the district
magistrate's office in Saharsa town which is within Saharsa district.
But once they reached
there, they found they could not meet the official. So desperate were they by
this stage, they gheraoed his vehicle instead, displaying their unused tokens
as evidence of their lack of access to their rations. They then threatened to
commit suicide if action was not taken. The panicky staffers at the district
magistrate's office hurried to reassure them of appropriate measures.
Recalls Kulsum,
"Later someone told us to move the court to get justice on the issue.
Subsequently we even hired a lawyer in the town and paid him Rs 1,500 to file a
case in the court. But we realised soon enough the futility of the effort
because it was not cost effective in the long run. So we decided to focus on
continuing to raise the demand in the district magistrate's office. Eventually
the dealer was changed."
In fact, since their
agitation, the PDS department has replaced three of its dealers and the
villagers have so far got oil for four months and rice for two months against
their tokens. Although they are supposed to get these rations every month, the
village women are satisfied that their glass is at least a quarter full!
But Kulsum has her
share of challenges. While the women of the village back her fully, she is yet
to win the hearts and minds of the men in male dominated Sirwar. Her strong,
articulate voice is not always welcome to the village men. Middle aged Shravan
Kumar, on hearing her speak to her colleagues to assert their rights, shrugs
off the suggestion and taunts, "What does she want? She wants to become the
rashtrapati (president of
Kulsum knows that
patience and preparation are the only way to address problems in the long term.
This is a lesson she has learnt over her years of social activism since the
Kosi floods. And it is a good lesson to have learned, given that there is
always the possibility that the meandering River Kosi could displace them yet
again.
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