Against violation of right to livelihood
Snakes and snake charmers have always evoked curiosity in India.
For over two decades,Raktim Das has studied life and culture of the nomadic tribe of snake charmers
Snakes and snake charmers have always evoked curiosity in India. Like many others,Raktim Das in his childhood was also awed by their charm and he used to spend hours,often missing his school,to watch snake charmers making serpents dance. Today 38-year-old Raktim Das is an authority over snakes and snake charmers and has also become their voice.
What makes Raktim Das stand apart is his knowledge about the life and culture of the snake charmers,the acceptance he has found in the tribe and the fight he has waged for their rights.
He possesses startling facts about snake charmers,a nomadic community spread across the length and breadth of India,known by different names: Bedia in Bengal,Kher in Orissa,Sapera in North India and Mahar in Maharashtra. According to Das,who has spent over two decades with snake charmers,there are about 8 lakh snake charmers in India and about 1 lakh in Bengal.
There are 43 khoms or different types of communities of snake charmers which are involved in selling honey,selling bangles,making tatoos on skins. Some of them also make their livelihood by showing magic tricks and dressing up as gods and goddesses.
According to Das,snake charmers use a distinct language to communicate among each other. This dialect known as Mangta (to beg) also has a script as Das argues that snake charmers’ ancestors were spies who worked for kings. They follow the beliefs of both Hinduism and Islam and often in one family there could be people following different faiths.
Nowadays,the tribe has started settling in places like Baruipur in South 24 Parganas,Bishnupur in Bankura and Malda and Murshidabad.
Das says with the changing times,particularly after the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 which outlawed snake charming,this is fast becoming a dying art and slowly their culture and language are on the wane.
“If tribals have a right to forests,snake charmers should have a right to possess and handle snakes,” Das says.
He says the tribe can play a role in spreading awareness about snakes and also helping the medical tribe treat snake bites.
Moreover,if the tribe is allowed to sell venom,its socio-economic condition will improve.
In February 2009,he persuaded the snake charmers across the country to come under the banner of Bedia Federation of India at Moulali Yuva Kendra. On February 17,2010 about 15,000 snake charmers from the country held a demonstration demanding their rights. Following the efforts by Das to unite the snake charmers of India,some other groups have also come up in neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal.
Das says it is most important the tribe should have a right to livelihood.
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