Banjaras rally to assert right to trade in cattle without fear

JAIPUR: For the first time, a large number of people from the traditionally nomadic Banjara community gathered at Rajsamand to protest the October 4 attack on members of the community by self-proclaimed ‘cow protectors’. Many in the nearly 1,000-strong gathering had arrived from neighbouring districts like Bhilwara, Dungarpur, Banswada, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh.A large number of activists from around the country were also present.
Paras Banjara, a young leader of the community, opened the discussions at the public hearing, outside the old Collectorate. Bhanwar Meghwanshi of People’s Union for Civil Liberties said no matter how hard the traditionally nomadic community attempted to prove that it was part of the Hindu fold it would never be completely accepted. “We must stop striving to be part of a group that has no room for us,” he said, urging the Banjaras to strike out on their own and assert their rights.
A participant in the public hearing, Prakash Banjara, spoke of how cattle trade had come under stress with the mechanization of agriculture. With fewer oxen in use for ploughing and sowing seeds, there were fewer takers for oxen. “We have been reduced to selling woolen blankets and other things to eke out a livelihood,” he said.
Speakers talked of how the traditional nomadic lifestyle was no longer possible, under changed circumstances. Many Banjaras had now come to settle in lands that they have no claim to. Banjaras have no titles to the lands that they have settled down in, and live precariously, in fear of being turned out or evicted, speakers said.
Paul Diwakar, general secretary of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights said, “This is not a struggle of the Banjaras alone but of the whole of India.”
The mass gathering was called after the October 4 attack on a group of Banjaras at Relmagra village of Rajsamand. The Banjaras had been transporting cattle they had bought at a fair but were set upon by extortionists who allegedly struck under the guise of being ‘cow vigilantes’. The Banjaras refused to part with Rs5,000 that the men demanded, and their vehicle was damaged. Two men sustained fractures in the attack. Many Banjaras later said that extortion had become quite the norm, and that those practising the cattle trade now lived in fear.
The Banjaras demanded that false cases of cruelty to animals and cattle smuggling that had been foisted on members of their group be withdrawn; they told the government that if cattle trade cannot be conducted peacefully, then the cattle meals that the government holds should just be stopped. Banjaras can no longer sustain their traditional nomadic lifestyle and should be given lands that they can farm. Procedures should also be put in place to allow Banjaras to continue trading in cattle without being assaulted or intimidated.
Jagdish Jingar of the state animal husbandry department was present at the gathering and assured the Banjaras that the government was committed to putting in place procedures to ensure that cattle trade remained safe.
Earlier, activists of the Suchna Evum Rozgar Abhiyan had met officials in the home and animal husbandry department to apprise them of the fears of the Banjara community. Mukesh Goswami, who was part of the group of activists who engaged with officials in Jaipur, said the state government had offered assurances that the problems of the Banjaras would be speedily addressed. “Measures will be put in place to ensure that the cattle are not meant for slaughter and police will be roped in to take care of those harassing traders,” he said.