Residing in the jungles nestled along the Indo-Nepal border, the Tharus are looking for a change in their fortunes this election. Even though living off the land is part of their life, but now they want roads, schools and a hospital so that their children no longer die of diseases like malaria.
With a minuscule population of around 41,000, the identity of this conservative clan, indigenous to the Terai, is limited to a souvenir shop in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Though the man-animal conflict is part of their daily life, they still wander in the core zone of the jungle looking for timber and herbs, fishing and protecting their area from poachers. Earlier, the Tharus never took the elections seriously, but this time they will vote for their rights.
“Jab Bharrah jawaab de deta hai, tab humein Nepal ya phir Palia jana padta hai mareez ko lekar. Kharab sadak ke chalte der lag jaati hai aur raat mein janvaron ka khatra rehta hai. (In case of a medical emergency that the witch doctor can’t handle, we either go to Nepal or Palia for treatment. This takes time as most of the villages don’t have a proper road and we cannot travel at night because of the fear of animals),” said Ram Bhajan Khatharia of Pichlapurva.
Being a land-owning tribe, Tharus manage to procure their own food and livestock. What they want from the next Government in Delhi, which most of the village heads predict would be BJP-led, are better roads that will lessen their dependence on the forest.
“Neta humare khet toh jot nahi denge, aur na hi aspatal mein baith kar humara illaj karange, kam se kam sadak hi sahi karva dein. Har baar beh jaati hai, aur ek mobile tower lagva dein. (Politicians will not till our land, nor will they treat us in the hospitals. The least they can do is get the roads fixed as they get washed away during the rains. Also, we need a cellular tower to improve connectivity in this area),” said Hardwai Singh Rana of Poya hermitage.
According to Rana of Poya Village, while the voter turnout is low in their area, people are taking the lok Sabha elections seriously as they are fed up of being ignored by the Government.In this cluster of over 30 villages, every second child wants to join the Army and hates the Forest Department officials who ask them to stay out of the National Park area.
laxmi Devi of Belaparsua, the biggest Gram Sabha, advocates giving a good education to the children. “A few months ago, people from the Border Area Development department got the consent of our people to build a road that connects Belaparsua to Chandanchawki, through their land. Our people are uneducated and they gave their thumb impression thinking that it was an application for compensation for the damage caused by the floods. But it was actually a consent letter for using our lands for the road. The problem is lack of education. The Government cheated us because we are uneducated and we signed on the dotted line,” said laxmi Devi who is the pradhan of the village.
There are some defunct Government schools, a primary health centre sans a doctor and connectivity with the rest of the world is poor. Officials seldom visit the area. “Earlier we never took elections seriously. But this time we want change. We want development in our area so we will vote this time,” said the pradhan with a determined look on her face.