0:09
TITLE:
INDIA
From dreams to despair
0:25
A look behind the curtain
1:09
A film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
1:11
TEXT:
We are illegally visiting one of the many iron-ore mines in northern Orissa, India. With us are members of the KIRDTI - a human rights organization that gives a voice to the adivasis, the original inhabitant of India. This land belongs to them: under Indian law, nobody is supposed to acquire the adivasis’ land. But it happens, again and again.
1:35
Their land is ruined and the pollution makes them sick. Their livelihood is destroyed.
1:46
Interview
Duskar Barik
KIRDTI Founder
/// IN ENGLISH ///
2:34
That’s about the equivalent of just 20 euros. This a lot of money for families like widow Raghu Juanga’s - she lives on handouts. 20 years ago, her husband received a small loan from a moneylender. Most loans come with exorbitant interest rates. Her husband never managed to pay back the money. Even before he died, the lender took possession of their land –only about one hectare.
3:09
The house is all she had left.
3:20
Interview
Raghu Juanga
Farmer
For 5 years I have been trying to get back the land. The villagers have been supporting me - they even harvested all the crops - but the moneylender came with his people, and took the majority of the harvest back. The courts have to decide, because the land is mine.
3:42
Since a Maoist movement formed among the adivasis in 1967, they rarely get government help. At the time, the farmers were fighting against large estate owners. Anyone suspected of being a sympathizer was sent straight to prison.
4:01
Interview
Kanderam Hemran
Farmer
It was horrible. For 2 ½ years, I was in jail. After being beaten, I signed a confession saying I belonged to the Maoist Naxalites, but that’s not true. I just work for the KIRDTI human rights organization.
4:18 OFF and ON
Interview
Duskar Barik
KIRDTI Founder
/// IN ENGLISH ///
4:51
Duskar Barik himself had to go into hiding after being warned about the police. Several activists from the KIRDTI organization were thrown into jail and only released over 3 years later. India has an anti-terrorism law that even allows for the use of the death penalty.
5:10
For Kanderam and his family, the past few years have been terrible. Even his own father was suspected of conspiring with him. The police beat him because he wouldn’t stop asking questions about his son’s arrest.
5:30
His wife Santi had to find work in other households to earn some money. The villagers helped her by thatching the roof and donating groceries. The government runs a food distribution system for the poorest of the poor, so that they have access to rice and oil at lower prices. Without it, Santi would not have managed to feed her 3 children.
5:55
However, they could no longer go to school: the family couldn’t afford the uniforms and books.
6:04
Interview
Santi Hemran
Farmer
I didn’t know when and if my husband would get out of jail. The children had malaria and I didn’t have enough money to pay for the treatment. Luckily, the villagers were on our side.
6:18
Interview
Kanderam Hemran
KIRDTI Activist
I educate people about their rights. But the police do not respect my work. This is the biggest obstacle I have ever had in my life. I have to be careful because the police are still watching me.
6:37
Those in power hardly welcome the adivasis’ fight against mining. Here, they succeeded in having a court bring the excavations to a halt. They show us how the environment was degraded. The mine operators believe that these hills contain bauxite deposits worth several billion dollars. The adivasis accuse the government of only supporting the interests of the rich, at the same time exploiting the poor, to whom nature and forests are sacred.
7:15
Over the last century, many of India’s adivasis were forcibly resettled, to make way for dams and mines. Now they are forming groups, joining forces to put a stop to this exploitation of nature, to fight back and defend their homelands.
7:34
Awareness campaigns by human rights organizations play an important role, as most adivasis are illiterate. This has made them easy prey over the centuries. The groups gather regularly to share information over a meal. If India’s original inhabitants are to be pulled out of poverty, access to education and information about their rights will be crucial.
(Leave free)
8:15
Katendai Juanga had never heard of property rights before. She estimates that she is about 60 years old – she isn’t certain of her exact age. But she does know she has spent half her life fighting to recover her 8 hectares. According to a moneylender, her husband had run up such high debts that he lost his claim to their fields. When he died, she had to force her oldest son into bonded labour. Otherwise, they all would have starved to death.
8:55
Interview
Usha Juang
Son
My brother was bonded for 5 years. My mother received 3,000 rupees for him a year. We had to search for edible roots and tubers in the forest; we had to depend on what nature gave us.
9:09
3,000 rupees amount to approximately 40 Euros. Life was so dire that Katendai Juanga essentially had to sell her son – there was no choice.
9:19
India’s original inhabitants have gained little from India’s economic development over the past few decades. According to the UN, more than 300 million Indians have to survive on less than 1 dollar per day. To earn a little extra money, Katendai assembles baskets and sews plates from dried leaves.
9:43
Interview
Katendai Juanga
Farmer
It is awful to have to send your son away, but how was I supposed to feed 4 children? My husband never talked about money with me. Maybe the moneylender lied. But now I have my land back and am happy.
9:58
The adivasis are protesting against a new seed law that will benefit the multinational company Monsanto. It requires seed to be registered with the authorities, so that crops can be more effectively cleared for sale. The laws favour large companies, not small farmers. “Water, forest, land and seed are our rights,” say protesters’ banners.
10:38
Elvira Greiner is president of Germany’s Andheri Hilfe, which lends support to Indian organizations that help people regardless of their caste or religion.
10:47
Interview
Elvira Greiner
Andheri Hilfe President
We wouldn’t even think of running a project ourselves. Because it shouldn’t be us - German know-it-alls - telling them how to do things. The Indians have a lot of knowledge, and they have wonderful and committed people. They are the ones who can bring about these changes - for their own people, in their own country. Our mission is simply to kick-start theirs, so they can achieve this. But we would never presume to tell people what to do. And there are so many delicate subjects. Take, for instance, the issue of the adivasis having their land taken away. Our partner organization in India (the KIRDTI) has faced massive problems. They were accused of being Maoists, since the kind of awareness-raising work they do is not universally appreciated. It makes it more difficult for the rich and powerful to simply assert their interests.
11:33
Duskar Barik asks a sick man to show him the medication he is taking. They are traditional remedies: these alone cannot cure the former mine worker.
11:48
Interview
Surendra Lohar
Mine worker
I can’t work anymore and don’t receive any assistance.
11:51
He is not alone. All workers who subsist on a daily wage face the same situation.
11:56
Interview
Bhaskar Penthei
Mine worker
I lost an eye 5 years ago. I received a small amount of compensation, but with my injury it is difficult to find a new job.
12:11
India is a multi-ethnic country. The population of adivasis is estimated at more than 70 million, but the group is not homogenous – it’s made up of some 460 different tribes. The word itself comes from Hindi, and roughly translates as “the first inhabitants.”
12:35
The Indian constitution forbids any discrimination based on caste, language or religion. So it says on paper, but in day-to-day life these lofty principles are ignored. Along with the untouchables, the adivasis are among the poorest people in the country.
12:53
The People’s Watch human rights organization helps the adivasis, mostly in dealing with legal questions. This has made its founder unpopular with the authorities, and police raids are frequent.
13:09
Interview
Henri Tiphagne
People's Watch Founder
/// IN ENGLISH ///
14:06
People live on the streets not only in Chennai, but in every Indian city. They are immigrants from poorer areas who hope to find work in the cities. Millions of adivasis live in the slums, as do dalits – the untouchables or casteless. The government has vowed to protect both groups following decades of discrimination and has put in place quota systems for their benefit, but the political will to truly help them is missing. There is a large rift between the constitution and reality.
14:50
Amul Ramu was born here. For only a few hours a day, the city administration provides water to the pavement dwellers – the homeless people living on the streets. They have to worry daily about their dwellings being torn down, since they hamper traffic. Those with abutting properties also complain about the noise, the trash and the dirty streets.
15:16
Amul is disappointed by the politicians. Before every election, they make promises, but her life doesn’t change, no matter for whom she votes.
15:26
Interview
Amul Ramu
Vegetable merchant
We are not asking the government for jobs, but just humane living conditions. This is how we sleep: 6 people, squeezed one next to the other.
15:47
Amul’s husband drowned 2 years ago. Now the 30-year-old and her son live with her mother. Her sister also sleeps here, along with her children.
16:00
Interview
Amul Ramu
Vegetable merchant
We pay rent for the room. My mother wants me to find my own place, but how should I pay for it? I go very early in the morning to the market, buy vegetables and resell them here. That way I earn at least a little bit of money.
16:14
Leelavathy chose another path. She sells her body. Until her husband died, she led a normal life, selling flowers and vegetables. But then she discovered that she was HIV positive. She has been pregnant five times; four times, she had an abortion. She only gave birth to Kasiawal, who is now 8 years old. She too is HIV positive.
16:44
The two live together in a room. When her male clients come, Leelavathy sends her daughter outside to play in the street.
16:55
Interview
Leelavathy
Prostitute
I don’t know what will become of my daughter.
17:22
We barely make ends meet. We get our medication for free, but I have to find money for the transportation.
17:32
Much like Leelavathy, many women turn to prostitution. They have no other choice, especially when they are widows. But many don’t use protection, because they don’t know how. Most are illiterate. Campaigns are meant to educate the women about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
17:53
Sex is a taboo subject in Indian society. That has allowed the AIDS virus to spread very rapidly. India now has become the country with the most HIV-infected people. Approximately 6 million Indians have been infected. Only every second person knows how to correctly use condoms.
18:20
The non-governmental organization ARD attends to those infected with HIV. They train so-called peer educators. Their members are meant to visit patients, educate them and simply lend a helping hand, as they become outcasts as soon as those around them learn of their disease.
18:43
Medications against diarrhoea, fatigue and nausea are handed out – along with small presents for the children.
18:58
Interview
Dolovincy Daizyrani
ARD Founder
/// IN ENGLISH ///
19:30
Nagaratnam and her 2 children were thrown out by her parents-in-law after her husband died of AIDS. The ARD members have helped her with a loan, so that she can buy bamboo to make baskets. She is a member of the women’s group and receives life-prolonging medication.
19:56
Interview
Nagaratnam
HIV patient
Twice a month, I receive 10 kilograms of rice from the women’s group. They also help me and my children with school uniforms and books. Without their help, my daughter and I would already be dead.
20:13
They gave me information about the HIV medication.
20:23
That way we can survive.
20:26
The ARD group receives support from Andheri Hilfe, which is financed by European sponsors.
20:38
Interview
Elvira Greiner
Andheri Hilfe President
In India today there are very many, very rich people, but there is also an enormous number of particularly poor people. We don’t see our work today as giving these poor people just a handful of rice. We want to instead help them to really take advantage of India’s very good democratic system, the outstanding laws and the great poverty-fighting programmes. If we manage that, we will achieve much more than we did in the past with food distributions.
21:07
Pandialakshmi and Senthil, as well as the 10-year-old Kaleshwari, are HIV positive. Pandia lost her first husband to AIDS. Like so many others, she was then thrown out by her parents-in-law. Senthil was infected after his friends took him to see a prostitute. He married Pandia 3 years ago. Kaleshwari is not his daughter.
21:37
Interview
Senthil Kumar
HIV patient
My parents were pressuring me to get married. But I didn’t want to infect a woman with the virus and refused to do it. They don’t know that I am positive. I met Pandia through the ARD self-help group.
21:51
Pandialakshmi
HIV patient
Nobody wanted anything to do with me because of my disease. My mother took me in. I asked myself why should I continue to live, but because of my daughter I didn’t commit suicide.
22:07
Kaleshwari
10 years old
I like going to school.
22:15
I want to become a doctor, so that I can help.
22:20
People gather to protest against AIDS discrimination and for the rights of children.
22:30
In 60 of Madurai’s slums, education and rehabilitation campaigns for HIV patients are carried out. Many people don’t get tested simply because they are scared of discrimination. Scores of families want nothing to do with HIV patients.
22:50
Children have even been expelled from schools, so big is the fear of contagion. Here, they are taking part in a contest. Who can draw the nicest picture on the topic of AIDS?
23:06
Elvira Greiner and the founder of the ARD organization pick the best drawings.
23:19
The children recite poems or just tell stories about how they deal with HIV patients – their parents for instance – or come to terms with having the disease themselves.
(Leave free)
23:36
The stories strike a cord and help all participants – they no longer feel alone.
23:46
Now a price for the best singers and dancers is at stake. The 4-year-old can’t be deterred from participating.
23:57
The event is meant to help people learn more about the disease, because hardly anyone is in the know.
24:14
Once a year, the goddess Saraswati is honoured. We are in the state of Bihar, where shrines are erected in all of the villages. A puja is celebrated – an invocation and worship.
24:34
The goddess of wisdom and culture is revered especially by pupils and students. They hope she will help them in their future lives and with their education.
24:52
After a celebration that usually lasts three days, the goddess is surrendered to the river amid cheers from the youths.
25:07
But many in India can only dream of an education. Here, children stemming from one of the lowest castes gather in the open. The organization Nirdesh, which receives support from the Austrian Catholic Women’s Movement, tutors the children so that they can be admitted into a public school.
25:31
Bihar is one of the poorest states in the north of India. Whole families work in fields, plantations or wherever they can earn a little bit of money. They belong to the lowest caste – that of the rat catchers.
26:49
Many mothers here too sell their children to middlemen who grant them a loan. They often don’t know what papers they are signing. Only very few women can read and write.
26:03
Interview
Paspatia Devi
Mother
The middleman promised me monthly payments. But I didn’t receive anything. He wanted to supply work for 16 boys from the village. When we confronted the middleman, he berated us. We then went to the police. Our children are back, but the court didn’t do anything against this man.
26:22
Interview
Sanouz
15 years old
He just dropped us off at a chicken farm and disappeared. We had to work hard.
26:35
Sanouz’s mother Kosilya searched for her son. She went to the moneylender who had procured the work. But that didn’t help. For 1 ½ years, she received no money. For 1 ½ years, her son had to toil away. He didn’t receive any money either.
26:57
Interview
Kosilya Devi
Mother
I had heard of Nirdesh and asked for help there to bring my son back home. The organization, together with the affected mothers, filed a complaint against the middleman. He had even tried to recruit children in schools.
27:17
While we are filming with the Nirdesh leaders in the village, a middleman shows up. He wants to know what is going on. He probably hadn’t anticipated having to deal with Rambha Singh. The Nirdesh director threatens him with a legal complaint.
27:34
Interview
Rambha Singh
Nirdesh Director
This man came because he heard that we were here. We educate people about their rights. He doesn’t like that. The children are sold at the ages of 10 or 11. The middlemen don’t hesitate bringing them into other states. The men receive a bonus for every worker.
27:56
More than 80 percent of the population in Bihar eke out a living from farming. The non-governmental organization has created self-help groups in more than 500 villages. The women are supposed to learn how to themselves demand rights from the government. Savings programmes are meant to prevent any further dependence on middlemen or loan sharks.
28:18
Interview
Rita Devi
Self-help group member
3 ½ years ago a non-official school was opened here. It helped the women become aware. We built up a group and saved small amounts. I have received loans twice already, because my son and I had to go to hospital.
28:37
Rita’s husband works in the capital Delhi and comes home only once a year. But she can now provide for herself and her 5 children on her own.
28:51
Her daughter Rupa is preparing for final exams. All of the children previously attended the non-official school, so that they could master the admission to the public school.
29:06
But there is one thing Rita Devi is especially proud of: never again will she have to apply her thumbprint to a piece of paper. She has learned how to write her name and address.
29:19
When a few women join forces, they can help each other. They sing: Never again will we have to go to the moneylender. We can take life into our own hands. We are strong. We are independent.
29:35
Interview
Kaushlya Devi
Self-help group member
My husband died at his workplace. I received a compensation, which I deposited at the bank for my daughter’s dowry. Many tried to get money from me, but the women prevented me from giving in. I am proud to be one of them.
29:54
With support from the self-help group, Kaushlya has acquired 3 goats. She sells their young and can provide for her family with the revenue.
30:04
In the past, dalits – the untouchables in India’s caste system – were not allowed to open bank accounts. The bank managers have finally given in. Even the smallest savings add up. And when a woman can’t scrape together her deposit, the others pool money.
30:31
Interview
Amar Kumar Sinha
Bank manager
/// IN ENGLISH: Previously we were very much hesitated for them in the bank, they are illiterate. They had small kids with them and they are used to a middleman to open the account. But we bankers now move to the villages. ///
31:01
The women no longer let themselves be oppressed – in numbers, they have simply become too powerful. The adivasis and the untouchables are joining forces too. For India, it is a step towards the future.
A film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
Editor: Zorica Vilotic
Text ends at 31:18
DANCE ENDING
Images end at 31:40
OR
(Women walk through the frame)
Images end at 32:22