Country: Bihar, India

Group: Musahar

Date: 10/16/2023

Team: Ariana Jackson (lead), Nicole Cavallin, Isabelle Kolnacki, Cheyenne Barron,

Content Warning: Forced Labor, Slavery, Death, Discrimination, Starvation

Approximate Time Period: 1970s – Present

The Musahar is a Dalit community in the eastern Gangetic plain, the Terai. The name Musahar can be translated to ‘rats-ridder’ due to their main former occupation of rat catching (Wikipedia, 2023). Literacy rates among the Musahars is 29% according to a 2011 census (Rai, 2023). As a result, the Musahar are often unable to find higher-paying jobs. This prevents members of this caste from moving further up in the caste system and also subjects them to an endless cycle of social exclusion and disadvantage (Sahay, 2019). Many Musahars work as laborers at brick kilns or on agricultural farms. Research has found that “99.4% of Musahars do not own any land, and generations of Musahars are born into bonded labor – a modern form of slavery” (Bhatt and Shreshta, 2023). Currently, many Musahars are still stuck in this endless labor cycle and realize that bonded labor is unstable and does not provide for their families. Furthermore, frequent flooding caused by monsoons forces many Musahars out of work for long periods of the year. This leads to both food and financial insecurity within the community and frequently results in the deaths of numerous children (Bandyopadhyay, 2023). 

Data quality was rated a 3/3 due to reliable peer-reviewed sources readily available.

Sources

  1. Bandyopadhyay, O. (2023).11 million people living in modern slavery in India, warn campaigners. British Safety Council. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.britsafe.in/safety-management-news/2023/11-million-people-living-in-modern-slavery-in-india-warn-campaigners
  2. Rai, V (2023). A Need To Ensure The Safety, Dignity Of Musahars In Caste-Ridden Bihar. https://www.outlookindia.com/national/a-need-to-ensure-the-safety-dignity-of-musahars-in-caste-ridden-bihar-magazine-311729
  3. Bhatt and Shreshta (2023). Participatory Ethnography Research for Musahar Girls’ Education. https://girlseducationchallenge.org/media/qweojyb5/rrlf-nidr-report-may-2023.pdf
  4. Wikipedia (2023). Musahar. (2023). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musahar&oldid=1169185884
  5. Sahay, G. R. (2019). Substantially Present but Invisible, Excluded and Marginalised: A Study of Musahars in Bihar. Sociological Bulletin, 68(1), 25–43.