From slavery to salvation

The past can hold nostalgic memories for many, but for Man Bahadur Chaudhary there are no fond recollections of being a slave bonded to his landowner.

In 2000, Man Bahadur was one of thousands of bonded labourers across the country who were liberated after the Kamaiya system of bonded labour was abolished. The Kamaiya spent their entire lives working for zamindar landowners for no pay, and just got a portion of the food they grew.

“I don’t want to ruin my present by remembering my past,” Man Bahadur tells us in the town of Ghorahi. “I have a good life now and I’m happy with that.”

Man Bahadur's children have taken over running the household. His eldest son, Santu, is a contractor and even provides jobs for others. Of Man Bahadur's three other sons, one works abroad while the two are bus drivers.

“I couldn’t afford to pay for their higher studies but they are doing their best to make a living,” says Man Bahadur, “But at least they do not have to work as slaves like I did.”

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Man Bahadur’s neighbour, Sabina Chaudhary, was also a bonded labourer and had never imagined that her son, Swarup, would be a police officer one day. “We worked for someone else with no pay, there was no way we could dream so big,” says Sabina.

Swarup was selected on his first attempt, and the whole village came out to celebrate when he came home in his uniform. 

“Like many children of former bonded labourers, I saw my parents work tirelessly in someone else’s house,” he says. “Today, we work tirelessly to stand on our own feet.”

Many of the children of former slaves are now in the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army, as well as in other government jobs and they have made their parents proud. Many former Kamaiya communities here in the western Tarai are seeing this transformation.

But it has not been easy. Even after they were freed, the former bonded labourers found it difficult to make a living. Sontali Chaudhary had started working as a day-wage labourer to educate her daughter Srijana, but does not need to work as hard anymore after Srijana got a job as a teacher in a government school.

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“Back then, I was always in a rush to go to work, now I am in a rush to see her off to work,” Sontali says with pride.

Apart from government jobs, many children of former Kamaiya have opted for technical and vocational education and often work as nurses, agriculture technicians, or survey engineers.

Working in the health centre of the village, Sunita Chaudhary is an inspiration to many. Her patients are her biggest fans. She says, “Education has brought about real changes, it has given our community hope.”

The five districts of the western Tarai, which includes Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur have 42,000 liberated bonded labourers, most of whom have received identity cards that give them access to government services. But there are still about 10,000 former Kamaiya who do not have the cards, and are deprived of access to jobs and state facilities.

“If only the government could extend the identification to everyone in our community, all former bonded labourers could have a better life,” says Harish Chandra Chaudhary, chair of Mukta Kamaiya Samaj. “The older generation’s life went by fighting for liberation. At least the new generation has a chance to forge a new identity.”

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