Mining to Extinction

Shamol sits on his haunches and ponders about his ravaged land left bare and barren by clay mining. Bijoypur, Durgapur is situated approximately 300 kms from the capital Dhaka in the northern border area of Bangladesh and the land of the indigenous Hajong, Garo people
Paddy farming in Bijoypur Birisiri. The indigenous hill communities have for for centuries have had livelihoods centred around the rich fertile land.
A Christian shrine in Bijoypur Birisiri. Many of the Garo people in Bnagladesh were converted to Christianity during the British rule in the subcontinent. Today, nearly 100 percent of the Garo people practice Christianity.
Sarothi Hajong prays to her Sanatani gods to keep her house and family safe. One month later the family was evicted from this house by a businessman who had bought the land for mining.
Women carry the clay loosened by men on baskets on their heads. The clay is mined in open pits, where deposits occur close to the surface at 5ft and these pits can be deep as 50 feet. A male labourer earns a meagre $1 for a full day's work and a woman labourer even less than $1
A man works to loosen the clay in a mining pit, precariously balancing himself . Many labour work under dangerous conditions where earth slips can occur but there’s no compensation for the injured or lives lost.
A woman sobs uncontrollably as she recalls her son who died buried in a an earth slip.
Women carry safe drinking water back to their homes. Many water resources have dried up and women have to travel far to get water to meet their family needs.
14 year old Noyon works in a clay pit to support his family. Children’s rights to education and good health facilities are almost non-existent.
Feet of barefoot workers riddled with fungus infections from the clay. The workers use razor blades to scrape off skin lesions as no medication is available to them.
The mother and close relatives mourn the death of a baby from pneumonia. With limited access to education and health facilities lives that could have been saved are tragically lost.
A lone gnarled tree stands sentinel to the rape of the once fertile land in the face of unscrupulous economic gain.

 

Mining to extinction: The endangered Hajong and Garo of Bangladesh

As the evening light flecks the hillside of Bijoypur Birisiri golden, Shamol sits on his haunches and ponders about his ravaged land.  His eyes are dry, there are no more tears to shed – the houses are gone, the people are gone, the rich fertile land his ancestors farmed in terraced “lum cultivation” has long disappeared. His house is the last bastion but will soon succumb to the devastation caused by white clay mining of Bijoypur Birisiri.

Bijoypur, Durgapur –approximately 300 km from the capital Dhaka is the northern border area of Bangladesh and the land of the indigenous Hajong, Garo people. For centuries, the Hajong and Garo have been the “adivasies” of  Bangladesh,  who followed a religion called Sanatani.  Many of the Garos converted to Christianity during the British rule in the subcontinent but the Hajongs did not follow suit.  Today, nearly 100 percent of the Garo people practice Christianity.

The death knell for the community sounded with the discovery of surface deposits of white clay used in ceramic making. The terraced picturesque land has been bought at lesser than market price by leaseholder companies, who employ the indigenous Hajong and Garo’s — the original people and custodians for the land –as laborers.

The clay is mined in open pits, where deposits stretches from  5ft  to as much as 50 feet deep. A male laborer gets $1 for a full day’s work and a woman labor less than $1.  Without the proper implementation and ignoring children’ rights pits have child laborers too. Men loosen the clay and women carry it on baskets on their heads.

In search of a better life and living, many of the Hajon and Garos people have left their Indigenous traditional ways of life, their religion, culture and identity.