CHAR-DWELLERS of Bangladesh have to fight against river erosion and natural calamities frequently. Despite having difficulties, they do not want to migrate to the cities because of the open space on the chars, the carefree life and a lack of financial wherewithal. Here, every resident is turned humble financially through the process of river erosion. Nowhere in Bangladesh are people so vulnerable to living in reduced circumstances. The impermanence of the residence is the constant companion of the char-dwellers. They move from one char to another in search of elusive happiness and peace.
They are forced to be nomadic due to the whims and impermanence of char land. Horse carts, buffalo carts, power tiller, tractors and motorbikes are their common transport to move from one corner to another during the dry season. As engine boats arrive at the bank, motorbikes compete for passengers to make a living on the char. Most of the char dwellers trust their feet to traverse long distances. Unlike urban areas, chars do not obstruct one鈥檚 vision by high-rise buildings and shopping malls. Char-dwellers lease a piece of land in exchange for five to ten thousand takas to build their temporary houses. Houses built on the raised land are expected to save them from monsoon water. The merciless erosion turns their life uncertain and unpredictable. Their repetitive construction of houses and dreams points towards human resilience and perseverance. Although apparently meaningless, they go through this process to enjoy their life temporarily until the next erosion.
Some chars are found to have barn facilities established by NGOs to store their harvested crops and corn to avoid being washed away by floodwater. Some chars have facilities to keep their cattle during the time of the monsoon. Having no access to the national grid, they have to rely on solar power to light up their dark houses after sundown. When horse carts leave rolling dust on the way, people see their future bound with natural elements. Dismantled household structure and other items remind residents of the temporary abode. They have to assemble every piece of memory and start living afresh. They spend two to four years on a char to be evicted by erosion, and they start looking for new space to occupy and wait reluctantly for the cycle to resume. Even if they wish it away, it does not leave them.听
By raising and selling cattle, they plan to bring happiness and paint their life with hope and confidence. Cattle are their lifeline that can sponsor their ambitious plans. The back-breaking work to make ends meet is their daily routine. Despite tribulations, char-dwellers are not outside the reach of smartphone technology. Youngsters spend time with their phones to stay connected with the evasive global circuits. Lack of educational institutions is projected as a violation of human rights. But we tend to forget that the current education system, designed to seek employment, is a stumbling block to human freedom. But people should have a minimum literacy so that they can at least read labels to learn about the merits and demerits of products and monetary transactions.听听听听听听听听听
To quench the thirst, ice-lolly vendors come as harbingers of glad tidings in sweltering heat. Trees do not have enough time to grow and provide shade to the inhabitants because of ever-present erosion. Cooking in the hearth with firewood adds to the existing high temperature produced by scorching sunlight. Houses made with corrugated iron sheets make the temperature even more unbearable during the day. Despite having mud in char lands, people do not build their houses with mud so that when river erosion engulfs their houses, they can easily dismantle the structure and carry the items separately.听 Mud houses are seen on chars of the Barind region because of the mud鈥檚 better binding capacity. The cultivation of guava, banana, maize, tomato, onion and paddy gives them the tag of food producers, unlike the city dwellers. To curtail dependence on the erratic market system, they have to produce their food. Yet they cannot sever ties with it, rather remain dependent on it for selling their agricultural produce and cattle.听听听
The rugged terrain makes the vehicle鈥檚 journey challenging. Where life is full of uncertainties on a temporary land, having a hospital is beyond one鈥檚 imagination. Mobile hospitals on water vessels can provide medical assistance to the inhabitants of Char. Schools can also travel to different chars to instruct them about basic literacy. Replication of famous international brand names finds its way into the char lands without the knowledge of the inhabitants. They wear without any concern or excitement for the names. Engine boats known as trawlers provide the most reliable transport for them, either to carry goods, passengers and cattle to find the beacon of financial capital. In the winter, due to the lack of proper depth of water, passengers and goods are carried to the boat anchored away from the edge of the char. Boats hoist national flags to make others understand the nationality of the passengers, particularly in those chars adjacent to the frontier.听听听听 听听听听
Char-dwellers use the measurement of twine to calculate distance so that the devastation of river erosion can be depicted through the disappearance of landmass to the river. When people face river erosion at least eight to ten times in their lives, the transience of life becomes writ large. When people point their fingers towards a particular point in the indefinite river where their houses were, they automatically declare their quasi-passive participation in the ecological drama. Micro motherland inside the state cum motherland, becomes their primary reason to stay there. Their birthplace drives them to cling to the piece of land at their disposal. Peasants lament about the low market price for the crops and provide information about the cost of cultivation. The hospitality of char dwellers is the reflection of the rural practice of inviting guests to one鈥檚 place to incorporate them into the household structure temporarily.
Like urban tenants, the char landers know that they have to move out someday, but unlike them, they have to build houses again, wiping out their sorrows and agonies. To make things worse, they have to tolerate the suffering inflicted by groups of bandits. Despite their pain and struggles, the inhabitants of Char express their gratitude to their creator for whatever they are endowed with. People are compelled to say their prayers under the open sky when mosques are washed away by rivers. Nothing is spared on the course of a river, taking everything, including man-made frontiers, in its journey. Arbitrary frontiers cannot stop people鈥檚 limited movement from one country to another. Peasants have to rely on the seed companies as hybrid varieties do not produce seeds, making their situation even more precarious. The mark of river erosion helps them predict the future of this area in the coming years. Dry tears tell the stories of eviction and displacement. It is easier said than done when it comes to understanding the situation of char-dwellers. The devastation of the river is visible to the inhabitants and the visitors, leaving zigzag patterns on the land.
Financial paralysis among the inhabitants is the hardest of all the blows they receive from river erosion. They unwillingly wait for the ultimate and imminent disaster. The erosion has turned them into penniless and destitute people. Privacy is compromised inside the congested room and they continue living like this until their last breath. Downward social mobility is the norm due to riverine action. Surplus in one season is devoured by the river to preclude the accumulation of wealth. Rivers become the egalitarian master on these precarious lands. Hubris and arrogance of wealth have no place here. At the end of the day, the tenacity of the wounded inhabitants triumphs over the decimating erosion.听听听听听听
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Mohammad Mahfuzul Islam is an anthropologist and a faculty member at Independent University Bangladesh.
