Sweepers: CLEANERS IN BANGLADESH: THE HISTORIC UNTOUCHABLES

Dinajpur- A District, located in the northern part of Bangladesh & adjacent to the Kuchbihar District of Indian Meghalaya state, possesses a tradition of central waste management system. Locally termed as Municipality or Poroshova in Bengali, the municipal authority performs a gigantic task of cleaning accumulated human excreta from the latrines, which were specially designed too. The latrines were usually placed on a high concrete surface with a opening beneath the open toilet pan. Human excreta, accumulated during all day long, falling through the airy hole, were taken off by a group of people, locally termed as SWEEPERS. They were disciplined to such an extent that removal of wastage from any latrine couldn’t be dropped for a single day or delayed for hours, even in chilling cold (Himalayan cold waves often bites in Dinajpur during winter) or in heavy rainfall. Men & women, put their hands together: ‘Some collects excreta in a rectangular metallic pot, locally called TIN. Some accumulates the collected wastage in a round metallic container placed on a cart driven by a buffalo or some other SWEEPERS. Then the collections were dumped to some low lying areas as part of land development or sold out to the farmers as cheap natural biofertilizer instead of dearer cow-dung. The entire operation would complete before public movement got momentumd i.e, before seven am under supervision of someone assigned by the municipal authority or Pouroshova. This group of people belonged to a specific segment of Hindu community, a scheduled caste & THE UNTOUCHABLES. Surprisingly, women dominated Horizon (lower caste Hindus) SWEEPERS are traditionally habituated to treat each other equally. The female Horizons were not at all physically weak compared to their male members, instead they had widespread reputation/ recognition as hard workers. After completion of their regular gigantic duties, the SWEEPERS operating in a particular area, who were the regular free customers of the local restaurants usually located in shanties, were seen to get their breakfast along with their other family members including the minors and invalids (due to age or prolonged ailments). The shanty restaurants usually preserved some mugs of aluminium (locally termed as enamel) which were shackled with metallic chains outside the restaurant premises. Two Parata (bread fried in oil, made of flour) for the adults, one for the minors along with some Dal (boiled & properly cooked pulse) were allocated free of cost. The heavily tired SWEEPERS were seen relishing while having the very common menu. Even the restaurant owners were kind enough to entertain the free guests with their wretched, flute, waste foods during other times of the day, if they desired. Interestingly, the waste foods were usually so rotten that those could only be offered to hundreds of crow for ‘Kak Vojji’ & absolutely impossible to take by any sensible human being due to the rotten aroma. The shanties, where they lived were thatched cottages made of bamboo & polythene sheets, usually situated by the rail tracks. The lone three assets they could proclaim as their own, were discipline, cleanliness and the huge enthusiasm to become a mainstream Purobashi (persons residing within a Pouroshova) by getting themselves educated. Now a days, the municipal authority in Dinajpur discontinued its traditional cleaning system due to construction of modern high rise buildings. But the subject community still exists there and found success in enlightening themselves with proper education & with course of time, they got accustomed with the mainstream civilization ignoring their ‘Untouchable Fragrance’ imposed by the ritualistic, conservative, power mongering BRAHMINS (most upstream segment, as narrated in  Hindu mythology). The elite Hindus couldn’t even block them from being enlightened through imposition of religious taboo since their ill motive for continuing their supremacy were washed away by the strong wave of civilization/ modernization. Bravo to their uprising. Such a tale of success,  in case of a untouchable community, is too rare even in india & it represents bangladesh as one of the most secular country in the sub continent as well as in asia & overrides india which seemed to tremor in frequent ethnic or religious riots during the recent decades.