Snake! Whenever we think about this animal, a shadow of fear sparkles through our veins. But there is still a community of Bedes (snake charmers) who are living a life surrounded by snakes in many parts of Bangladesh. Bede, the nomadic community in Bangladesh live a free life under the free sky which is their custom from an un-noted time. Bangladesh has an estimated 500,000 snake charmers, who rove all over the country and live in riverboats. Before radio and television became popular, many itinerant groups would visit villages and entertain rural audiences with their tricks. Bedes pretend to know the art of healing, which they use as a source of living. Despite a sort of golden age in the 20th century, snake charming is today in danger of dying out.
A large majority of the Bede children (95 per cent) cannot attend schools because they stay all the months of a year with their parents outside home, and travel from one place to another. So Bedes have to be excluded from the government's intervention to ensure universal primary education for the children and no government and NGO intervention is found. Mobile classrooms on boats are only a module, in the micro scale, which will be multi-functional in nature. Government and their development partners should acknowledge the special need for education of the nomadic Bede children who are roaming with some 10,000 nomadic Bede groups.
Bede children who roam around the country with their parents on boat fail to avail the opportunity of getting vaccinated and health services. Only 2.0 per cent Bede children were immunised against seven deadly diseases and 5.0 per cent Bede women received TT during their last pregnancy. They have no way to overcome malnutrition. The situation of Bede community indicates that the health seeking process and causes of death in this community must be more frustrating than any other socially excluded and deprived ethnic groups in Bangladesh. Women of Bede community can be imparted paramedic and nursing training. Since traditionally Bedes are a healing service rendering community, so it would be convenient for them to develop themselves as community health service providers.
Bedes belong to the lowest earning group; so they become severely stricken by the price hike of daily consumer products. Thus Bedes had to fall in severe food shortage. So hunger is a good friend of Bedes which never leaves them. One remarkable problem in Bede community is water and sanitation. Those who live on boat have to defecate and urinate in the river water. When Bedes travel from one place to another, they always face difficulties in collecting safe drinking water.
Bedes do not have the opportunity to save money in the banks since they are illiterate and they do not dare to go for opening a bank account. Almost all the Bedes are not included in the voter list of Bangladesh because they are nomadic and they do not have any land tax certificate and educational certificate. Like all other citizens of the country, Bedey are entitled to all civic rights including right to vote. Bedes are not counted as an ethnic group in census by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) so they are deprived of benefit from the programmes which are launched for ethnic minorities groups in Bangladesh.
Poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) is the only document where name of the Bede community is mentioned for the first time in the history so far. But the implementation and result of PRSP is not satisfactory. So, it has not left any impact on the Bede population at all.
To conclude it can be said that snake charming is on the verge of extinction in an era of globalisation and mass communication. Now many of snake charmers have taken other professions with more predictable incomes, like pulling rickshaws or growing rice and vegetables. Poverty and desperate attempt for survival have forced the Bedes to shift from this occupation but by assisting them to fight poverty, an attempt can be made to revive these lost traditions. The Bedes are struggling to save their customs handed down through thousands of years by their distant ancestors. They are still an example of this dying legacy. The next generation won't even know that something like this existed in the world.
This article aims to present sociological situation and legal status of Bede community. Furthermore the article presents in short legal and governmental action to ensure the rights of Bede people in Bangladesh.
So it is high time to take the opportunity to work with the unexplored and untouched Bede community and to ensure proper right based rehabilitation of the Bede people to establish an inclusive and balanced society where all people will enjoy basic human rights and live with dignity.
Email: fahmidahashem60@gmail.com
