Theft of Animals Threatens Livelihood of Pastoralists Across India
By, Monika Agarwal and Bhawna Jaimini
In 2018, the Kathua case brought the Bakkarwals of Jammu and Kashmir into the national spotlight. Was it an isolated case or a manifestation of the increasing incidents of systemic violence that migratory herders are facing? Is violence new for pastoralists who are almost always on the move and present in 14 states of India?
Mahendra Khatal and his family, sheep herders from the Dhangar community in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra move with their 900 sheep through a number of villages during their yearly migration and often attract thieves and burglars.
“There are gangs who come and pick up our sheep and if we resist, they beat us up,” says Mahendra. “Just a few days back, a group of 4 men came armed with knives and sticks. One of them picked up a pregnant sheep. My wife objected and requested him to leave her and take another one instead. But they didn’t listen and instead thrashed my wife!”
Khatal and his family are not the only ones in this plight. The preliminary findings of an ongoing survey conducted by the Centre for Pastoralism in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh reveals that theft of livestock is one of the most pressing problems for shepherds. Cattle rustling or sneaking away sheep and goats is not a new phenomenon, and shepherds have, traditionally, never been too disturbed by this. However, their otherwise equanimous attitude to the losses and gains of life, has taken a severe jolt with the organised crime they are facing today, across the country. The modus operandi of livestock ‘bandits’ has changed in recent years and is taking dangerous proportions.
A few weeks ago, a herder dera (campsite) in the Dharamshala region of Himachal Pradesh was attacked by 10–12 armed people. Two of the herders were tied, while a third one was badly beaten when he tried to escape and had to be hospitalised for few days. The gang took away 40-50 sheep and goats in a mini truck.
Himachal’s herders have always reported the occasional loss of a sheep or goat — but in recent times, they are having to confront armed gangs who do not hesitate to use violence. The theft of even 50 sheep or goats could mean a complete wipe out of a couple of year’s earnings for an extended shepherd family. Women and the elderly are no longer encouraged to join the seasonal migration, and herders are now incurring extra costs to hire labour who can protect the livestock from theft.
Herders report that it is not just small ruminants, but even cows and camels are taken by force and hoarded away in trucks. Similar stories have poured in from other parts of the country. In Madhya Pradesh, the Dewasi Raikas of Rajasthan have been taking their sheep and goat for grazing in and around Dewas for decades. In the past year alone, different deras have been attacked and their herds stolen with alarming frequency.
Pastoralists have customarily relied upon, and enjoyed the support, hospitality, and protection of the settled communities and villages they pass through. It is a mutually beneficial relationship with farmers inviting them and their herds into their farms for animal droppings that serve as manure and pastoralists, in turn, earning both in kind and money, while also managing to sell their animal while on the move. However, this is changing rapidly.
Mohan, another shepherd from the Dhangar community in Maharashtra was turned away from a cremation ground after his mother passed away.
“When my mother passed away on migration, we took her body to a cremation ground in a nearby village. A few minutes after her pyre was lit, some villagers came and told us to leave their ground quickly with the body. They said that we could only cremate in our own village.”
“They threatened us with violence when we pleaded with them. So we doused the fire, carried my mother’s body in our gongadi, and left. We have been going through so many villages for generations. This is the first time we have been treated like this”. Mohan’s account is a testament to the changing social dynamics between herders and settled communities.
Pastoralists now live in contested spaces, especially in a fast-changing human and ecological landscape. This has sharpened their conflict with settled populations and they cope with multiple pressures — from the encroachment of the commons, conversion of their native tracks to national parks and sanctuaries, development of land for highways, the industrialisation of ‘wastelands’, proliferating cities, worsening traffic on their routes, and so on. We have failed to provide an institutional or regulatory response to the increasing pressure on these communities. This has implications for meeting the rapidly growing demand for meat and milk in India.
This is new uncharted territory for a population that often journeyed in remote areas and over hostile terrain. The social security they have enjoyed for generations from their bonds with settled communities seems to be diminishing. And they must now rely on the protective machinery of the State, which, they lament, is apathetic and unresponsive. Thefts are reported but not acted upon. And even as successive governments continue in their failure to recognise the rights and needs of nomadic herders, pastoralists are struggling to learn a new skill — how to file an FIR.
Monika Agarwal is a management graduate who has worked with various national, regional and global alliances on pastoralism.
Bhawna is an architect and an aspiring writer.
