'Moora ponkhi mari /Ponkhi ponkhi-dhrori
Ponkhi beicha khai / Moder sukher sima nai
Saper mathay moni loye mora/ Kori je karbar.'
This is a folk song by Jasim Uddin and in this song he has tried to draw attention to Goya Baidya who lives in a houseboat at Padma River and moves all over the country. He is a snake charmer by profession and a member of the Bede community of Bangladesh. His job is to entertain people. Rivers are life for Bede people. For hundreds of years, they have wandered along intricate waterways, charming snakes, training monkeys, selling trinkets, performing magic and healing people.
Even, just ten years ago the 'Bede' community displayed charming snakes, play flutes and sells traditional medicine in the rail stations, bus stops or under the banyan trees of village markets. That was their source of income. They were the real entertainer of mass people. The boat has always been their home. They roamed through hundreds of rivers. Their nomadic past is mix with pride and sadness. They belong to the two million strong river-gypsy community of Bangladesh. But those days have gone. People are no more depending upon them for entertainment and medicine. There is technological advancement, and infrastructural development happened in Bangladesh in the last few decades. People have their smart phone on hands. They are browsing the internet, YouTube, and passing their time on Facebook. The distance between rural and urban life has remarkably decreased.
Because of the innovation of medical science, people are no more seeking their traditional medical treatment. At the same time, because of the river pollution they are forced to come down from their houseboat. It shifted their profession and traditional lifestyle of the nomadic community to the permanent settlers. This causes the death of their diverse culture. This community is the bearer of a unique and rich culture which is under threats now. There are many interesting folklore and literature of the community which are unique in nature.
So it is important to examine why and how the Bede communities are losing their traditional culture. As we know that, the Bede people are mainly a gypsy community by nature. They never want to live in traditional society and don't build the traditional home. They do not stay in a particular place. They move from one place to another place. They think that the entire world is their home, the sky is their rooftop and the soil is their bed. Culturally this nomadic group is different from any other ethnic group in Bangladesh. Therefore, modernization of the society has marginalized their professions which have an effect on their income also.
Snake catchers are already facing difficulties in collecting snakes from the forests of Bangladesh because of deforestation and excessive catching of snakes from forests. Eventually, their earnings from snake trading reduced.German Researcher Carmen Brandt raises the question of religion. She defines Bede as the 'Bad Muslim' in a Muslim majority state. She says that, "The fanciful etymology of the term Bede is obviously a desperate attempt to escape the low position of 'Bedes' in society and illustrates another strategy for socio-religious upward mobility among South Asian Muslims often called Ashrafisation, following the concept of Sanskritisation among Hindus''.
She argues that being a bad Muslim in the society they are forced to transform culturally and professionally. In Islam, dancing and singing is highly prohibited and restricted. She pointed that they are considered to be neither low cast nor high cast community among the Muslim, though there is a probability that they might come from Arab. However, in Hindu religion Bede community is categorized as the low cast community.
It is assumed that the Bede do their worship to the "Goddess" Manosa. The stories of Bede are described at a huge number of Hindu mythologies. But most of the Bede in Bangladesh is now Muslim. Being Hindu to Muslim had a great impact of the cultural and professional changes of Bede community.
The Bede identity always carries stigma and discrimination for them, so they prefer not to be identified as Bede in the society. Many of the Bede argue that they are pure Muslim and has come from Arab. But in the Muslim dominated society they are not treated as pure Muslim, but they always considered as converted Muslim. This religious dilemma creates a serious crisis for their diverse culture.
It has become evident from the findings of Maksud and Rasul that, Bedes are gradually losing their identity. A major portion of the Bede community informed that the Bengali people misbehave with the Bede people when they meet them for business purpose. They consider the community with low prestige and less social value. The Bengali community considers Bedes as a culturally polluting agent in the society.
This was a problem since the British Emperor. Even James Taylor also pointed this in 1840. He wrote that "The Bhudiyas, another low and impure caste, are numerous in this part of the country. It is difficult to determine whether they are Hindoos or Mussulmauns, their religious sentiment, apparently, being adapted to those prevalent in the country they settle in."
This entire dilemma forced the community to transform in other profession. These professional transformations are destroying their traditional culture as well.
A S M Riad Arif is pursuing post-graduation degree at South Asian University, New Delhi, India
