Hubballi-Dharwad: As BJP activists go around branding the Congress as an anti-Hindu party and the Congress invokes Kannadiga pride to counter the saffron party’s polarising tactic in Karnataka, one small community in the forested areas of north Karnataka have found an opportunity to revive the demand for greater representation in elected administrative bodies. The Siddis, a community of the descendants of slaves brought to India from various parts of Africa, first by Arab and Indian traders and then by the Portugese colonisers, do not bother themselves much with the larger Congress-BJP-Janata Dal (Secular) electoral battle. Instead, the poor community, living in forest villages, think only of basic issues of livelihood and shelter as the Karnataka state polls draw closer. “It is only during elections that political leaders visit us. Some of our community members are affiliated with one or other party, and yet, we are like orphans who do not get heard until we make enough noise. For us, the Hindu-Muslim debate means nothing. All we want to say is that we should be treated with respect,” says Nazeer Ahmed.Ahmed, a resident of Adike Hosur village in the Haliyal taluk near the industrial cluster of Hubballi-Dharwad, is a Muslim Siddi. He is currently a gram panchayat member and has helped direct the government to bring its welfare schemes to his village, populated by mostly Siddis living under the poverty line.Credit: Ajoy Ashirwad MahaprashastaToday, with the help of the local Congress MLA, R.V. Deshpande, he has successfully garnered state funds to build houses for the poor, establish a reverse osmosis water plant for the villagers, and construct a modern sewerage system. “The facilities were built by funds under schemes introduced by the Siddharamaiah government. For years, such welfare funds used to reach the district headquarters but they would never get diverted to our forest villages,” he says. Siddis, who are mostly under-educated, never had a political voice. However, with a few Siddis becoming a part of gram panchayat now, things have changed. “We now know that if we are part of panchayats, Taluk bodies and zila parishad, we can demand better facilities for us,” says Ahmed, adding that much more needs to be done. “We could only build a few houses for the poor. Our goal is that everyone in the village should get a proper home in future,” he says.Married to a Hindu Siddi, Ahmed says that the community was never divided on religious lines. “Siddis, across religious affiliation, think of themselves as one community. Inter-marriage between them is quite common.” He wishes his daughter who will matriculate next year, becomes a doctor. “We need doctors from our community. If my daughter becomes one, I will be the proud father of the first Siddi doctor in the area,” he says.When the Siddis made India their ownSiddis may have come as slaves to the Indian sub-continent but over the years made this country as their own. Today, they populate more than 100 villages in Yellapur, Haliyal, Ankola, Karwar, Sirsi, Mundgod and Joida taluks of Uttara Kannada, Khanapur in Belagavi and Kalaghatagi in Hubbali-Dharwad. It is estimated that around 36,000 Siddis live in Karnataka and some live in coastal Gujarat. A comprehensive article in Frontline magazine says that the first Siddis were brought to India as slaves in the sixth century BC, but there is concrete evidence of being along the Konkan coast from third century AD. Since slave trade was an important part of the Indian Ocean trade, they continued to come into India. “Most of the slaves who found their way to India were brought from the region of East Africa coinciding with the modern states of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania and found employment in Muslim and Hindu kingdoms across the subcontinent as soldiers, eunuchs and elite slaves who were not meant for hard labour but for specialised tasks,” says the article.Credit: Ajoy Ashirwad MahaprashastaThen, with the Portugese mercantile trade dominating this part of the sub-continent in the 16th century, slaves began to come from modern Mozambique as well. As Goa became the centre of the Portugese empire, most Siddis continue to live around the western coast of which Uttara Kannada district is also a part. “One estimate says that some 4.7 million Africans were traded as slaves and shipped to Arab lands, Persia and India from 800 A.D. to 1896.” the Frontline article says. It is said that while some Siddis grew in stature because of their military prowess and found patronage under different Muslim and Hindu rulers, there were some who escaped to forests to escape the bondage of slavery. With time, some espoused Hinduism while some accepted Islam or Christianity. Across religious affiliation, the Siddis have accepted Karnataka as their state and speak fluent Kannada and Marathi languages. Current issuesMany of these Siddis found some fame when some of their community members got national attention for their achievements in sports. However, over the last two decades, poverty has pushed them into giving up education midway and taking up menial work in distant cities.The physical features and skin colour of these African descendants have often been a cause of trouble. “Racial discrimination from other communities is something we have had to face quite frequently. However, as long as we do not face violence, we try and engage with other communities as much as possible,” said Magdalin Siddi, a 24-year-old woman, of Gardoli village in Uttara Kannada.Credit: Ajoy Ashirwad MahaprashastaMost young Siddis, across gender, migrate to take up menial jobs in the construction sector in cities. “Goa, Mangaluru, Bangalore, Dharwad – you will find many Siddis doing coolie work,” says Julian Pedro Fernandes, a Siddi social worker in Gadagera village.She says that most migrate quite early as agriculture in the area is fast becoming an unsustainable profession. “Most of the land we have historically cultivated are forest lands. There were frequent clashes between the villagers and forest officials. However, when the Forest Rights Act came, such clashes watered down but the forest officials still look down upon the Siddis,” she asserts.She adds that villagers loan almost the whole amount of initial capital to cultivate maize and paddy in their lands but has to part with half of the crop eventually. “Generally, the money-lender lends money on a share-cropping basis. Since the landholdings are quite small, the crop left after harvest is hardly enough even for subsistence. Only a few who are educated can think of government jobs. The majority is forced to do whatever comes by their way,” Julian says.She points towards a more complex discrimination that Siddis have started to face. “A few well-off Marathas have settled in these villages too in the last few decades. Although both communities have rarely reported about any clash, the Marathas have used their political muscle in the area to occupy a majority of forest lands and cultivate them. As a result, Siddis end up working in their fields instead of cultivating their own lands at a very low daily wage.”Credit: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta“At the same time, the forest officials have frequently been stopping the Siddis from tapping honey and using forest resources – something which they have traditionally doing. The Siddis know how to use forest-resources judiciously. They revere the forests. Despite the fact that access to the forests is their right as forest-dwellers, this is happening,” she says.She says this is relatively new as the union government-run forest department in the last few years has opened up the verdant jungles to contractors who use the resources, like wood and honey, for commercial use. “The issue has emotional overtones for Siddis. They feel that while outsiders have the right to enter forests, they are being stopped,” says Premnath Siddi, who runs a privately-run primary school in the area.A combination of these factors have increasingly pushed Siddis to think about greater political representation in elected bodies. “Since 2003 – the year when the state government announced reserved seats for Siddis in gram panchayats – we have been able to raise our issues. Our representatives ensured that roads, anganwadis, primary schools and such facilities were built in out villages,” says Julian.“Earlier, we always had to think of accessing hospitals and secondary schools as there were no roads. We had to pass through the jungles. There was always a danger of wild animals attacking us. In the last five years, that problem has been solved,” Julian adds as she points out that problem of health facilities still remain in most villages. She further says that governments should actively guide the Siddis and other poor living in these area to pursue education and “show them the merits of studying”.Both Ahmed and Julian concur that reservation for Siddis in taluk panchayats and zila parishad will help the community solve pressing issues. “Although we are small in number, we want any government that comes to power to consider granting us this right. We are also demanding reservation for us in at least one assembly seat so that our voice reaches the seat of the government,” says Ahmed. On being asked about the electoral campaign, he says that Hindu-Muslim debate has no resonance among the Siddis as despite practicing different faiths, the community has common livelihood issues. “All Siddis have a common god. We have traditionally believed in the power of Bawagor (a sort of nature worship) despite belonging to different religions.” He says that political representation at the panchayats has given them respect and greater acceptance in the Kannadiga society too. “Now we marry among non-Siddi Muslims too. Although the non-Siddi boys are a little reluctant to marry Siddi girls, they now have no qualms about marrying their daughters in Siddi families.” As you approach these villages in Haliayal deep inside the forests today, newly-built roads – some under construction – makes access easy. The villages greet you with a recently-installed drinking water facility, adequately-equipped anganwadi centres and primary schools. The Siddis assert the panchayat members from their community have been responsible for these – something which cannot be disputed even as the high-pitched electoral battle occupies most of Karnataka’s political space.