Uma's 'holy' move hits fishing industry

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Uma's 'holy' move hits fishing industry

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Shikha Trivedy

 

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Monday, February 9, 2004 (Bhopal):

 

 

Maheshwar's large fishing industry is literally gasping for breath.

It is one of the three holy towns, where the Madhya Pradesh Chief

Minister Uma Bharti's government has banned selling and eating egg,

fish and meat.

 

And if the decision is implemented, it could mean a virtual death

sentence for the fishing community in the region.

 

The fishermen of Maheshwar say the government is not only taking

away their source of livelihood but also destroying the heritage of

one of the holiest rivers.

 

"If fish are dirty then what about the Narmada in which they live.

Why is the river considered sacred? For thousands of years,

Maheshwar has been a holy town. How did it suddenly become unholy in

the last two and a half months," said a fisherwoman.

 

Voting Uma to power

 

Ironically most of the people in the region had voted Uma Bharati to

power because they had been promised better lives.

 

Now they say they will not let the BJP government take away their

livelihood.

 

"We will sell fish from our homes. We will not go anywhere from here

and we will see how she stops us. If we don't sell fish then how

will we feed our children. No one is talking about compensation

either," said a fisherwoman.

 

Cheap source

 

The only other major occupation is weaving. Maheshwar produces some

of the finest cotton cloth in the country.

 

Men, women and children work long hours to earn just enough to

survive. Eggs are a cheap source of nutrition for them and now they

will be forced to give it up.

 

"There is a large weaver population here which lives below the

poverty line. If they stop this food where will we get our protein

from? It is cheaper to buy eggs than to buy dal, not everyone can

afford it," said a weaver.

 

Uma Bharati says selling and consuming non-vegetarian food is unholy

and those who live off these impure professions, will ultimately

find something else to do.

 

But the fisherfolk of Maheshwar, most of whom exist below the

poverty line would rather be impure now than starve for years to

come.