The sweeper community in urban Bangladesh: a study on the nature of social and economic exclusion and vulnerability

Abstract

Bangladesh like most of the developing countries is still in a state of underdevelopment and challenged by many obstacles in the way of its overall socio-economic development. Religion and relevant issues, particularly the caste-based and work based discrimination has been playing indeed a significant role as the constraints towards achieving betterment of a larger number of untouchable people in recent times. The livelihoods of sweeper community and their out stretched degradation and deprivation are not an exception to this common scenario of Bangladesh society. The fact is that traditionally the caste, sub-caste or members of a single endogamous group of Hindu caste system with strong kinship and affinity have been engaged in their respective professions from ancient times. Moreover, the caste system is a strict hierarchical social system based on underlying notions of purity and pollution. Those at the bottom of the system, who call themselves untouchable, suffer discrimination influencing all spheres of life and violating a cross-section of basic human rights including civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. Caste-based discrimination entails social and economic exclusion, segregation in housing, denial and restrictions of access to public and private services and employment, and enforcement of certain types of jobs, resulting in a system of modern day slavery or bonded labour. The rigid religious and psychological barriers to continue the profession from generation to generation based on birth made the ways for change and transformation of profession a difficult dilemma. Though there has been the both vertical and horizontal mobility among these upper and lower castes, and also sub-castes, still it is prevalent and damaging for the social dynamics. It is evident from the study that major population of sweeper as a member of untouchable community, faces discrimination in almost all spheres of life. Their access to all modern amenities necessary for sound and healthy social formation is highly limited. Access to modern education for better or change their professions and access to power structure for motivating the change is still like a dream for the sweepers. The major purpose of the research is to find out the nature and extent of socio-economic exclusion, discrimination and vulnerability of the sweeper community in contemporary urban Bangladesh. Using a social exclusion framework to identify the forms of discrimination and disadvantage experienced by the sweepers, field research was conducted in three sweeper colonies in Dhaka City, a context associated with a high population of sweepers with tensions between them and the dominant castes. The study is based on primary data and four hundred sweeper households were surveyed using a structured questionnaire to investigate the economic activities, expenditure and consumption, access to social services, family and social networking and cultural and political integration. The survey data was supplemented by qualitative data collected through field observation & twenty in-depth case studies with both sweeper households. This study is concerned about the sweeper community’s strategically aspects, especially of income, nature of the work, labor market discrimination and poverty, social structure, attitude and cultural aspect and religious principles to understand the general condition of sweeper community in Bangladesh. In this context the important focus on analysis was to review a theoretical stand point, which gives us the idea that caste hierarchy based on religious principle is a homogeneous moral system or positive values on which Hindus of all strata or castes are in consensus. This study also identified the dominant identity of the community as human being and of their salient identity as imputed by the mainstream society. It further reveals that their Jaat or caste position has created as explicit from of hierarchy among themselves. They think that their present stigmatized identity is the main barrier for their advancement. It was found that a sense a job security, coupled with free housing and medical facilities that apparently kept the community relatively happy. But now a day those privileges, once taken for granted are under threat as spreading poverty and shrinking job opportunities have forced members of the majority Muslim population. In these discussion’s modernization has come as an important factor, which is influencing the entire Bangladeshi society as well as the upper class Hindu but, still today sweeper and out caste people are excluded from this.