River gypsies

RIVER gypsies are a roaming community living in Bangladesh usually known as Bede community. Traditionally they live in boats and therefore normally have no household on land. They travel in groups and do not stay in one place for long. For hundreds of years, they have been roaming alongside convoluted waterways. Most of them are living on snake related trading, such as: snake charming, snake catching, snake selling etc. However, their main occupation is entertainment services. Some believe that gypsies have magical power to heal. The Bede community is an ethnic minority, but unfortunately they are officially not recognized so. As a result they are deprived of all types of basic necessities of life. About 98 per cent members of the community live below the poverty line. Although they have no script, they practice their own language, customs, music, dance, and culture among them.
Modern science and technology are posing a threat to the customs of Bede community. As a result, their elixirs and amulets are not attracting people anymore and their antics are not entertaining too. Hence, they are becoming peripheral and struggling to preserve their customs and heritage. A K M Maksud, the executive director of local non-profit GramBangla Unnayan Commmitte, says, "People say the Bedes have disappeared. But where do you think the community is gone? Around one million Bedes are living in Bangladesh. Once upon a time the community was well accepted in society with their customs and practices. However, time has changed and so has their lifestyle. Bede community's floating lifestyle is no more attractive to people. As a result, some of them have decided to change their professions. Raju Ahmed, a youth belonging to the gypsy community said that "It's a myth to us. We want domestic culture. We do not want to roam in jungles and catch snakes. We want to be educated so that we can go abroad [to make fortune]," Hasina Begum, another lady belonging to the gypsy community said that "Our traditional professions are in danger. People no more believe in our spiritual healing service. Snake charming has also lost its popularity," On the other hand, the older generation of the gypsy community do not want to lose their heritage. Mohammad Abbas says, "If I do not pass over the healing secrets to my children, they will be lost. We are born to be river nomads."
Obviously Bede culture is a distinct culture and we need to protect it like the way we are protecting other ethnic practices. Prof. Meghna Guhathakurata, executive director of Research Initiative Bangladesh, which works on the gypsy community, thinks the government should help gypsies to retain their culture by ensuring security for them, education for their children and facilitating their trades. Most Bedes are fanatical about their century-old expertise and curing secrets and they do not want to abandon their outmoded lifestyle because they believe they were born to be river nomads.

Md Mustakimur Rahman
Lecturer, Department of Law, Notre Dame University Bangladesh
[email protected]