Leader of Haliya movement Haruwa Sarki appeals to govt. to speed up rehabilitation process

Advocate Balaram Bhattarai : Haruwa Sarki, a former Haliya, bonded laborer, thought they will see good days when the government announced emancipation of the Haliyas in 2009, but he has not got anything from the state and his situation is still the same, seven years after his liberation.

When advocate Bhattarai reached the house of Sarki, he was busy working despite weaknesses in his body due to hunger. During his interaction, Sarki expressed frustration over the government not being able to provide proper rehabilitation package to them.

At 65, and though still suffering from poverty in absence of livelihoods opportunities, he feels proud of being independent and getting the identity card, which he feels is the achievement of their movement. “We brought change during our lifetime and now I have the dream of receiving some rehabilitation package from the government so that my family receives some means of livelihoods in a dignified manner,” he states.

He however is not very optimistic with the government as he feels that the work regarding Haliya rehabilitation is moving at a snail’s pace as he received his identity card seven years after being freed. He has bitter feelings that his previous masters stopped supporting them after they became free as they thought the movement was against them; which was actually for ending the discrimination against poor people who used to work as Haliyas for years and sometimes for generations to pay back the credit they had taken to meet their emergency needs.

Sarki received an identity card of ‘A’ grade, which is provided to the people who do not have any land and house. The government is mulling to provide land and also support to construct houses to the former bonded laborers of this category. However, there is a long way to go for poor people like Sarki as the politicians and bureaucrats are not in a hurry to expedite the work as they have no idea how it feels to not have a place to live for decades. He has been living in a temporary hut erected in someone else’s land and always has the fear that the landlord may evict him at any time.

He recalls the Haliya movement and feels proud that they made the movement successful despite challenges they faced from landlords. Haliya rights activists have been appealing to the government to expedite the process as thousands of former Haliyas have been compelled to spend miserable life due to lack of proper rehabilitation package. They are calling on the government to provide them sufficient land for their livelihoods.