The Kalbeliya community which is famous for their traditional dance form across the world are going through shocking reality which is hard to accept.  In remote villages of Ajmer district in Rajasthan, when the CSR Journal met the Kalbeliya community to understand the ground reality of why they are away from a dignified burial for their dead, the truth was shocking. In a small hamlet named Berwai in Ajmer district, Kalbeliya community are not just struggling for livelihood, their struggle is even bigger, they are struggling for the right to bury their loved ones.

Ground reality of Kalbeliya community

One Janki Kalbeliya, a young woman residing in Roopangarh nomadic settlement, shared a painful memory that has been haunting her. A few years back when her uncle passed away, her family made preparations for burial as per their tradition, but when villagers from the dominant community came to know about the death, they stopped them from burial, “They said we were not allowed to use that land,” Janki said. “They threatened that if we buried him, they would dig up the grave and throw the body out.”

What was more shocking was that the deceased wasn’t an illegal settler, he had a ration card and even a voter ID. Janki recalls, his uncle even casted vote, yet when he died, his family was mistreated as if he had no place in the country. “We are not animals,” Janki said, her voice trembling. “We are human beings. We are citizens of India. Then why are we not given a place to bury our dead?”

She recalls that after hours of request, humiliation, her family managed to conduct the burial, but the trauma still haunts her.

The shocking revelation made my Janki wasn’t the only story, another young girl from the same community, Vimla Kalbeliya, who stays in the same Kalbeliya settlement, said that land is the biggest issue her community is facing currently, “We live with a constant fear,” she elaborates, “If something happens to our elders, where will we take them? Which land will accept them?”.

Water scarcity issue

The nomadic community Kalbeliya mostly reside on land that does not belong to them legally, making them extremely vulnerable, and the current situation is that they can be denied land to bury even. And the situation is such that, even when they are allowed to bury, they struggle with the availability of water, “There is no proper arrangement of water,” Vimla said. “After we somehow bury our loved ones, we have to wait for water to perform the last rites. Sometimes we stand for hours, holding our grief, waiting for someone to show mercy.”

Silence in mourning

Sunita Kalbeliya, a resident of Berwai village in Ajmer district shared that they are forced to even mourn in a lower voice, “We cannot cry loudly when someone dies. If villagers hear us crying, they will know someone has died. Then they will come and stop the burial. That is why we cry in low pitch.” This shocking reality was backed by many other women of Berwai village.

While the Kalbeliyas are celebrated for their dance and music across the world, back at home basic humanity is denied to them. This struggle is not just about land but about dignity. One Rameshwari questioned, “If we are citizens of this country, why does this country not give us even two feet of land to bury our dead?”

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