Nomadic women are victims of exploitation to a greater extent than both Dalit women and tribal women. Nomadic women are victims of patriarchy's more oppressive and more violent punitive schemes than Dalit women. It has been proven many times through the caste panchayat that the patriarchal tribal system maintains strict control over the sexual behavior and social labor of women in the nomadic tribe. Although this society appears to be matriarchal based on the worship of goddesses worshiped in society, at the stage of the caste system and feudal capital system of history the it became patriarchal and rules demarcating female slavery were created. Manusmriti's feminine views influenced not only the upper castes but also the nomadic tribes.
Kanjar, Bedia, Nat, Banchda, and Sansi… these different castes of the nomadic community. Although the different castes found mainly in the four states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have different customs, languages and living conditions, one thing is common and that is the sexual exploitation of women in this society... This exploitation is due to traditional customs, their own. It is being exploited by consensus, and it is also being exploited by the male dominance of the caste panchayat. We get respect in society, we have money in our hands because of this. Maybe they don't feel it is exploitation, but they don't know that they are becoming a victim of the social system here or, even if they know, now they are used to it.
The situation of the Bedia community living in Bundelkhand and Madhya Pradesh is no different. Once upon a time, this media community made the traditional art form 'Rai Nritya' their profession. Both men and women of the community performed this Rai dance together. But under the guise of this dance, the women of society were forced to become prostitutes. Later, the men of the house started to depend on these women and prostitution became the only means of livelihood. The responsibility of the family fell on the girls of the house and the boys started getting married and 'settling down'. According to Bedia tradition, once a girl gets married, who is called 'Bedni', she is freed from the profession of prostitute and has to spend her whole life as a maid and housekeeper within the four walls of the house.
The method of this flesh trade in the Bedia community is also slightly different. According to this custom called 'Sir Dhakna', women have to enter this profession. A wealthy zamindar or a similar Bada Asami completes this custom and the woman is then completely under the authority of this wealthy person. He is allowed to treat women however he likes, he is allowed to have any number of children, and he also has the right to name the children after himself or not. On the other hand, a woman is also free to have relations with other men and to give birth to children. The children born are either known by the name of the mother or by the name of the father, with some symbols, viz. Known as rupees, money or some other fictitious name. Although the women of the Varkarni Bedia community feel strong and independent because of this, in reality they are known as note-printing machines at home and as adulterers, prostitutes and impure women outside society.
After 'White Sahib's daughter' she became 'Police Sahib's daughter'
The Bedia community is a nomadic community on the list of criminal tribes of the British, settled in some districts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Many customs of this nomadic society are shocking. It started from the time of the British. After the British declared the community as a criminal tribe, this community started fighting against the British with guerrilla poetry. At times, this community also committed looting against the British and because of this, the British started to show their displeasure. Night and night raids on their ships, searching for looted goods, laying hands on innocent wives became routine. Unable to bear the pressure of the British, the caste panchayat finally made a terrible decision. Every family in their caste would leave the firstborn daughter as 'Gore Sahab Ki Beti'...
Whenever the British soldiers come to raid the ships, all the girls of society would make love to the soldiers, talk in a sloppy manner, make obscene gestures, dance and do whatever they could to annoy the soldiers. While doing all this on the one hand, on the other hand, these girls used to give the uniforms to the village where the soldiers had arrived in. Through various signals, sometimes by making specific sounds and sometimes by using their sign language, these girls would give the uniform that the white soldiers were marching into the settlement. These girls who were devoted to the British came to be known as Gore Sahab ki Beti. The British went further but the stamp of crime on these castes was not erased. After the British left, the police came and the police also started killing the British. Then those girls who were 'Gore Sahab Ki Beti' became 'Police Sahab Ki Beti'.
Poisonous girls… spy and prostitute business…
Researchers have studied the media community in different ways and their conclusions are also different. Many sub-castes of the nomadic society of Rajasthan call themselves Rajputs. This community was so loyal to the kings that there are also examples in the history of women of this community becoming prostitutes and working as spies to get confidential information from enemy. On the other hand, some researchers say that when the Mughals and the British came to India, they forcibly used the women of this community as prostitutes to entertain their soldiers and satisfy their physical hunger. The British had planned to erect the pillars of this society around wherever the soldiers' base was located and forcefully satisfy the lust of the soldiers from these women. After the British put this community under the law as a criminal tribe, the male members of the community were always in jail or in the forest. That is why the possibility that the women of society have approached the prostitution business to keep themselves safe cannot be ruled out.
Another shocking reason behind the prostitution of women in this society is the traditions of society that have been going on for generations. The caste panchayat of society made an unwritten rule that the first girl born in the house would be a prostitute and this rule continues till date. Only the first daughter of the family can engage in prostitution; the younger sister or daughter-in-law is not allowed to do so. Once a girl gets married, she cannot enter this profession. Because of that, there is a custom in society of deciding on marriage at an early age. So that a message is sent in society that a girl who is married off is not involved in the business of prostitution. But now it is seen that because of the greed of money or because of the dominance of the male family in the house, whether it is a younger sister or a daughter-in-law, everyone is entering this business.
'Bedni' or 'Nachnari'
According to popular myth, they are said to be descendants of Rajputs. In those days, wives of soldiers killed in war were forced to perform sati. Gradually, women decided not to go to Sati, but remarriage was not possible at that time. So then some chose the path of sannyasi, while others established relationships with men of other castes. As society ostracized the women who did this, the issue of marriage of the daughters of those women became worse. Then, seeing the rabbit hole of their widowed mother, the girls themselves decided to enter the prostitution business or to do so for them. From initially entertaining the rich with folk dance for a living, the journey progressed to selling flesh. They started calling themselves 'Bedni' or 'Nachnari'. He started a double life of family responsibility, relationships with men other than financial criteria. It was more convenient for financially wealthy men. The woman who came in contact was not a 'neck' or asking for a share in the property...
Whenever the issue of women empowerment has been discussed in this country, the women of the Bedia community have not been overlooked. Faced with numerous difficulties, those women created their own existence no matter what the means. What a huge contradiction that the same man who used to exploit these women through practices like 'Sir Dhakna' would invite these same women to the Rai dance at house celebrations. Perhaps that is why the Bedni women of this community considered Rai dance as their profession without dreaming of becoming someone's wife.
The new business of human trafficking
Over the past few years, this society has started another horrible business… human trafficking… This incident came to light when the police in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh rescued many minor girls who had been forced into prostitution. On the one hand, with the changing times in the traditional prostitution business, these churches also started to change their working methods. He started the business of abducting very small girls from other communities, tribals, poor houses from nearby settlements, railway stations, bus stands. These girls were so young that they could not even tell their names and villages. These girls were being sold for 20 to 25 thousand. It was the modus operandi of the men in this business to abduct little girls from poor homes whose desperate parents did not bother to find the girl and the police were not too enthusiastic about it. At the age of 12-13, these girls are injected with hormones and some drugs to make their bodies grow unnaturally and are forced into prostitution. This business is now going on with more vigor due to the jealousy that we have the jealous number of girls in our dera (dera means settlement). Many girls are being sold in Mumbai and Gulf countries. According to the police statistics, the number of girls from other communities who were abducted from villages in Mandsaur district alone should be at least 150-2000. Due to the fact that this business has gained political support, it seems that not many measures are being taken to stop it. How to prevent it...?
It is the rule of this society that married girls cannot engage in prostitution. Based on that, the police and the administration arranged marriages of many girls of this community who were involved in the prostitution business. He built his life at government expense. Although this concept was successful to some extent, due to not getting a job, no one hiring and the habit of having loose money in hand, these women later threw themselves into this business again.
