Will Rat Farming Bring Dignity for Dalits?

Musahar Dalits hunt for rats in paddy fields much like this one.

Sharban Thakal kills the field rat he just caught, hurling it against the ground. Using a curved knife, his sister, Shubia, prepares the rat for cooking on a little fire fueled by grass and twigs. Repeatedly flipping the rodent over, she checks it as it cooks.

Sharban and Shubia are Musahars, and their prized "catch," as told in The National online, depicts a way of life for their people as a Dalit("Untouchable") sub-caste.

In their state of Bihar, India, there has been controversy over whether the promotion of rat meat and rat farming for their marginalized Musahar community would be beneficial. As a Dalit sub-caste, the Musahars are despised and scorned even by other Dalits. A Musahar has such low social standing under the Indian caste system that he has been referred to as "the untouchable's untouchable."

These oppressed people labor in agriculture, most working for landlords who pay them very little—often in grain or other food items. Rarely are they landowners themselves, and many of their children suffer greatly from malnutrition.

Their name comes from two words—"musa" meaning "rat" and "hara-kiri" meaning "seek," which is how the Musahars got their nickname "rat farmers." The nickname describes one of the ways the Musahars have found to feed themselves, hunting for rats in rice paddies to destroy the burrows for their higher-caste employers, and eating them in times of critical need.

In Bihar, where there are 2.3 million Musahars, there has been discussion within the government of promoting rat meat as a popular dish, with the hope of improving economic conditions for the Musahars, as well as offering protein at a cheap price to the remaining population, according to various news sources.

Vijay Prakash, the Principal Secretary of Bihar's Welfare Department, made a proposal to popularize the eating of rat meat.

"There are twin advantages of this proposal," he said, quoted in BBCNews.com. "First, we can save about half of our food grain stocks by catching and eating rats and secondly we can improve the economic condition of the Musahar community."

He also told BBC that rat meat is both a delicacy and protein-enriched, and popular in both Thailand and France. He added, "Rats have almost no bones and are quite rich in nutrition. People at large don't know this cuisine fact but gradually they are catching up."

Tiliya Devi, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for her labors to win land rights for some of her people, said her village would be willing to participate.

"We live hungry," she said, quoted in The National online. "During the rainy season we don't even have enough food to eat two times a day."

Ostracism from higher castes forces many in Tiliya's area in Bihar to live near rivers in their flood-prone state, and two months out of the year they must relocate to a narrow stretch of land as they wait for floodwaters to recede. For Tiliya, rat farming would be a welcome venture for her community.

But not everyone agrees. Some Musahar groups feel that taking up rat-farming would only perpetuate the centuries-old label of the sub-caste as rat-eaters, making it more difficult for them to advance to jobs in other fields.

"I'm not against rat farming, I am against connecting this project with the Musahar community," said Umesh Manjhi, leader of a Musahar development organization. "It reinforces the caste system."

"The government should be investing in education for the community. We want to use the computer mouse, not farm rats," he told The National online.

Another complication to popularizing rat meat as food is that the rodent holds a special place in the religious belief system of many Indians. The rat is revered for its association with Ganesh, the well-known elephant god.

But Bihar's social welfare department believes these roadblocks can be overcome, given the right efforts to make the public aware of the benefits of rat farming and rat meat.

News reports have been inconclusive about whether these initiatives have truly taken off in India. Opinions vary greatly on what would bring some hope and dignity to these long-oppressed people. Christians around the world can be praying for provision for the physical needs of these Dalits, and that they will see the hope and dignity they can have in Christ.

• Read about how Dalits in a slum area are finding lasting hope and dignity as they realize their true worth in Christ.
• Read more about Dalits and how GFA is reaching out among them.