Birhor
A Birhor Celebration
The Chief Minister of India’s Jharkhand state celebrated the 91st birthday of a prominent leader of his political party, the BJP, by calling attention to the needs of the Birhor people.
Rice Beer and the Birhor
Birhor who violate social rules are sentenced by village elders to pay fines, which consist of bottles of their favorite local beverage, a rice beer called “haria.” According to a study of haria published in 2014, it is a beverage made from low grade rice that is popular among low income people and tribal groups […]
Update on a Birhor Tragedy
When Ratni Birhor starved to death in her hut in September 2011, the story made headlines due to allegations of government neglect of the Birhor people. Last week, the Hindustan Times, a major English language daily newspaper in India, provided an update to the story. An investigation in 2011 shortly after the woman died had […]
Official Concern for Birhor Wanes
Concern in India for the Birhor jumped dramatically six years ago, though sympathy for this peaceful society has apparently waned as memories of a tragedy in October 2008 grow dim. A news story last week implies that official interest in the Birhor people has nearly evaporated. The Birhor experience presents an interesting case study of […]
The Birhor and the Bees
Officials in eastern India solicited the help of some Birhor youths in an attempt to get rid of some angry bees, which have killed one man and injured others. The Birhor have, so far, been unsuccessful in their attempts to remove the insects, but they plan to try again. On March 13, the bees attacked […]
Birhor Boycott National Elections
The Birhor are so jaded about the value of their votes—they have been so ignored by the power structures of their district—that they saw no reason to vote in the recent Indian elections. According to The Telegraph, one of India’s major papers, at least 80 families living in several villages in the Gomia block, the […]
Birhor Poverty Finds Relief in a Picnic
Two leading Indian newspapers featured different Birhor communities last week, one painting a bleak picture of rural poverty, the other portraying a sense of hope. The Times of India sent a reporter to the Ramgarh District in Jharkhand state to visit the very poor village of Birhor Tola. The residents have to light fires every […]
Birhor Women Lead Anti-Mining Movement
Women are taking the lead in a struggle by the peaceful Indian Birhor people to prevent huge coal mines from devouring more of their villages. They are joined by women from other neighboring tribal groups—specifically the Gond and the Kanwar societies—in Chhattisgarh state in their vocal opposition to the mining. An environmental hearing scheduled for […]
Gang Rape in a Birhor Village
The plague of gang rapes in India has spread to a peaceful Birhor village in the industrial district of Ramgarh, in northeast India’s Jharkhand state. According to an article last Thursday in The Times of India, an unnamed 18-year old Birhor woman was visiting her uncle in Banji, a small hamlet. On Tuesday, four men […]
Further Training for Birhor Boys
Nine Birhor teenagers, who were ignored by government bureaucrats despite their having gotten educations, have been admitted to the Industrial Training Institute of the Bokaro Steel, Limited, (BSL) plant. The boys made the news about six weeks ago when they began protesting the way they were being treated. They had passed their Class XII examinations […]
