In Fight for Survival, Dakxin Bajrange depicts attacks on Madaris by animal rights activists and the forest department. Dakxin asks whose values inform our laws - influential activists, or voiceless communities fighting for survival?

Fight for Survival places a face on a community vilified for their profession. The Animal Cruelty Act, written under influence of animal rights activists, has pitted the values of modern society against the Madaris age-old livelihood. There is a fight for survival between community tradition, the law and NGO services," says Dakxin.

Fight for Survival
Director’s note

In Gujarat, there are approximately 3 lakh members of the Madari community. They live a nomadic life and are scattered throughout the state while retaining strong ties of tradition and culture. The two types of Madaris in Gujarat are the Fulwadi Madaris and the Lalwadi Madaris. The Fulwadi Madaris belong to the Patan district and the Lalwadi Madaris to the Panchmahal district of Gujarat. Even though both communities follow the same profession, the Fulwadi Madaris are considered to be higher in status compared to the Lalwadi Madaris and thus live in different ghettoes. Social relationships like marriage do not exist among either Madari groups. They live in hand-made huts in their own ghettos on the roadside, in the jungle or outside the village. The level of formal education is very low.

The Madaris believe in Lord Shiva and follow their own Panchayat system. The Panchayat has its own constitution and there are specific rules and provision about catching, keeping, performing with and releasing snakes in jungle. For their survival, the Madaris depend on their traditional business of snake exhibition and performance in villages and cities, fairs and haats. When I was working with the Madaris while shooting the film, I felt that they treat snakes as their own children. They know each snake’s individual nature. They know how to keep each snake, how to take care of it and when to release it in the jungle. For instance, cobras are kept for 3 months and then released with respect in the jungle. This is how the Madaris have lived for thousands of years.

Now, the Animal Cruelty Act and other animal acts have made it difficult for the Madaris to keep snakes with them for public performance. The law considers snakes as “Schedule 2 animals” and no one can catch them from the jungle without explicit permission from the concerned department. The Act prescribes jail punishments for people who do so and getting bail from police custody is difficult.

Due to this law, the entire Madari community is facing a problem of survival. Animal rights activists and Animal Help Foundation, along with police and forest department, raid Madari ghettoes or where Madaris are performing shows. So now there is a fight for survival between community tradition, the law and NGO services. In the film, “Fight for Survival”, the arrested Madaris are Lalwadi Madaris, but the entire community is facing this problem regardless of whether they are Madaris or Kalandars (Bear and Monkey-keepers).

Many people in this community are becoming unemployed and have started begging dressed up as Sadhus.  Even in this, they are often arrested by the police as child-kidnappers.

I think that “Fight for Survival” is a reflection of the current situation of entire Madari community.

--
Dakxin Bajrange

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