Ex-bandits shoot blanks to avoid
baby boom By Shuriah Niazi
BHOPAL, India - In an area of India
notorious for untamed outlaw activity, an
innovative health campaign is using the local
citizens' longstanding love affair with guns to
battle overpopulation.
In the Chambal
region of Madhya Pradesh - the historic stomping
grounds of India's legendary "dacoit", or bandit,
gangs - male villagers are lining up for
nasbandi, or vasectomy, in return for a
cherished gun license. Considering the area's
penchant for firearms and its history of crime,
men seeking gun permits in the past have faced a
stiff application process. Now, men who present a
sterilization certificate are sent to the front of
the line.
Awarding guns to forestall a
baby boom is the brain child of Bhind official
Manish Shrivastava, a district tax collector.
According to Shrivastava, Chambal has the highest
rates of malnourished children and anemic women in
India. Other family planning
campaigns, he told Asia Times
Online, have misfired largely due to notions of
machismo and taboos against intrusive medical
procedures.
"I gathered it had to with
their perceived notions of manliness. I then
decided to match it with a bigger symbol of
manliness, a gun license," Shrivastava told The
Telegraph newspaper of Calcutta.
So far
this year more than 175 men have undergone
vasectomies, compared with only eight last year,
and Shrivastava expects 100 more in coming weeks.
But despite the desired results, the plan has
drawn fire from medical and law enforcement
officials. In a March 5 article in the The
Telegraph, Delhi urologist Suresh Rawat blasted
the idea, calling it "ridiculous and
irresponsible".
But others, including many
Chambal families, feel the campaign is a positive
step in securing much-needed weapons, a salve for
population problems and a welcome move to
modernize a region still shackled to old-time
traditions and a dark reputation.
Family
planning, at the barrel of a gun
Chambal has been a haven for dacoits,
robbers and thugs since as early as the 5th
century. The region's yawning chasms and gaping
ravines provide an ideal setting for banditry.
According to historians, even during Mughal times
the powerful administration failed to curb the
menace, and as many as 216 dacoits were shot dead
and 697 arrested in Bhind district alone from 1959
to 1963. Chambal was the home of the legendary
bandit queen Phoolan Devi and other dreaded
dacoits.
Guns, many say, are the pride of
the Chambal region, and possessing one is a matter
of prestige. Residents are known to spend huge
sums purchasing weapons and household displays of
high-caliber firearms are common. Bhind district
has over 92 gun shops and over 23,000 licensed gun
owners. Neighboring Shivpuri district has 11,000
gun licensees while nearby Morena district has
more than 15,000. On any rural road in Morena,
Shivpuri or Bhind it's easy to observe villagers
with guns slung with their shoulders. In the
Chambal, the gun is a status symbol.
It
can also mean self-defense in a region still
described as "dacoit-infested" by major Indian
newspapers. Local journalist Pravin Chitransh told
Asia Times Online, "Dacoits are still active in
the ravines here and it is necessary to own a gun
to protect oneself from the bandits. However, most
bandits do not harm the common people."
Chitransh added that a man loses his honor
in society if he loses his gun. A local axiom
holds that a person who can't take care of his
gun, is good for nothing. According to Chitransh,
guns are also routinely used to settle scores. And
it's not the first time that gun licenses have
been used as incentives for social change. In
Morena district in 2005, the superintendent of
police offered gun licenses to those who provided
information about the criminals.
But the
Chambal region, with its rich agricultural tracts,
is in the early stages of development; the
topography is gradually changing with the
reclamation of ravines for agricultural purpose.
The dubious distinction of being the home of the
dacoits is gradually fading as well. Provincial
officials hope that with agricultural and
irrigation the area will become prolific and
prosperous and, in due time, break the crushing
cycle of poverty.
Still, old traditions
die hard. Even as locals turn to farming instead
of banditry the issue of gun ownership remains
both a necessity and social priority. As Bhind
resident Sumer told Asia TImes Online, "It's the
question of our pride".
Vasectomy
plan under fire Thirty-nine year old
Mewat Singh underwent sterilization last month to
get himself a gun license. "It's quiet difficult
to get a gun license here," he said. "When the
administration is offering us incentives for
sterilization in the form of gun license, then why
should we not take advantage of this?"
Mewat Singh is not alone in the belief
that bearing arms outweighs bearing children.
Hundreds of people in the region want guns and now
a vasectomy is the easiest way to do it legally.
As Singh pointed out succinctly, "We will have
same pleasure during sex and would have a gun
license as well."
"Vasectomy leaves the
patient unchanged except that the vas
deferens - the tubes leading to the testes -
are blocked," said Bhind's Chief Medical Officer
Dr Dinesh Kaushik. "The testes still produce
sperm, but the sperm die and are absorbed by the
body. The level of testosterone remains the same
and all male sexual characteristics remain the
same. For most men, the ability to have an
erection is unchanged. "
Local police
claim that an increase in guns does not
necessarily equal an increase in crime. The Town
Inspector at a police station at Bhind Mahesh
Budholia said that more guns means the citizens
are more empowered to protect themselves. As he
put it, "For committing a crime no one will wait
for gun permits. They can use illegal weapons."
Women in the area feel the measure is a
good way to control the population. Kanta Tomar
told Asia Times Online, " I don't see anything
wrong in the proposal. After all the collector is
the one who issues the gun permits. He wants that
maximum number of people should go for
sterilization. He is supporting the state in their
efforts to control population. "
But
social worker KS Mishra said that Chambal
residents will simply do anything to for a gun.
According to Mishra, this is not the right way to
promote family planning and the "administration
must take up other measures to encourage people".
Meanwhile District Collector Shrivastava
is beaming. "It has helped immensely in family
planning. A large number of people are coming for
vasectomies in the hope of obtaining a license for
the guns. Our scheme has been quite successful."
Shuriah
Niazi is a freelance writer based in
central India.
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