“If we had enough land to cultivate, we would have never gone to Sudan to earn money”, said Ranjan, 55, one of the Hakki-Pikki tribal people from Sadashivampura near Shivamogga, who were stuck in war-torn Sudan recently. He returned to Karnataka on April 28, following the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Like Ranjan, many Hakki-Pikki people, who earn their living by selling herbal products, travel abroad every year. For the past 20 years, they have visited many countries. Ranjan had been to Sudan with his son Badal and daughter-in-law Shivani.
Better returns
“We get better returns in the foreign land than what we earn here in the native land. After all the expenses, we save around ₹2 lakh during our foreign visits,” he said. He has visited a number of countries in the last 12 years. In fact, his one passbook has been filled with immigration stamps, and he is carrying the second book.
Ranjan has three daughters and two sons to look after, and he has one acre of land. None of his children studied beyond SSLC. A majority of children in the village study up to Class 10 and start helping their parents collect forest products, process them, and sell the end product by moving from one place to another.
They go to exhibitions held across the country. Whenever they travel abroad, they carry their medicine in powder form and mix it with the coconut oil or mustard oil they get in that country. They claim that the products they sell are good for those suffering from muscle pain.
Never again
“We had a tough time for 15 days in the hotel in Sudan where we stayed. There was a shortage of food and water and no supply of power. The officials in the Embassy had warned us against getting out of the hotel,” said Shivani. They would get bread three times a day and somehow manage with that. They are all thankful to the Indian government for rescuing them.
Ranjan and his family members have decided not to go to Sudan again. He added, “Why would we attract such risks if we had enough sources of income here itself? We have built houses but do not have records of our rights over our property. We will vote for the candidate who promises us land and records of our property.”
