| Dear Readers: On Ambedkar Jayanti, the feisty women of Khabar Lahariya speak on fighting every day casteism, witnessing change and why every month is Dalit history month. To know more about this unique media outlet run by mainly Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi women, read on… In her words “We will see change only if we keep talking”  Powering change/Khabar Lahariya For 23 years, Khabar Lahariya has been reporting the news from Bundelkhand, a hilly region between northern Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh. Led entirely by women, most of them Dalit, Muslim or Adivasi, this hyperlocal news outlet also proudly serves up its news through a naariwadi chasma (feminist lens). Across mediums from its website to YouTube and Instagram, Khabar Lahariya is transforming social attitudes to gender and caste. And it’s transforming the lives of the women who work there. What is the mission? Have things changed? And how did Khabar Lahariya become such a powerhouse? In their words, this is Kavita Bundelkhandi, the CEO of Chambal Media which owns Khabar Lahariya and reporter Shiv Devi. When and why was Khabar Lahariya started? Kavita Bundelkhandi (KB): There’s an interesting back story to how Khabar Lahariya started in 2002 in Chitrakoot district. There used to be a newspaper in the early nineties called Mahila Dakiya which was in the local language, reporting on local issues. I was associated with that paper. After it shut down, there was no paper in any village in the district that reflected the voices of the people and their news. There were so many issues that we felt were important but nobody from mainstream media was reporting them. We needed a paper that would reflect rural voices, particularly those of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi people and the problems of development. In those days media was dominated by men, particularly upper-caste, urban, businessmen. They had no idea of the issues in rural India. We felt there was a need to reflect rural voices and issues through a naariwadi chasma (feminist lens). Rural people too had a right to be heard. This was the thought behind launching Khabar Lahariya : To report on the problems of the villages and also highlight the good news. But mainly we wanted to prove that women, and especially rural women, could work; that even those without journalistic degrees could work. We gathered together Adivasi, Muslim and Dalit women. It was hard to find educated women. Even I had not studied as a child and completed my education only after marriage. We put together a team of women, trained them and made them journalists. Our focus was on rural areas, so the language of our paper was also Bundeli, so that people could read and understand the news in their own language. When the paper went out to people’s homes, they felt it was their own paper, this paper run by local women reporting on local news. That connection was very big. Shiv Devi (SD): I’m from Banda. I joined Khabar Lahariya in 2011. I am a single woman, Dalit with very little education. I heard about Khabar Lahariya as a place that gives opportunity to women who are not very educated, so I applied and got the job. I report on villages. I go and talk to people, find out what’s going on in their head, talking to other women as a woman.  Reporter Sunita Devi reporting from village Bargarh in Mau, Chitrakoot/Khabar Lahariya So in the beginning your focus was not casteism as much as getting local women to report on local news. When did casteism become your focus? KB: Since the priority was to recruit Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi women, it was natural that they would talk and report on issues they were familiar with. Our reporters come from families of farmers, of bonded labourers. These are issues that people don’t generally write about. So when we write on farm issues, our reporters come from that background and can write very well about it. As regards casteism, with the amount we have had to bear and the kind of discrimination that Dalits have to put up with, I think nobody is better placed than us to do so because that is our lived experience. What is your first memory of casteism? KB: In 2006 when I came to Banda, there was a Valmiki basti within the city with a police station about 500 mts away. There was a five ft deep drain that had never been cleaned. During the rains, the drain water would enter the homes of the people living in Valmiki basti – all the sewage water and rubbish of the city would enter the homes where people lived and cooked. This had never been reported before. I went to cover the flooding of the drain. When I went to the nagar palika to speak to the officials, they responded: “But you do the cleaning work in other people’s homes. You should clean your own mohalla.” It was shocking. There was no budget, no provision for preventing or cleaning up after flooding. And then on top of it was this pathetic attitude that somehow you don’t even have the right to a budget and to live cleanly. In Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, there is a Dalit basti. I was there recently and saw that people had put up ‘for sale’ stickers outside the walls of their homes. Why? Because all the sewage water enters the houses. When the kids go to school, they go barefoot, wading through sewage holding their shoes and socks in their hands so that they don’t get wet and dirty. We just reported this story and the authorities have assured me that they will put a pipe and sort out the problem. One of the problems of casteism is how ingrained it is in our everyday life. What will it take to remove everyday casteism? KB: The way we see slogans being shouted at festivals, it feels that caste is become more entrenched. We should be talking more about removing distinctions and ideas of untouchability. Recently a child touched a water container in class and was beaten very badly by the teacher. There was another case in Madhya Pradesh that we reported where a drunk man peed on another man’s face. But Dalits too are becoming aware of their rights. More stories are being reported in media and social media certainly has played a big role with people talking about untouchability and bonded labour. People are saying we will not tolerate this any longer. Within the Dalit community, people are saying we must read the Constitution to become aware of our rights. Many weddings are being conducted without pandits. Of course there are also those who don’t want this awareness to spread; they want the status quo. You said recently that every month is Dalit history month. What did you mean? KB: On every March 8, I say every day is women’s day. Similarly, we have to talk about Dalit issues every day, not just for one month. Talk about their development, rights, thinking, the violence against them. If we can sustain the conversation, we will see change. I always appeal to Bahujan people, “Come forward, educate your daughters, read the Constitution, become aware of your rights.” We will see change only if we keep talking.  On September 14, 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was raped and killed, her body was cremated in the dead of night by the police that prevented her own family from attending. In 2023, a trial court acquitted three of the four upper-caste men accused of rape and murder/PTI There is an intersection of caste and gender with Dalit women and double oppression as a result. Can you explain? KB: In the Hathras case where I was trolled terribly, media kept saying, “Rape is rape, so why are you bring caste into this?” but it was an issue of caste and not just rape. In my 20 years of reporting experience, 85%- 95% of the rapes I have covered are of Dalit girls. These do not get reported because mainstream media is run by upper-caste men. And in most rapes, the perpetrators are also upper-caste men. These stories are never reported because those who control media feel their caste and community will get a bad name. So the facts never emerge. Just this week in Manikpur district, an Adivasi girl had gone to collect mahua in the forest and was raped. This is the pattern: Upper-caste men rape Dalit and Adivasi girls. There will be a case, then there is pressure on the girl and her family to ‘compromise’, the father will be called to the station where he is beaten and he later dies by suicide. [Read Khabar Lahariya’s report, An Attack in Hathras, And a Story of our Times ]  Just another day in the life of reporter Shyamkali/Khabar Lahariya You are challenging the social hierarchy. Do you face any threats or challenges? SD: In the beginning I used to be scared. In the village everybody knows you. What caste, whose daughter you are, where you live, whether you are single or not. So, when you write against someone whether it’s an official, gaushala-in-charge or pradhan, and when that news gets published, they realise your power, that we can be abused but not intimidated and you cannot stop the power of your pen. What is the change in your personal life? SD: There is a lot of change. As a single woman, I am earning and supporting myself. I have been able to get my three daughters married. First I bought some land, then I built a house on it from my earnings. Today, I am financially independent. I can only hope other women will come forward and fight for their rights. Who is your personal role model? KB: We put a lot of thought into who we should give opportunities to. Women like Shiv Devi who are single, have very little education but a lot of lived experience, have on their own strength, with their own earnings, brought up their children and are leading independent lives. I look at her and at women like her in our team, their struggles, their lives, how they have had to negotiate caste and patriarchy. We are women who face caste-based violence. But within the team, to draw out the tension of the women, has been a different sort of experience. We also decided that leadership positions would be taken by Dalit women. I am the CEO of Chambal Media. Our reporters, producers, film editors are women from villages who have learned the ropes. It’s all a question of providing an opportunity. I was given a chance by my senior who trusted me with the responsibility. If women throughout India get an opportunity, then the structure can change. But in many ways I am my own role model. I feel proud of myself. Nobody has to tell me what to do. I am proud of Khabar Lahariya and Chambal Media where we are training women. In these 23 years, we have developed a course in journalism through a feminist lens. We were not trained, but now we can train other women. That makes me very proud. [If you’d like to subscribe to Khabar Lahariya Hatke , click here .] | 
