For Jharkhand’s Asurs, the present matters more than a mythic past

For over a decade now, Dadu Asur has had painful lacerations stretching across his chest. His family and locals believe that he has cancer, but Dadu has never received a proper diagnosis.

Dadu is a resident of Polpol Path, a village in Jharkhand’s Gumla district. The nearest medical facility which could offer him a diagnosis is a community health centre in the town of Bishunpur about 60 km away, but nobody has ever taken him there.

When I met Dadu on October 11, he was sitting on the ground outside his mud house, taking in the sun, a light shawl wrapped around him to cover his chest. I asked him if he was in pain. He did not respond. Instead, Vimal Asur, an activist and resident of the area replied, “Medical facilities are far and his family doesn’t have the money or resources to take him there. Many outsiders, including those from the administration, have come here and seen his condition but no action has been taken so far.”

Next to Dadu sat his brother Phaguwa Asur, whose shawl covered his head and his eyes. I asked him why he was sitting that way. He did not reply either. “He was born with good eyesight, but...

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