Social worker Sonam Chaurasiya is known everywhere for her “Slum Soccer” project in New Delhi’s slum Seemapuri.
Photo: Ronny Blaschke
Heavy traffic pushes along bumpy roads. A van with a large water tank stops at the edge. Sweaty men immediately rush over and quickly fill up their containers. Many mud huts in the area do not have access to water. On the other side of the street, a sandy path winds along the tin huts. Damage to their roofs is only poorly covered with plastic sheeting. Some corners are lined with garbage bags. In between, young women squat and look for deposit bottles and other items of value in the sacks. Meanwhile, small children climb barefoot over bags of expired food. The smell of trash, smog, and urine makes breathing seem harder. This is Seemapuri, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New Delhi.
»Our participants all come from this district. They come to us regularly and play football,” says social worker Sonam Chaurasiya, who grew up in Seemapuri and doesn’t say a bad word about her neighborhood. Chaurasiya stands on a small soccer field in training clothes and claps his hands for motivation while young people in yellow and blue jerseys pass balls to each other. The non-governmental organization (NGO) that the young woman works for is called “Slum Soccer” and was founded in 2001, when Chaurasiya wasn’t even born yet. “Slum Soccer” uses football as a medium for education and emancipation, says Chaurasiya. »We are talking about hygiene measures, safety and also gender equality. We would like to encourage our participants to become more involved in society.«
The G20 summit will take place in New Delhi this weekend. India’s political and economic influence is growing. But what is rarely discussed is that in the world’s most populous country, more than 200 million people have to get by on the equivalent of $1.25 or less per day, which is around 15 percent of the population. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that around six million children in India are forced to work.
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What role can sport play in fighting poverty? Social position in India is closely linked to the caste system. This hierarchy of Hindu society is said to have originated in the second millennium BCE. At the bottom are the Dalits, also known as the “untouchables.” For centuries they had to be content with supposedly unclean jobs, as washermen and butchers, as garbage collectors and cleaners of latrines.
The Indian state has officially abolished this hierarchy long ago. But if you look around in districts like Seemapuri, you will see that the caste system is still practiced. “Dalits who live in slum areas are often reduced to poverty and experience a lot of discrimination,” says the social worker. “However, they are welcome in our football project and can be part of the community.” Many parents thought for a long time that the area was not safe for their children. The employees of “Slum Soccer” went door to door and did some convincing work. Boys and girls now play football at the NGO. “And we treat everyone the same,” says Chaurasiya.
In India, academics and the media rarely address the influence of caste on sport. One exception: The activist Tariqa Tandon, who grew up in New Delhi and studied political science in Canada, has reported on successful Dalit athletes in articles online. Cricketer Palwankar Baloo is one of the most famous. Growing up in the 19th century, Baloo came from a family of leather workers. As a teenager in Bombay, now Mumbai, he watched the games of the British colonial rulers, helped set up the playing field and trained with discarded equipment.
Baloo eventually developed into one of the best players. But after the games he had to eat dinner alone, recalls Tariqa Tandon. »To this day, athletes don’t like to talk about the caste system. In the 90s, for example, Vinod Kambli made it into the national cricket team. Everyone knew he was a Dalit. But he expressly didn’t want to talk about it himself,” said the activist.
Indian selection has existed for more than 90 years. Of the more than 300 players who have been deployed since then, only four were Dalit. This is also due to the segregation of society, says Tandon. In huge metropolises like New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, wealthy and disadvantaged families almost never come into contact. They live in different neighborhoods, their children attend different schools, cinemas and sports facilities. Tandon says: “Security guards are hired for some parks to keep poor people away.” In addition, access to competitive sports costs a lot of money: membership fees, travel costs to the training center, equipment.
Such circumstances suggest that government measures have little effect. For decades, ministries, authorities and universities have reserved certain positions and training places for Dalit people. In sports associations, however, preferential treatment through quotas is rarely discussed, says Tandon. “If someone were to suggest that, it would be political suicide.”
The fact that the caste system, which is sometimes still practiced, also plays a subordinate role in the media is probably due to the increasingly authoritarian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many newspapers are dependent on advertisements from state bodies because of the low purchase price and low advertising revenue. In Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom ranking, India is therefore not surprisingly only in 161st place out of 180 countries evaluated. “The government has increased the pressure on institutions that should be independent,” says Tandon. “Supporters of Modi and his party were appointed to the courts and media.”
NGOs that receive financial support from abroad are increasingly being monitored by the authorities in India. However, Tandon believes it is possible that sports-related projects tend to remain under the radar because the state hardly perceives them as political. “Slum Soccer” on the outskirts of New Delhi could also benefit from this misjudgment. Social worker Sonam Chaurasiya can therefore continue to look after people living in acute poverty through football. Many of them are discriminated against in two ways, she says. »Women in India are often confronted with domestic violence. And some families take their daughters out of school so that they can take more care of the household and their siblings. Chaurasiya is therefore particularly committed to promoting girls in football.
Her parents initially didn’t want her to take on such a prominent role in social work. They are now proud of their daughter’s commitment because Sonam Chaurasiya now seems to know everyone in Seemapuri. And everyone knows her.
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