Dalit Demands

- Rewati Sapkota,

Delhi, 14 July 2006. Dalit activists from Nepal and India have urged the drafting committee of the interim constitution to ensure the equitable and compulsory reservation of dalits in the constituent assembly interim government and all other state machineries. They also urge that government and political parties identify dalits suffering from “descent and work-based discrimination” and list these through the interim constitution. Another demand is for representation of dalits in the executive, legislature, judiciary and other public institutions. For now, reservation is needed in private sector too.

“It is ironical for a government to talk of inclusiveness while not appointing even one dalit or woman in the six-member interim constitution drafting committee,” said Navaid Hamid, Secretary, South Asian council for Minorities.

A draft memorandum was prepared by Nepali dalit rights activists in consultation with Indian dalit rights activists and constitutional experts including Dr Udit Raj, Indian Justice Party, Justice Ramaswamy, PS Krishnan, advisor, Human Resource Ministry and other activists. This memorandum, signed by Paul Divakar, Tej Bahadur Sunar, Tek Tamrakar, Sebal Ram, Arjun Bagale, will be further discussed in Nepal and then submitted. This is only a part of other steps that are planned to ensure the rights of dalits and other marginalised groups in Nepal.

Source: www.insn.org