- DB Sagar Bishwakarma
American University
Washington DC

Over 6 decades, Dalit movement has been continuously fighting for social justice, humanity, proportionate representation and inclusive democratic phenomenon in Nepal. Overall, the dominant state policies, mechanism and socio-cultural ideologists, paradoxically, accelerated the emergence and widespread acceptance of collective identity of socially excluded groups such as Dalits, ethnic/indigenous, Madhesi (Indian-origin Nepalese), minorities and etc, etc. Therefore, it has been an urgent issue to reconcile casteism in the standpoint of social exclusion towards justice, equilibrium and equality, which can explore common identity with respect and power. For this, sociologists and Dalit rights activists have to redefine, examine and advocate the term “Dalit” from the standpoint of self-dignity, which could supply social honour/respect, recognize values /cultures and positive perspectives as “a Community of Dalits in Nepal and South Asia, who are rich in traditional arts, skills, culture, human capital and are considered as a social scientists or architects of the society”. Despite these high social values, productive capability, and inherited skills, the shameful social reality is that Dalits are still bearing the historical legacy of so-called “untouchability” or “impurity and inferiority” ascribed to them by the Hindu social stratification system, with resultant segregation and exploitation by so-called “superior castes”[1] even in the modern Nepalese society; this is disgraceful. The issue of caste relations is dominated by a ‘Indo-Aryan’ group known as ‘Bahun[2]’ or Hindu Pundits and they manipulate and misinterpret, as part of their cleverness, calling it a “Dalit Problem”. Dalit is not a problem; problems are poverty, illiteracy, lack of access, unemployment, dominations, discriminations, exclusion and so on that are handed down to Dalits by the traditional social fabric. The pathology of caste relation in the Nepalese as well as South Asian society is characterized by both prejudice and discrimination as a tool of domination by the perpetrators over the persons of so-called bottom level caste groups like Dalits or other social excluded groups. The term “Dalit” is already established as a symbol of common identity of millions of people, and as a result, it is eventually becoming a means of political power of the people known as Dalits. Knowing this implication, Bahuns are heavily are involved in misinterpreting the term ‘Dalit’.

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[1] Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), Nepal. Executive Report of International Consultation on Caste-based Discrimination, 2004.
[2] A priest caste group, who serves in the ritual functions and pray to the god for other caste groups, who claimed themselves as a so-called superior caste.