Kathmandu, May 13- The the second meeting of a committee of Dalit CA members and RDN+DSDC consortium took place in Kathmandu today. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current situation and how best we can raise our issue and make constituent assembly and its committees heard. Out of six CA members five were present and another guest CA member Mr. Sayud Haqe joined the meeting. He is an independent CA member but very good friend of Mr. Biswendra Paswan as well as Dalits. While Biswendra Paswan was doing gherao of rostrum alone, most of the Dalit CA members from all other parties could not support him, but Mr. Haq is one of the few CA members who did it. Whenever he is invited in the Dalit programme he appears and supports the issue.

The last meeting had decided to organize interactions with different thematic committees of CA and to start, an interaction was planned with state restructuring committee and its chairman Mr. Lokendra Bahadur Bista, but due to the very unfavourable political situation that had to be postponed. Now all the CA members present in the meeting reiterated that it is very urgent to interact with all of them. They also informed the meeting that most other groups belonging to Janjati, women etc have already done and we are lagging behind. They are also of the opinion that while big leaders of major political parties are engaged in their political game of forming government, we all need to concentrate our efforts in the constitution making process. By doing so a message will be conveyed to others that Dalits too are not silent, they are doing something too.

The meeting suggested Mr. Hira Vishwakarma to lobby with all the chairman of the different committee by having separate meeting with each of them. They have also agreed to provide necessary support to arrange meetings with them. Upon doing so they will be sensitized and will be willing to come to our interaction programmes more comfortably. From tomorrow onwards Mr. Vishwakarma will make visit and fix dates for the interactions with them. It has also been discussed that the concept paper that each committee has prepared will be reviewed from Dalit perspective and feedback given.

Mr. Vishwakarma shared his initiative to prepare the biographies of Dalit CA members and record their contribution in making the forthcoming constitution pro-Dalit. They all appreciated the idea and committed their necessary support.

One of the members Ms. Laxmi Pariyar could not attend the meeting as she had to go to the hospital, while 5 (Biswendra, Hari, Shambhu, Puran and Shatidevi) CA members and Hira Vishwakarma and Ananta Yatri were present in the meeting along with the guest observer Mr. Haq.

Report by:
Hira Vishwakarma from Kathmandu