NEPAL: Living In a Republic

By Mallika Aryal

LELE, Jun 13 (IPS) - A week after Nepal was declared a republic, in the small sleepy town of Lele, some 30 km away from the capital Kathmandu, Dhurba Kumar Sunar, 41, goes about his day like any other.

Jeweller by profession, he is on a deadline to finish the last pieces of pendant that he has been working on for the last few days. “I don’t have time to think about politics, this is what buys our meals,” explains Sunar.

When Nepal was declared a republic last week, there were loud celebrations in Kathmandu. In Lele there were some low-key processions, but most people in the village did not really care. Lele used to be a predominantly Nepali Congress area but in the Apr. 10 constituent assembly election, Maoist Barsha Man Pun Magar defeated his Nepali Congress counterpart Uday Shamsher Rana (15,329 to 14,011 votes).

“Not many in these villages know that Nepal is now a republic, and even those who do know don’t really understand what it means,” says Sunar. Once a staunch supporter of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), the third largest party in the present constituent assembly, he joined the Maoist party a few years ago and is now the Lele secretary of the Dalit Liberation Front.

“The Maoist party has done a lot to end discrimination against Dalits and other suppressed groups in the village,” says Sunar recalling days when his family was looked down upon, how he was not allowed to sit with high caste people at a tea shop and how he had to wash his tumbler after drinking tea at local tea shops.

Sunar’s wife Laxmi chooses her words carefully. “It is not enough that the king is gone, the political parties have to prove to the people that they are better than him,” says Laxmi adding, “until the living standard of people improve, unless there are roads, development, construction, until our kids can go to schools for free and we won’t have to worry about health-care, the king, the Maoists, other political parties are all the same for poor people like us.”

Fulltext of the article published in the Inter Press Service

nepaldalitinfo special report by Bhakti Nepal

July 11- Today, the people of Nepal witnessed a much awaited moment of the deposed king Gyanendra and his family leaving the Narayanhiti Palace at the end of 15-day deadline set by the Constituent Assembly (CA) while declaring Nepal as the Federal Democratic Republic ending formally a history of 240-year long monarchy rule of Shah dynasty in the country. The autocratic rule of Shah dynasty and its subordinate Rana dynasty was largely responsible for precipitating the Hindu system of caste discrimination and untouchability in the country. In 1854, the Government of Nepal under joint rule of these two dynasties headed by all powerful Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana had introduced a civil code called Muluki Ain that formalized caste discrimination and untouchability victimizing hard working occupational castes (Karmajans). The country’s statutes have now abolished caste discrimination and banned untouchability in the eyes of law. However, the practice of caste discrimination and untouchability is still rampant at all levels, and wounds of victimization inflicted to the people of artisan castes are still deep seated among the victims. A state apology from the Government of Nepal for having made statutory provision of caste discrimination and untouchability against the hard working occupational caste people was long over due. Therefore, one of the main agenda of the nepaldalitinfo network right from its inception little over five years ago was to demand this state apology. The victimized people of Nepal, who make up at least 13% of the Nepal’s total population, are asking the Government of Nepal this long over due state apology along with appropriate compensation package for them to be able to stand equal to the rest of the population. In the new era of Nepal as Federal Democratic Republic, this demand will be pursued more vigorously until the responsible government meet the demand fully.

Neither the deposed king bothered to make an apology on behalf of his ancestral monarchy nor the people of victimized castes and communities considered pressing this demand important at this juncture, depite the fact that the monarchy under the Shah dynasty of Nepal was largely responsible for the historical statutory provision leading to the current state of caste discrimination and untouchability practice still being rampant in the country even in the 21st century. Ironically, the opening sentence of the farewell statement read out by the Gyanendra Shah over a press conference attended by national and international media just prior to his departure started with “Char Varna Chhattis Jat ko Phulbari….” (the garden of four Varnas and 36 castes..- playing with the words originally used by the first King Prithvi Narayan Shah to describe the diversity of people of Nepal), but he did not relate to what were the serious consequences of delineating the castes into highly discriminatory hierarchical caste groups throughout the rule of his dynasty. This leaves behind a histroy that Nepal’s monarchy, despite being largely responsible for maintaining caste discrimination throughout the country, ended without apologizing to its victims of caste discrimination.

On the other side of the globe, today is also the day, when the Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada expressed a formal apology to the aboriginal peoples of Canada for its past wrong doing against more than 100,000 aboriginal children by forcefully separating them away from their families and communities to place them in the state-run Christian boarding schools in the name of assimilating them into the dominant culture. The children so separated were harmed, tormented and sexually and physically abused during their stay in the residential schools.

“Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.” The state apology says, “These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal.”

Click here for: the Canada’s state apology statement.

RELATED NEWS:

Ex-King Gyanendra leaves Narayanhiti

PM cites ’sad chapter’ in apology for residential schools

FEDO programme on discrimination of Dalit women (Video clip)

The Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO), a national level organization dedicated to the rights of Dalit women and the Working Women Journalist (WWJ) jointly organised an interaction programme where discrimination of Dalit women journalists by other journalists and the ways to stop it were discussed - CA member Binod Pahadi speaking.
Presented by: Bureau Report, Nepalnews.com

Download and listen to woman leaders Jayapuri Gharti, Radha Gyawali and Arju Deuba discussed on contemporary situation of caste discrimination against Dalits in Nepal over “Sajha Sawal” (Common Issues) program in the BBC Nepali Service.

The nepaldalitinfo salutes the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
(Salutation banner contributed by Subhash Nepali, Dalit Welfare Organization, Kathmandu– the baby republic was conceived at the Jana Andolan-II, born at the inception of Interim Constitution and christined at the first meeting of Constituent Assembly)

RELATED NEWS:

Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (ekantipur.com)

KATHMANDU, May 29 - Nepal has become a Federal Democratic Republic from today after the Constituent Assembly overwhelmingly voted for abolition of the country’s 240-year-old monarchy.

“I declare that the proposal tabled by the government for implementation of a republic has been passed as 560 members out of 564 present today voted in favor of the proposal and 4 against,” announced meeting chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung after a division vote late Wednesday night.

The nepaldalitinfo report by Bhakti Nepal

Kathmandu, May 26- The moment when Nepali people are to declare themselves as citizens of a republic through the first meeting of Constituent Assembly (CA), as mandated by the CA election results is only two days away. A series of national mega celebrations are underway welcoming the nation as republic. Rubin Gadharva of Janaandolan-II fame, a young artist from Dalit community, will be featuring among nationally popular artists, including Ramesh, Rayan, Madan Krishna, Hari Bansha, Manoj Gajurel, JB Tuhure, Nanda Krishna Joshi, Ramkrishna Duwal, Madhu Gurung, Hari Pangeni in a gala evening cultural show at the Open Theatre at Ratna Park. The national celebrations are planned to take place throughout the country for the whole day on May 28th. In the the morning hours, a citizen mass rally starting from Basantapur is planned.

The Citizen Committee for Republican Day Celebrations, in its media promotion through distribution of leaflets, email and internet, has urged all countrymen to partake in the celebrations.

RUBIN GANDHARVA’S MUSICAL SAGA FOR REPUBLIC:

Songs from Kathmandu (US NPR interview during the CA election)
Day to Day, April 17, 2008 · A young musician in Kathmandu offers a unique take on the Nepali Democracy Movement and the new constitution. Ballots are still being counted in Nepal, a week after the election.

Rubin Gandharva’s Pro Democratic Song (during Jana Andolan II):

Maila Nani Raichheu Beimani:

Kathmandu, May 24- National Dalit Commission organized today a program to felicitate all Constituent Assembly members elected from Dalit communities.

Some of the CA Members elected from Dalit communities (Photo Source: www.nepalnews.com

RELATED NEWS:

The Rising Nepal: National

Dalit CA member feted

KATHMANDU, May 24: The National Dalit Commission honoured 49 members elected from the Dalit community to the Constituent Assembly amid a function here today.

Minister for Woman, Children and Social Welfare Pampha Bhusal honoured the CA members. On the occasion, the CA members signed on a commitment paper prepared by the commission to ensure Dalit’s proportional representation at all levels of state mechanism through the new constitution in a secular, federal and democratic state.

Declaring untouchability and caste discrimination as social crimes, the commitment paper calls for constitutional guarantee to practically end the untouchability system in Nepal.

Minister Bhusal said the Maoists would be always with the Dalits to ensure their rights through the new constitution.

Chairman of the commission Ram Lal Bishwokarma chaired the programme.

Secretary of the commission Janaki Barah, UML’s Shanta Manawi and NC’s Bijul Kumar Bishwokarma called all Dalits for unity to end feudalistic system and build an inclusive state.

Nepaldalitinfo adds:

Recently, CA member Kabita Sardar Bantar representing Madheshi Dalits has spoken with BBC Nepali Service about her commitment for Dalit community. (Listen BBC’s record of her commitment)

Jeevan Baniya
Empowering Dalits in Nepal: Lessons from South Korean NGOs’ Strategies. A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (NGO Studies) to the Graduate School of International Studies, Ajou University. December 2007.

- Bhakti Nepal
Reporting for nepaldalitinfo

The nepaldalitinfo network expresses its gratitude to Jeevan Baniya, a Nepali scholar, for his Master’s Thesis , “Empowering Dalits in Nepal: Lessons from South Korean NGOs’ Strategies” which he submitted to the Graduate School of International Studies Ajou University in South Korea. Baniya has successfully explored the information relating to important aspects of Dalit empowerment in Nepal. The author has touched on both inter-caste and intra-Dalit caste discrimination rampant in the country, while examining the ills of discriminatory practices against Dalits as well as the socio-eceonomic and political status of Dalit communities. The author draws practical implications on Dalit empowerment in Nepal from the experience gained by NGO sector in South Korea.

The author has drawn contemporary information on Dalits from large number of sources, of which the nepal dalit information resources available at our website http://www.nepaldalitinfo.20m.com was one source.

The nepaldalitinfo network, which undertakes internationalization of Nepali Dalit issues as one of the goals, congratulates Baniya for his successful attempt to document Dalit issues internationally at Ajou University in South Korea.

Abstract of the Thesis

It is estimated that there are 260 million Dalit people worldwide still living in segregation and servitude because of caste-based discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch. Even in the 21st century, there are many Dalit people in Nepal who are treated as animals. They constitute around 20% of the total population of the country; but they are systematically discriminated, excluded and marginalized in the social, cultural, economic and political spheres. They are even deprived of their basic needs such as health, food, and education. Taking this serious situation of Dalits in the country in to the account, many civil society organizations (CSOs) and government agencies have been working for elimination of different forms of discriminations to them, and towards their empowerment through their several programs in the country. This study establishes that their programs and interventions are however, yet far from meeting their goals owing to several constraints. The study also makes the profound analysis of the issues and concludes that for the overall Dalit empowerment, it is urgent need for the government, civil society, international agencies and business society to come up with strong commitments as well as effective, innovative and result oriented programs that change and reshape the attitudes and perspectives of the people towards Dalits. Likewise, the study also states that the different actors fighting for the empowerment of Dalits should be more proactive in their strategies and thereby devote themselves as philanthropic to combat against the vicious ill of discriminations, inequality and exclusion against Dalits in Nepal. And some strategies used by South Korean NGOs that have enormously contributed to enable those NGOs in enhancing institutional capacity can be good lessons for the Nepali CSOs. In the context of poor capacity of CSOs in Nepal, the South Korean experiences are relevant in strengthening them that will ultimately contribute in empowering the Dalit community in Nepal.

Download the full document, Master’s Thesis: Empowering Dalits in Nepal: Lessons from South Korean NGOs’ Strategies by Jeevan Baniya (Jeevan_thesis07.pdf, 365 KB)

Krishna Kumari Pariyar, a Constituent Assembly (CA) member elected under PR system from Dalit community sewed the last pieces of cloths out of her noble occupational work as souvenirs for her neighbours in Pokhara before heading out for Kathmandu to join her new job as the CA member. The recipients of the souvenir articles will cherish them as honorable gifts from her.

(तस्वीर : कुलचन्द्र न्यौपाने)

समानुपातिकबाट सभासद चुनिएकी कांग्रेसकी कृष्णाकुमारी परियार शुक्रबार काठमाडौं जानुअघि पोखरामा छिमेकीले चिनोका लागि बनाउन दिएको ब्लाउज सिउ“दै । यही पेसाबाट परिवार धान्दै आएकी परियारलाई कास्कीबाट सभासद चुनिएपछि अब कपडा सिउन नभ्याउने भन्दै छिमेकीहरूले अन्तिम चिनो बनाउन लगाएका थिए । उनले पनि अब जनताका काममा खटिनुपर्ने भएकाले कपडा सिउन नभ्याउने बताइन् । Source: ekantipur.com

RELATED NEWS:

समानुपातिक निर्वाचन प्रणाली अन्तर्गत विजयी दलित उम्मेदवारको नामावली

- Bhakti Nepal
reporting for nepaldalitinfo

The final list of all CA members from Dalit communities declared elected by the Election Commission under the PR system given below [in Nepali].

समानुपातिक निर्वाचन प्रणाली अन्तर्गत विजयी दलित उम्मेदवारको नामावली

समुह पहिचान: नामथर- पार्टी
मधेशी दलित: दुर्गादेवी पासवान- माअ‍ोवादी
मधेशी दलित: बाबुलाल पासवान- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: विमला मिजार- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: रुपा विक - माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: सन्तोषी विक - माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: पार्वती रसाइली- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: हिमकुमारी सुनार- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: परशुराम रम्तेल- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: हरिराम सिपाइली- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: पदमलाल विश्वकर्मा- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: मंगल वि.क.- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित: विनोद पहाडी- माअ‍ोवादी
दलित/पिछडिएको क्षेत्र: धर्मराज वि.क.- माअ‍ोवादी
मधेशी दलित: शम्भुहजारा पासवान- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: खड्गबहादुर बस्याल (सार्की)- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: महा नेपाली- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: चन्द्रीराम टमटा- नेपाली काँग्रेस
मधेशी दलित: कविता सर्दार बाँतर- नेपाली काँग्रेस (Listen BBC’s record of her commitment)
दलित: लक्ष्मी परियार- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: कृष्णकुमारी परियार- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: विमला नेपाली- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: कल्पना सोप दमाई- नेपाली काँग्रेस
दलित: छविलाल विश्कर्मा- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: विष्णुमाया विश्वकर्मा- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: भैरे कामी - नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: दुर्गा परियार- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: दलबहादुर सुनार- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: गोविन्द नेपाली- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: पुरनसिंह दयाल- नेकपा (एमाले)
मधेशी दलित: रामरती राम- नेकपा (एमाले)
दलित: रीमा कुमारी नेपाली- नेकपा (एमाले)
मधेशी: रामप्रित पासवान- नेकपा (एमाले)
मधेशी: शान्तिदेवी चमार- नेकपा (एमाले)
मधेशी दलित: कलावती देवी दूसाध- मधेसी जनअधिकार फोरम, नेपाल
मधेशी दलित: आशाकुमारी सरदार- मधेसी जनअधिकार फोरम, नेपाल
मधेशी दलित: सेवकीदेवी तत्मा- मधेसी जनअधिकार फोरम, नेपाल
दलित: रमणी राम- तराई मधेस लोकतान्त्रिक पार्टी
मधेशी दलित: वविता देवी धोवी- राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी
दलित: शारदा नेपाली- नेकपा माले
दलित: विश्वभक्त दुलाल- जनमोर्चा नेपाल
दलित: सन्तबहादुर नेपाली- राष्ट्रिय जनमोर्चा
मधेशी दलित/पिछडिएको क्षेत्र: विश्वेन्द्र पासवान- दलित जनजाति पार्टी

The total of 49 CA members from Dalit communities (42 members elected under PR system and 7 members elected earlier in direct elections from geographic constituencies) make up a 8.5 % of a total 575 CA seats that exclude 26 CA members yet to be nominated by the Government by cabinet decision.

the nepaldalitinfo report