गत हप्ता मैले विश्व प्रसिद्द हावड (Harvard) यूनिवर्सिटीका एक नेपाली प्रोफेसर मित्रसंग नेपालमा एक अंतरास्ट्रीय गुणस्तर कै खुला विश्वविद्यालय स्थापना गर्ने विषयमा केहि छलफल गर्ने ईच्छा राखी आफ्नो पारिवारिक घुम्घामको कार्यक्रम समेत मिलाई संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिकाको बस्टन (Boston) शहरमा पुगेको थिएं / नेपालमा स्थापना गर्ने भनिएको सो विश्वविद्यालयको विषय आफैमा नेपालका सिमान्त्क्रित रहीरहेका दलित समुदायकालागि गहन महत्वको विषय हुन सक्छ किनभने, त्यस विश्वविद्यालयको परिकल्पना नै ग्रामीण, दुर्गम र सिमान्त्क्रित जनतालाई विश्वविद्यालय स्तरको उच्च शिक्षाको पहुँच पुरयाने रहेकोछ / यस, विषयलाई मैले पछि विस्तार गर्नु पर्ने ठानेको छू / यस बिच, म हावडमा पुग्दा, मलाई अर्को एक कुराको पनि शोंच आएको थियो कि तेत्रो अजंगको शैक्षिक संस्थामा नेपालमा सिमान्त्क्रित रहीरहे पनि मेहनतकश र शिपका धनि दलित समुदायकालागि केहि न केहि सिक्ने वा उपलब्ध गर्ने कुरा अवश्य होला / हुन पनि त्यहाँ त्यस्तो कमसे कम एउटा कुरा रहेछ; मैले त्यो महशुस गरें पनि /

हावड यूनिवर्सिटीको बिभिन्न निकाय वा इकाईहरु बस्टन शहरको केंद्र क्षेत्रमा पर्ने हावड स्क्वायरमा र लंगवूड क्षेत्रमा जताततै छरिएका छन / ती मद्दये हावड स्क्वायर स्थित हावड साइन्स सेन्टरको हातामा प्राकृतिक इतिहास संग्रालय रहेको छ, जसमा विश्वभरीबाट संकलन गरी धेरै किसिमका जैबिक तथा अजैबिक प्राकृतिक वस्तुहरुका इतिहांसिक नमूनाहरुको संग्रह गरिएकाछन / ती सबै संकलनहरु विश्वविद्यालयका शिक्षक तथा विद्यार्थींहरुका अध्ययन र अनुशंधान कार्यमा प्रयोग हुने गर्छन / ती मध्ये धेरै नमूना हावडका अर्का अनुशंधानकर्ता एक नेपाली मित्रले हामीलाई देखाउनु भयो /

जैबिक विज्ञानं अंतर्गत प्राणी र वनस्पति जगतका अनेकौं नमूनाहरुको खंड-खंडमा बैज्ञानिक क्रमवद्द रुपमा राखिएकाछन / ती मध्य एक निकै आकर्षक देखिने खंड चांहि वनस्पति विरुवाका विभिन्न अंग र भाग जस्तै: हांगा, पात, फूल, फल आदि गरी तीन हज़ार भन्दा बढ़ी नमूनाहरुको एक अलौकिक संकलनले सुसज्जित छ, जस्मा ८३० भन्दा बढ़ी जातिका वनस्पति बिरुवा छन / ती सबै नमूनाहरु वास्तविक विरुवाका ठीक ठीक रूप, रंग र नापसंग हुबहु दुरुस्त छन / तर, अचम्भ लाग्ने कुरा के हो भने, ती सबै शीशा अर्थात ग्लास (Glass) ले बनेका हुन / कुनै बखत बालक कालमै भए पनि सुन, चांदी, लगायतका बिभिन्न धातुलाई तताउँदै, गलाऊंदै, पगाल्दै, पिटदै गरी त्यसलाई अनेक रूपांतर गरेको केहि अनुभव नबिर्शिसकेको म आफैलाई ती नमूना ग्लासलाई ग्यासबलेको दप्कोमा राखी फुक्दै, तताउदैमा रूपांतर गर्दै स्थायी रंग लगाउदै बिरुवाका बिभिन्न भागका दुरुस्त देखिने नमूना बनाइएको रहेछ भन्ने बुझन कुनै गार्हो कुरो भऐन / बिरुवाका हांगा-बिंगा, पात, फूल र फलका बिभिन्न आकार ठीक राख्ने मसिना तार भने तिनका भित्र-भित्र घुसिएको छन /

ती सबै ग्लासका बिरुवा, फूलहरु भने हाल-सालै बनाइएका होइनन; ती सबै १९ सौं शताब्दीका ग्लास-कालिगर द्वय बाबु लेओपोल्ड ब्लास्च्का र उनका छोरा रुडोल्फ ब्लास्च्का ले बनाएका हुन / उनिहरुको ग्लास कालिगरी र गर्गहना कालिगरी बंशीयमूल १५ औं शताब्दी अघिसम्म पहिचान गर्न सकिएको भनिन्छ / हावडले लेओपोल्ड ब्लास्च्काको परिवारलाई नै ती ग्लासका बिरुवा, फूल बनाउने कामकालागि कामकाजी गराई राखेका ले ती सबै नमूना निर्माण संभव भयो, जसले गर्दा सन १८९० देखि नै हावडका लाखों विद्यार्थिलाई विश्व भरिका बनस्पतिका बिरुवा, पात, फूल बारे ज्ञान दिलाउन संभव भयो / ती बिरुवा-पात-फूलका नमूना १८८७ देखि १९३६ सम्ममा जर्मनीको ड्रेसडेन नजिकै होस्तेर्वित्ज़ स्थित ब्लास्च्काको आरन (स्टूडियो) मा बनेकाहुन / हावडको वनस्पति संग्रलायका प्रोफेस्सर जर्ज लिंकन गूडेलको वनस्पतिका दुरुस्त नमूना प्रयोग गरी वनस्पतिशास्त्र पढाउने चाहनालाई सार्थक बनाऊन ती नमूनाहरु बनाइएका हुन / १८३४ को कक्षाका हावड पूर्व विद्यार्थी डा. चार्ल्स ईलीओट वएर को सम्झनामा उनकी श्रीमती र छोरी ले ती नमूना बनाउन लगाईं हावड विश्वविद्यालयलाई उपहार दिइएको भनिएको छ /

यस सत्य कथा गन्थन को मुख्य कड़ी के हो भने ग्लासका बिरुवा-फूल बनाउने ब्लास्च्काको आरन (स्टूडियो), जहाँ सांच्चीका बिरुवा-पात होइनन भन्नै पत्यार नलाग्ने नमूना बने, कुनै असाधारण प्रबिधियुक्त नभई नेपालका गाऊं वा साना बाज़ार मा कामकाजी गर्ने सुन-चांदी कालिगारीको सामान्य आरन भन्दा धेरै फरक छैन; केबल काम गर्ने डेस्क अलिकती युरोपेली ढांचाको र मतितेलको सट्टा ग्यासको बत्ती (बर्नर) थियो / मलाई लाग्छ- आजका नेपालका कतिपय कालिगरहरुको आरन ब्लास्च्काको आरन (स्टूडियो) भन्दा बढ़ी नै सुसज्जित होला पनि / त्यों हेरिकन कला कौशलमा भने ब्लास्च्काका बैज्ञानिक कला-कृतिबाट अब हाम्रा कालिगड पीडीले कालिगरीको आधुनिकीकरण गर्न पर्ने र सिक्न सकिने धेरै कुरा छन भन्ने ठानेको छू / यसलाई मनन गरौं /

केहि फोटोहरु/भिडियो:

Annapolis (MD), August 9- NASO Community organized a summer picnic at Sandy Point Beach in Annapolis, the capital city of Maryland on Sunday, as a means of social networking for creating awareness against Nepal’s problematic caste system. Nepalese Ambassador to the US Dr Sanker Prasad Sharma was the chief guest of honor in the function. Many other notable personalities like famous singer Yam Baral, popular actress Puja Chand and the leaders of various community based organizations of Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC also participated actively in the program. General Secretary of NASO Mr. Deepak Jung Biswakarma welcomed the chief guest Dr Sharma as well as other guests and outlined the program.

NASO President Bishwakarma with Nepalese Ambassador Dr. Sharma speaking during the introductory session at the picnic.

Shortly after the welcome speech, President of NASO, Mr. Dharam Biswakarma highlighted overall achievements of NASO in the last six years. Dr Sharma felt honored to be invited as chief guest who also declared NASO as one of the best organizations in the US to have contributed generously to the cause of downtrodden in Nepal. Citing his personal experiences Dr Sharma said Nepali society has seen many progress in the matter of social inclusion and justice due the proliferation of many dalit organizations in Nepal. Nevertheless he reminded that much needed to be done in the villages to eradicate the caste system and the only way to do so is through education. Lastly Mr. Ambassador encouraged everybody to enjoy the picnic.

Approximately 160 people attended the picnic program which included various games for the kids and adults both, live music and dances. Mostly NASO members and few interested people brought the variety of foods and drinks. Unlike previous programs and conferences this summer picnic saw many dalits especially the second generations- mostly kids who came to the US with their parents. This picnic served as a venue to bring together all the dalits and nondalits residing in DC, Virginia and Maryland areas.

Moreover second generation Nepalese (both dalit and nondalit) got chance to see and become friends with each others.

The report presented by NASO President Dharam Bishwakarma can be read at:
नासो कम्युनिटी, एक परिचय : धर्म विश्वकर्मा (http://www.globenepal.com/?p=1380)

The pictures and the video of the picnic can be viewed at the following website link-
http://www.mydcnepal.com/dc_events.php?nid=496

Report by:
Rajendra Senchuri

Abstract:
In this article I examine the articulation between contexts of agency within two kinds of discursive and complimentary forms of self and group identity that emerge from demarcating social perimeters with political and economic consequences. The first involves a provocative border created around groups of people called Dalit by activists negotiating the symbols of identity politics in the country’s post-revolution democracy. Here subjective agency is expressed as political identity with attendant desires for social equality and power-sharing. The second context of Dalit agency emerges between people and groups as they engage in inter caste economic exchanges called riti maagnay in mixed caste communities that subsist on interdependent farming and artisan activities. Here caste distinctions are evoked through performed communicative agency that both resists domination and affirms status difference. Through this examination we find the rural terrain that is home to landless and poor rural Dalits only partially mirrors that evoked by Dalit activists as they struggle to craft modern identities. The sources of data analyzed include ethnographic field research conducted during various periods from 1988-2005, and discussions that transpired throughout 2007 among Dalit activist members of an internet discussion group called nepaldalitinfo.

Excerpts:

WAITING
“In the last week of November in 2006, forty-one ears after the United Nation’s General Assembly adopted for ratification the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ICERD 1965), thirty-five years after His Majesty’s Government of Nepal ratified it, six years after the National Human Rights Commission was established by mandate of the 1997 Nepal Human Rights Commission Act, four years after the Nepali government established the National Dalit Commission, and one week after the landmark peace agreement between home-grown Maoist rebels and the Nepali government, a Dalit woman sat alone on the familiar steps outside a Thakuri home in far western Bajhang district of Nepal. [1] Through the clear night air Durga could hear from the third floor kitchen above her the slapping sound of fresh wheat dough and the clinking of heavy silver bracelets, as the Thakuri family’s eldest daughter-in-law prepared the evening meal of roti and vegetable curry. It was a cold evening, and a late autumn wind blew down from Khaptad Lekh. The figure on the steps hugged her bony legs closer to her chest and tightened the threadbare shawl around her thin frame. Her meal that evening would not begin until she returned home with the salt and spices she was now awaiting from the landlady. “Ama” I called to her. “Aren’t you cold? Why is she taking so long?” As she had for so many years, through four children and nine grandchildren, the now elderly widow beseeched her Thakuri patrons inside the house to “have pity on me, I have so little at home to eat and I want to cook my potatoes with some salt and turmeric. Please give me only a small handful of salt and a piece of turmeric root.” Decades of sewing clothing and repairing shawls for the landowning family, first alongside her husband and then with the elder two of her three sons, had earned her the right – she hardly considered it a privilege – to ask the wealthy Thakuri landowners for help in times of need such as she experienced this night. But the obligatory waiting that was the customary sign of subservience for so-called lower castes seemed only to get longer, in spite of government proclamations that caste discrimination must end and that those who violated Dalit rights would be brought to justice. In spite of national laws, Durga herself witnessed recent incidents when Dalit students were barred from the local high school activities involving the worship of Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Durga wondered how those people - the young and defiant Maoist followers with their bright red scarves and flapping banners who until recently had assembled in the once-active school yard near her Dalit community - were ever going to help her. he could not dream of seeing changes so great in her lifetime that she would be free from being a lower status person, a juto manche (impure person), a nachhune manche (not touchable person).

“Two months later in the new year of 2007, in the capital city of Kathmandu and in small and large cities around the world, a related discussion was underway, a debate among Dalits about who they are, what they should be called, and whether to relinquish or to retain those symbols attached to their Dalit status. Durga, of course, did not participate, and indeed, was only partially a subject of their discussions, focusing as they did primarily on men’s concerns. Yet she lived in the kind of place the discussants often evoked when referring to the persistence of caste discrimination in Nepal, namely, the rural farming communities to which urban Nepalis often point as reservoirs of conservative, non literate and backward conditions. I will suggest in this article that activists’ struggle over Dalit identity politics in Nepal’s new democracy might be challenged to include other agencies of resistance found in the lived experiences of rural Dalits like Durga, specifically in the context of economic transactions that daily frame their lives. My point is not to refute the legitimacy of Dalit activists’ claims as they craft modern political identities. Rather, I wish to show how these claims only partially mirror the complexities of rural Dalits’ agency of resistance within a socioeconomic context that must be considered in finding paths to social justice in the new Nepal.”

- Dr. Mary M. Cameron, Florida Atlantic University, United States.

Link to fulltext:
http://www.fau.edu/anthro/documents/Considering_Dalits_and_Political_Identity.pdf
_______________________________________
[1] . A scene drawn from field observations in Bajhang recorded during the years 1978-2001.

Research shows…
The Dalits in Nepal make up about 13% of the country’s population, and unlike any other caste and ethnic groups, they have historically been scattered throughout from east to west and north to south. Accounting for such a substantial chunk of the country’s population, they are also the most deprived and systematically excluded group in Nepal.
- Dalits are among the few traditionally marginalized groups that actually have less than 1% or less people having attained higher education.
-Dalits have the highest number of people falling under the poorest quintile, i.e., most of Nepal’s poor are Dalit.

By BIDUSHI DHUNGEL

An intrinsic aspect of Nepali society and culture has remained rooted in its paralyzing acceptance of the Hindu caste/class system.

Formally institutionalized in Nepal by the Muluki Ain in 1854 by Jung Bahadur Rana, the implications of its hierarchical division of society is pertinent even today, some 60 years after the initiation of caste-based definitions.

Without doubt, under this crippling hierarchy, those who were and still remain the most ostracized, neglected and demeaned are the literal outcastes, the Dalits.

The term in itself stands contested today, with many activists and leaders claiming its direct connotations with suppression, and the continual branding of this stratum of society as impure. However, while the more recent term “former untouchables” is gaining popularity amongst intellectual and political circles, for most Nepalis, the term “Dalit” is still in currency.

The Dalits in Nepal make up about 13% of the country’s population, and unlike any other caste and ethnic groups, they have historically been scattered throughout from east to west and north to south. Accounting for such a substantial chunk of the country’s population, they are also the most deprived and systematically excluded group in Nepal. They are “at the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy,” according to Dr. Mary Cameron, professor at Florida Atlantic University in the US and a researcher on Dalit rights.

The factual truth

In terms of Dalits’ access to health, education and general wellbeing, the figures are devastating. While there is much talk of the improvements of the socio-economic betterment of the community after the advent of democracy, it is clear that while narrowing, the gap between the Dalits and other castes in terms of access to resources still remains stark.
With over 50% of the Dalit community unable to read at all, “in absolute numbers of people, Dalits rank the lowest (in literacy),” adds Cameron.

From her research, it was established that they are among the few traditionally marginalized groups that actually have less than 1% or less people having attained higher education. This is, however, not to say that other groups do not suffer the brunt of a lack in education, and according to Chaitanya Mishra, professor at Tribhuvan University, the gaps in literacy between Dalits and non-Dalits is rapidly decreasing.

Nonetheless, even when it comes to health, the figures are similar. Again, more than 60% of the group between the ages of 15 and 49 years are anemic. This is in contrast to Brahmin and Newar groups whose health, though not rosy, either, is far better off with about 40% of their population suffering from anemia.

Perhaps, in this era of globalization, a more precise estimate of a group’s backwardness is accounted for by wealth accumulation. But even here, according to Cameron’s research, “Dalits have the highest number of people falling under the poorest quintile, i.e., most of Nepal’s poor are Dalit.”

Purna Nepali, a PhD candidate at Kathmandu University, suggests that poverty, lack of education, and poor health are not a “question of the physical availability of food, but ownership of food producing resources, like land.” And thus, the Dalit communities have been claiming land rights in order to pull themselves out of what he calls “structural poverty.” According to him, “land is a broader indicator of socio-political-economic status.” His explanation is such that the social structure and stratification in Nepali society gave way to the caste system, and its hierarchy which, in turn, defined exclusion. This brought forward inequality which permeated throughout the society through existing traditional and informal institutions, such as the Haliya and Khalo. Furthermore, he looks at the injustices of historical land grant systems and the uses of the state’s machinery and apparatus to capture Dalits’ land.

In general, while 21% of Dalits have no land, a whopping 77% are “agriculturally landless,” according to Ahuti’s (Bishwobhakta Dulal) findings in 2003. By agriculturally landless, it is meant that this group owns less than two ropanis of land. Such data and figures keep coming in, and time and again, from one survey to the next it is clear that even with the abolishment of caste discrimination in the 1990 constitution and the establishment of democracy, Dalits still bear the brunt of 240 years of systematic suppression. What is lucid is that in a country like Nepal where cultural norms and practices hold high accord, even with economic freedom, the stigmas of society have kept the Dalit community at the very bottom of the social and economic ladder. This leads one to question how and why such inequality was sustained in Nepal.

The historical legitimization of inequality

It is a fact that, overall, Nepal is a poor country in which poverty is rife. However, unlike other impoverished communities of Nepal, the case of the Dalits is “different.” According to Dr. S.K. Thorat, professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, while the Dalit community “share[s] the problem of poverty with other groups, they also suffer from gross discrimination which the others do not.” The argument here, being that, the Dalits are denied basic rights which other ethnicities and caste groups are not. And these denials of rights are “associated with social and cultural identity, not only economic identity.”

Traditionally, the denial of rights to marginalized groups, and especially the Dalit community, has played an immense factor in the community’s inability to rise economically. As it stands, “they are denied equal rights, not because they don’t deserve them, but because traditionally they just didn’t have these rights,” explains Thorat. He argues that while many groups may be poor due to the lack of resources; the “causation” for Dalits is different. And the causation for their denial of rights “is not capitalism or feudalism, it is the caste system.” And while other groups suffered from the dynamics of capitalism and feudalism, the Dalits, alongside this, also suffered from the dynamics of caste-based discrimination.

Such discrimination was legitimized in the country’s Civic Code (Muluki Ain) in 1854. But on the local level, there was also cultural rooting that rendered such inequality possible. Purna Nepali examines the way in which local proverbs explained and institutionalized the power structures of the caste system. Sero khane ki phero khane (Either take land or produce) and Tariko tod bithariko githa (Powerful can but powerless cannot) are good examples of the kinds of proverbs that instilled a self-fulfilling fatefulness among the Dalit community.

What Antonio Gramsci termed as “cultural hegemony” flourished in Nepal. He argued that such cultural leadership exercised by the ruling class served as a means of domination. However, Gramsci argued that while “consciousness and commonsense,” of a certain group may very well hold a different worldview, it is all too often “contradictory and fragmented.”

Amar BK, a researcher on Dalit identity, looks at the Sarki (a Dalit group) community in Kaski, and how, although accepting of the Hindu social order, actually holds a contradictory set of beliefs. The myths which they hold true actually “claim equality, rejecting their low and degraded identity.” For example, it is known that Bahuns do not recite the Vedas in the presence of Dalits. But, according to Sarki mythology, it is not because of their impurity but because the Bahuns stole the Vedas from the Sarkis!

There are many such myths that present a different, more equal world view for the Dalit community. However, because these myths counter with the accepted dominant view, it is as though the Dalits have two streams of consciousness – “one which is implicit in his activity, and the other, superficially explicit and verbal, which he has inherited from the past and uncritically absorbed.” Here, the former being the suppressed reasoning, and the latter being that promulgated by the ruling class.

Thus, through the means of cultural hegemony, the Dalit community in Nepal has inescapably been trapped into the gallows of poverty and exclusion. However, with the era of globalization and mass migration, a democratic means of government, the secularization of the country and the liberalization of society, a way forward for this historically marginalized community is slowly yet surely being paved.

En route to a new identity and its integrity

Constructing a new Dalit identity from within a community that has been pushed and pulled in different directions by the state, scattered throughout the country, and so divided within itself has proved itself an enormous task for the Dalits of Nepal. With many in the community preoccupied with questioning what the culture of his/her caste actually is, it has come to the realization of many activists and intellectuals that the Dalit identity first and foremost must stop being observed as a homogenous entity. This materialized in the wake of Nepal’s current political crisis and in determining a suitable federal model for the country. The Dalits, although representing a big proportion of the country’s population, have not been allotted a separate state under the allegations that they lack a distinct culture/language or historical/geographical location.

However, at present, there are 50 Dalit members in the Constituent Assembly, and according to Thorat, although they have not been able to act as a cohesive force within it, with the one-year extension of the CA, there is hope that they may yet pull together as a united front, and create opportunities for the community from within the nation’s new constitution. While Dalit scholars and activists like Ahuti refute the notion of a separate state for Dalits as they share the culture of the dominant high castes, scholar Mahendra Lawoti has provided an alternative solution to the ethnic federalism project being floated in the political sphere today.

He argues that for Dalits, and other groups alike, the best model for a decentralized and equal power-sharing mode of federalism would be a non-territorial one. Much like the examples of Belgium or Cyprus, and to an extent the way in which the Muslims in India have right to Sharia Law, Nepal could also potentially thrive under this kind of federalism. The argument here is that such federalism would “increase poly-ethnicity and power sharing among caste groups as well.”

However, there is much division in feeling towards this proposed solution. Nonetheless, what has materialized is a unified demand for “special rights”’ whereby the Dalit community is demanding compensation of sorts for the past 240 years of systematic oppression and regression. Alongside this, demands for mass land reform and distribution are also high on the agenda within the Dalit activists and political community.

Having said this, the political and social subjects of Nepal’s Dalit community remain fragmented, with Madhesi Dalits pushing one agenda while the hill Dalits forwarding another; and the caste system which has seeped into this outcaste community itself is proving as a barrier to their own development.

Nepal’s Interim Constitution, as it stands, has made much progress for the Dalit people. It assures all citizens a “dignified life,” and Dalits have finally been recognized as one of the beneficiaries of all the benefits of social justice. Also, a separate provision of rights against untouchability has been recognized. However, the Dalit community has been “treated as equal to other groups, which should not be the case,” says Tek Tamrakar, a researcher on Dalit rights.

“The major decisions are made by political parties. The members do not have enough substantive power to make decisions,” he adds. And thus the Dalit leadership and party leadership within various political parties, though having pushed forward the Dalit agenda significantly, has also acted as a divisive tool within the community.

But there is no doubt that the past few years have seen a more progressive Nepali polity than ever before. And for the Dalit community, if their agendas are more resolute and can find some sort of consensus under the unity-in-diversity mantra, much progress is to come for the former untouchables of Nepal.

“हिन्दुहरुको मूल थलो भारतमा पनि मान्छे- मान्छे बीच छुवाछुत र उंच नीच को भेदभाव को चलन हिन्दू धर्म मान्ने समाजमा मात्र छ / अन्य धर्मावलम्बीमा त्यस्तो चलन छैन / नेपालमा भने त्यस्तो भेद, आफुलाई हिन्दू भन्न नरुचाउने, आदिबासी र बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बी भन्न रुचाउने, जनजातिले पनि गरेको देख्दा अचम्भ लाग्छ /”
- डिकबहादुर विश्वकर्मा
अध्यक्ष, नेपाल दलित सेवा संघ
रुपन्देही

More on this story >>> जनजातिबाट पनि भेदभाव (Janajati also discriminates Dalits in Nepal)

Click here for the book cover: Book Cover: Dalits Ra Sakaratmak Upaya\" (Dalits and Affirmative Action by Yam Bahadur Kisan

One earlier book in English from the author Kisan was The Nepali Dalit Social Movement.

The synopsis of the Book: “Dalit Ra Sakaratmak Upay”

The book is based on a research work for Social Inclusion Research Fund.

Author: Yam Bahadur Kisan
Publishers: Actionaid Nepal and National School of Research
© Yam Bahadur Kisan
ISBN: 978-9937-2-2364-5
Pages: 200
Price: NRs. 250/-

Contents:

Acknowledgment by Yam Bahadur Kisan

Foreword by Prof. Dr. Bidhya Nath Koirala, Mr. Bimal Phuyal and Mr. Prasu Ram Ghimire

Chapter I
This Chapter comprises the context of the origin of the concept of affirmative action, sources, definition, kinds, methods, principles, critics and the global experiences.

Chapter II
This Chapter comprises the debate on reservation, proportional representation and special rights and the areas of its implementation.

Chapter III
This Chapter comprises about the Indian experiences on Reservation for Dalits, areas of implementation and methods.

Chapter IV
This Chapter comprises the present provisions of affirmative action in Nepal and especially for Dalits and critics.

Chapter V
This Chapter comprises the comparative analysis of the affirmative action policies, programs and its similarities and dissimilarities.

Chapter VI
This Chapter comprises the issues which to be included in the new constitution of Nepal.

Chapter VII
This Chapter comprises conclusion and recommendation to adopt the affirmative action policies, principles, areas of implementation, methods etc.

June 22, 2010मितिः २०६७/०३/०७

सिराहा जिल्ला चन्द्रोदयपुर ४ रुवालेका ४ दलित परिवालाई असार १ गते देखि त्यहाँका गैरदलितले सार्वजनिक इनारको पानी प्रयोग गर्नबाट बिाचत गरिएको घटनाप्रति दलित गैरसरकारी संस्था महासंघको गम्भीर ध्यानाकर्षण भएको छ र सो घटनाको निन्दा एवं घोर भत्स्रना गर्दछ ।

देश संवैधानिक रुपमा छुवाछूत मुक्त राष्ट्र भइसक्दा र धर्मनिरपेक्षता कायम भइसक्दा समेत देशका विभिन्न क्षेत्रमा दलित समुदाय माथि जातीयताकै आधारमा छुवाछूत विभेद र बिाचतीकरण गरिँदा पनि स्थानीय प्रशासन देखि लिएर केन्द्रीय सरकारसम्म मौन बस्नुले छुवाछूत मूक्त राष्ट्र घोषणा धर्मनिरपेक्षता जस्ता संवैधानिक व्यवस्था र राष्ट्रिय अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सन्धि सम्झौता एवं कानून समेतको खिल्ली उडाएको स्पष्ट हुन्छ । त्यसैले यस घटनाप्रति स्थानीय प्रशासन र सरकारले गम्भीर रुपमा लिई पीडित परिवारलाई क्षतिपूर्ति र न्यायका साथै पीडकलाई सजाय दिलाउन समग्र दलित समुदायको तर्फबाट महासंघ सरोकारवाला सबैमा हार्दिक आव्हान गर्दछ ।

दलित मानवअधिकार र सामाजिक न्यायको प्रवद्र्धन र सम्बद्र्धन गर्नका लागि कि्रयाशिल करिब ३०० दलित गैरसरकारी संस्थाहरुको छाता संगठन यस महासंघले आफ्नो स्थापनाकाल देखि नै राष्ट्रिय क्षेत्रीय स्थानीय तथा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय स्तरमा सशक्त ढंगले आवाज उठान गरिरहेको सन्दर्भमा यस घटनाका सम्बन्धमा महासंघले गरेको यस आव्हानलाई सरकारले कमजोरीका रुपमा लिई पीडितलाई न्याय र पीडकलाई सजाय दिने सवालमा संवेदनशील नभएमा सशक्त आन्दोलन गर्ने चेतावनी समेत दिन चाहान्छौं ।

गजाधर सुनार
अध्यक्ष
दलित गैरसरकारी संस्था महासंघ (DNF)

तिम्रो मन्दिरको मूर्तिमा मेरो आरनको गन्ध आउँछ
ओदानीमाथिको कराहीमा मेरो पसिनाको गन्ध आउँछ
आँखा जुधाउने आँट गर धर्माती मान्छे !
कि मेरो अस्तित्वलाई भुंग्रोमा पोल र धर्म धान्ने आँट गर
कि मेरो अपमान गर्ने शास्त्रका पानाहरुलाई च्यात्ने
या जलाउने साहस गर
म तिम्रो मन्दिरको देवता बनाउने कामी हुँ !
यो गोल भूगोलको एउटा गहुँगोरो अफ्रिका हुँ !

Source: संविधानसभामा गहुँगोरो अफ्रिका

Nepaldalitinfo Special Report

Houston, Texas (USA), May 30- Inaugurating the plenary session of the 4th NRN Regional Conference held here on May 28 -30, NRNA President Devman Hirachan said, “Knowledge transfer is vital to the overall success of NRN movement, as it is a key area where NRNs can support Nepal, and was identified by the NRNA’s Kathmandu Declaration”. He added, “An Open University of Nepal is envisioned as the flagship initiative of NRNA to meet the needs of the marginalized Nepali population [understandably including women and dalits].”

Dr. Pramod Dhakal presenting a concept paper on opening and positioning of the proposal for an open University of Nepal

A day-long workshop organized last Friday on an Open University of Nepal (OUN) initiative envisioned as a collaborative project with the Government of Nepal was top of the highlights during the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA)’s 4th NRN Regional Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA from May 28 to 30. Houston Declaration of the NRNA announced the Open University proposal as one of the NRNA’s flagship initiatives. Canada Foundation for Nepal (CFFN), an Ottawa based non-profit organization is working closely with NRNA in this initiative. During the workshop, three core proponents of the University initiative Dr. Pramod Dhakal from Carlton University, Ottawa (Canada), Dr. Ambika Adhikari, Faculty Associate of Arizona State University (USA) and Dr. Drona Rasali, Adjunct Professor of University of Regina (Canada) presented the conceptual framework of the open University.

Dr. Ambika Adhikari presenting a concept paper onf resource mobilization and business plan for an open University of Nepal

The workshop concluded successfully with deliberations on the academic, management, and business aspects of creating an Open University for Nepal. The event brought together some of the prominent international academics and institutional leaders from Canada and USA, notably Dr. Renu Khator, Chancellor and President of University of Houston Systems, and Dr. Frits Pannekoek, Chairman of International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and the President of Canada’s Athabasca University and Dean Dr. Jeetendra Joshee, Continuing Education Faculty at California State University, Longbeach (USA), Professor Emeritus Dr. Prahlad Pant, University of Cincinnati, Professor Dr. Alok Bohara, University of New Mexico (USA) and Dr. Shiva Gautam, Harvard University (USA), Dr. Carl Stokton, University of Houston (USA), Dr. Mahendra Lohani, Heifer International (USA), Dr. Gokul Bhandari, University of Windsor (Canada), Dr. Kalyani Rai, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) and Dr. Mohamed Ally, Athabasca University (Canada), Dr. Nalini Chhetri, Arizona State University (USA).

Dr. Rasali presenting a conceptual framework on academic development, contents and delivery for an open University of Nepal

At the end of the workshop, an Open University of Nepal Strategic Committee (OUSC) was formed to take up the recommendations of the workshop for further action. The committee will have 11 members Dr. Pramod Dhakal (coordinator), Dr. Ambika Adhikari, Dr Raju Adhikari, Dr Drona Rasali, Devman Hirachan, Dr. Upendra Mahato, Nepal’s Ambassador to the UN Gyan Chandra Acharya, Ambassador to the USA Dr. Shankar Sharma, Ambassador to Canada Dr. Bhojraj Ghimire, and Representative of Ministry of Education, Nepal. A technical committee comprised of Dr. Pramod Dhakal, Dr. Ambika Adhikari, Dr. Drona Rasali, and Dr. Raju Adhikari was also formed.

For more details, please contact:

Dr. Pramod Dhakal, Ottawa, Canada.
E-mail: pdhakal@gmail.com
http://openu.cffn.ca/

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NRNs for Open University of Nepal

KATHMANDU, June 1: CA member representing Dalit Janajati Party Biswendra Paswan on Tuesday returned allowances that he received as a CA member to the Parliament Secretariat. Paswan returned Rs 120,700. However, it does not include his salary amount.

Paswan said that he returned the amount as CA failed to draft the new constitution in the given time frame. He also appealed the CA members to return the amount as everyone was equally responsible for failing to draft the new constitution.

Paswan is the only member representing his party in the CA.