The people´s movement of 2006 is very memorable and special in the
history of Nepal and it is even more so for the Dalits of Nepal.
Especially remarkable for Dalits, who were suppressed and oppressed
since decades back is June 4th of that year.
On that day Nepal was declared a nation free of untouchability and
discrimination by the interim parliament, which was established by the
people´s movement, to which Dalits contributed significantly. Along with
the declaration, the government also announced special economic
programs of education, healthcare and employment for oppressed
communities living under the poverty line.
Courtesy: Jagaran Media Center
Almost five years after the declaration, the Dalits were the
beneficiaries of one more bill from parliament. The
legislature-parliament passed the Caste-Based Discrimination and
Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) Act, 2068 on 24th May, 2011,
acknowledging the principle that everyone is equal in terms of rights
and human dignity.
But despite the historic declaration and passage of the legislation, the
country witnessed several incidents of discrimination and injustice.
Many Dalits were victimized not only in the rural and remote areas but
right in the capital city. So it is not hard to understand that the law
enforcement agencies and other stakeholders were not that effective in
practice in implementing the historic achievements.
Reportedly about half a dozen Dalit people lost their lives in various
districts on the charge of touching other people´s kitchens or water or
encouraging inter-caste marriage. There was displacement of Dalit
families and inter-caste couples were left in a pathetic situation,
seeking recognition of their rights. The victims either had to put up
with being battered by the so-called higher castes or were turned into
internal refugees in their own country.
Right after the bill was passed by the legislature-parliament, Sete
Damai, father of Santa Bahadur Damai of Dhanigaun in Toli VDC Ward No.
2, Dailekh district, lost his life in a heinous attack on on August 31,
2011. This was just one incident that occurred soon after the historic
declaration, but the number of incidents concerning untouchability has
been increasing tremendously, according to a media monitoring report.
The report shows that of the incidents of violence, excess and
oppression against Dalits in fiscal year 2012/013, 80 percent involved
untouchability and caste-based discrimination.
Out of the total, murder was involved in 2 cases, physical attack in 17,
incidents related to harassment and personal dignity in 11, inter-caste
marriage in 17, and sexual harassment and rape in 9 cases. These are
some representative incidents covered in the report but there is more
information related to such incidents, said different Dalit rights
activists during a 12-day national campaign against caste-based
discrimination and untouchability organized jointly by Dalit Civil
Society (DCS) members to exert pressure on the government to implement
the decisions it announced after the country went republican and to draw
the attention of stakeholders--law enforcement units and political
parties.
Inaugurating the campaign, Madhav Paudel, Minister for Information and
Communications, stressed that there are strong constitutional and legal
grounds against the practice of untouchability and other forms of
discrimination. He also readily accepted that untouchability has
remained a national issue because of loopholes in the implementation of
the law.
Like other government ministers and political leaders, he gave
assurances that innovative measures would be stepped up to make sure
that the law is implemented as per its spirit. “Law enforcement must be
very effective as per the expectations of the Dalits and the government
must run separate youth orientation programs to make the country totally
untouchability-free,” said Shyam Shrestha, a political analyst.
During the post- people´s movement period it was surprising to see
people including government officers, central and local level political
leaders and social leaders involved in discrimination. Different
Dalit-based organizations have urged the government to bring in specific
policies and programs for Dalits, ensure equal justice for them, bring
in special laws for the elimination of caste-based discrimination, and
see to the proper implementation of the law and observance of national
and international conventions and declarations.
Former lawmaker and UCPN (Maoist) leader Biswobhakta Dulal Aahuti says
that though the passing of the law was a great achievement, it was only
the first step to ensure effective protection of Dalit rights. The
adoption of the bill on Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability
must be accompanied by political will and strong institutional
mechanisms, he said.
Aahuti said a 12-day campaign was not enough to exert pressure on the
government and there must be parallel efforts by political leaders and
rights activists. The issue of Dalits is sure to remain unsettled until
the fresh constituent assembly election and until Dalit and non-Dalit
leaders of political parties work jointly to ensure an appropriate legal
framework along with assurances of effective legislation and changes in
social attitudes.
Though the 12-day campaign was able to recall the historic days of the
popular movement, it was unable to point out the limitations and further
plans needed to make those days historic in the real sense.
Govt bodies on Dalits are weak and ineffective
What was the main objective of the 12-day campaign against untouchability and caste-based discrimination?
We celebrated in memory of two historic days after the country turned
republican, to promote solidarity and enhance cooperation between
different stakeholders and rights activists against caste-based
discrimination and untouchability. Though the law passed by the then
parliament is remarkable the implementation part is very weak. As a
result, Dalits in Nepal have been facing similar problems as in the
past. So we members of Dalit Civil Society jointly decided to launch a
campaign to draw the attention of the government once more.
Do you think the campaign organized in the same manner as in the past can yield any productive result?
I think we are quite successful in awakening government bodies like
Nepal police, Nepal Army, National Human Right Commission and Office of
Attorney General, and in raising the issues of the downtrodden and
Dalits before the government and political leadership. With the support
of media persons and rights activist, we were able to create an
effective environment among different organizations to fight together
against discrimination and for the rights of Dalits as well. At the same
time, we were also able to review our limitations and the reasons
behind suppression in spite of the strong legal bases against
discrimination. So I claim that the campaign was productive.
So what further steps is the society going to take in future?
Despite the strong legal basis, Dalit issues are not the government´s
top priority. So we are now to change the modes of fighting against
discrimination, focusing on campaigns for the health, education and
economic rights of Dalits to make able and self-reliant. The society
also engaged in serious self-retrospection within the movement and felt
that organizations fighting for the Dalits need to democratized
themselves along with ensuring transparency in their work. And we have
also realized that several communities other than Damai, Kami, Sarki and
Paswan have to be brought into the mainstream movement of the Dalits.
Most importantly, we need to come up with a movement for development
with social justice.
What has been lacking in the leadership of the Dalits?
The Dalit movement is definitely influenced by the political parties.
None of the political leaders representing Dalits were able to bring up
Dalit issues in their parties in an effective manner and they also could
not defy the whips issued by their respective parties. On the other
hand the gap between Dalit leaders and the younger generation has not
been narrowed because of the traditional approach to tackling the
problems faced by Dalits. Neither were the leaders able to persuade the
youngsters nor was the younger generation ready to be motivated.
What about the role of government bodies established for the rights of the Dalit community?
It is very sad to state that the government bodies - National Dalit
Commission and Dalit Development committee - are comparatively weak and
ineffective. We have to question their ability to do anything effective
as per the aspirations of the Dalits. Although the organizations were
meant to be strong constitutional bodies, they have been there just to
recruit party cadres.
Has the society proposed anything different to the government bodies?
Definitely. We requested the government bodies to strictly implement the
laws and rules. In order to protect the rights of the Dalits, we have
requested the National Human Rights Commission to plan long-term. The
paperwork on the plan is yet to be carried out but the society is
hopeful about the commission.
साभार : Republica
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