OCT 29 -
One may find an exclusively Dalit expedition to Everest, as has been
organised by the Climber Club Nepal, rather peculiar and the need for it
questionable. But before arriving at conclusions, probing into the
reasons for this initiative would be useful. British explorer George Mallory had mysteriously vanished in his attempt to become the first man to conquer Mt. Everest in 1924. Mallory’s body, preserved in the mountain’s climate, was found by American mountaineer Conrad Anker in the year 1999. Whether Mallory succeeded or not in reaching the summit before his death remains a mystery till this date, but when asked by the media once on why he wanted to climb the Everest, he had casually answered, “Because it is there.”
If the media ever posed the same question to me, my answer, given the Nepali context, would be, “Because no Dalit has ever climbed the Everest yet.”
It has been 58 years since climbers the world over have tasted success in climbing the Everest, but none have come from a Dalit background. It is unnecessary to mention that Dalits have been socially, politically, economically and religiously excluded from the mainstream and that this has demoralized them psychologically. The revolutions in the past two decades for a more democratic society have brought no big change in the treatment of Dalits by people who supposedly belong to the upper castes.
Given this context, the main goal of the Dalit-exclusive expedition to the Everest is to empowering Dalits and downtrodden people by proving that they can do anything if given equal opportunities and access to resources. The expedition is meant to sensitize the world, the media, donors and development agencies, political parties and religious leaders towards the Dalit condition and programmes for Dalit empowerment. A successful expedition to Mt. Everest will help a demoralised psychology grow stronger and more confident and will counter to some extent the discouragement brought on to Dalits by the neglect they face in so many sectors despite of comprising 20 percent of the total population.
The Everest expedition could be a doorway for many Dalits to enter the tourism industry, which is supposed to be the largest in the country— a trained climber can be expected to contribute more in the field of mountain tourism, if opportunity is given.
Besides, attempting to climb Mt. Everest is not an easy task. Since 1965, about 203 people have lost their lives in trying to conquer the Everest and about 2700 have been successful in their venture. The worst years have been 1993 when 8 people out of 129 died and in 1996 when 15 people out of 98 surrendered their lives too. Among all routes, the Khumbu Icefall is said to be the most dangerous one as it has taken about 19 lives until now. Such a task is definitely likely to add to the esteem of the Dalit troupe.
The idea seems worthwhile and one with positive consequences for the Dalit community. However, the Government’s behaviour has been adverse to it and reflective of the discrimination traditionally cast against Dalits. The budget proposed for the expedition was Rs 3,64,0000, but the government only allocated Rs 2,000000 for the 11 Dalit climbers. This is noteworthy against the amount allocated for the civil servant expedition in 2010, which was a sum total of Rs 3,030,000 for the 11-member team.
Also, the budget allocated for the Dalit expedition to Mt. Everest was not an initiative of the Government of Nepal, but of energetic Dalit youth and Climber Club Nepal. The vision was fully supported later by the National Dalit Commission, the United Dalit Political Struggle Committee, the Dalit NGO Federation and other Dalits around the nation.
I myself have the passion and vision to be the first Dalit to have climbed Mt. Everest. In 1995, I had a self-funded formal basic training from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, India and in the year 2000, I had climbed the 17000 feet tall mountain Frey Pick with members of the Indian Army via Sikkim. Since then, I have been looking to climb Mt. Everest but have not successful as it costs about Rs. 35, 00000 to Rs. 40, 00000 for a single Nepali. Joining the Climber Club when it was preparing a historical team for the first Dalit expedition to Mt. Everest in coordination with the Dalit NGO Federation, was an answer of sorts to my long-held dream. There are 10 other members beside myself who are receiving formal training free of cost with the support of Da. Gombu Sherpa, the Chairman of Climber Club and a mountaineer of international repute, who had successfully completed the women’s expedition in 2008.
The team is now ready and the budget is allocated after much struggle by the Dalit community, but Government has been reluctant to give recognition to the team which has officially selected through nationwide announcement. The government wants to organise an expedition through its own agencies when they have had no role making constructing its vision and mission. Government wants to bypass those who have been actively involved in making the expedition successful.
Given this attitude and the insufficient budget allocated for the Dalit expedition to Mt. Everest, it is perhaps time that we knocked the doors of donor agencies to fill in with the necessary.
Sunar is a Sociologist
girithejorba@gmail.com
source:ekantipur 2011-10-30
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