Discrimination against Dalits still rife, continue to
be left out of decision-making processes
Marginalisation of members of
Dalit communities still persists even though several laws and constitution bar
discrimination.
Chandan Kumar Mandal
Chandan Kumar Mandal
Published
at : September 8, 2019
Kathmandu
“She had repeatedly refused sexual advances of her co-workers,
and they raped her and killed her. They must have thought that they were
entitled to her body,” said Kamal Bishwokarma, her uncle in Kathmandu on
Saturday.
Ajit
Mijar, 18, originally from Pachkhal, Kavre was reportedly murdered after he married a woman from
another caste. Within a week of their wedding, his dead body was found buried
by the riverbank of Furke Khola in Dhading district. Even after three years of
his death, the dead body still lies at the Tribhuvan University Teaching
Hospital. According to his family members, Ajit did not commit suicide. They say it was a staged-murder.
The
two cases are isolated. But what is common between these two cases are the
victims are from the Dalit community.
“The
culprits have been arrested, but conspiracies are going around to protect those
arrested. The court hearing has already been postponed six times,” said
Bishwokarma. “How long can we wait for justice? How long should her soul
suffer? Is it just because she was a Dalit that the central government has
maintained silence in Maya’s case?
Narrating
similar pain and struggles for the justice for his son, Hari Bhakta Dhakal
Mijar, father of Ajit, said: “Everyone seems unaffected because the son of a
Dalit died.”
Despite
strong legal protection against any discrimination based on caste, class,
religion, region, and any other grounds, Dalit families like that of Maya and
Ajit continue to face subjugation and discrimination—in society and also by the
state— across the country, according to rights activists, Dalit leaders,
political party leaders and civil society members.
According to Pradeep Pariyar, executive chairperson of Samta Foundation, at least
16 deaths have been reported in which victims were killed only because of their
caste since the new Caste Based Discriminations and Untouchability (Offence and
Punishment) Act 2011 came into force.
“Dalits
were at the forefront of the People’s War. They have died for various
democratic movements of the country. They are discriminated and left aside by
those in power,” said Pariyar. “Even after seven decades of Dalit’s struggle
history, the Dalit movement has not yet gained the expected momentum although
the democratic movement in the country has flourished in the same period.”
Participants
at the event organised by Samata Foundation, who had assembled to discuss
mainstreaming of Dalits in the state and their quest for dignity, said plights
of Dalits have not yet improved the way it should have with the arrival of the
new constitution in 2015.
According
to Ramprit Paswan, a National Assembly member, Dalit’s marginalisation has been
falsely blamed with their fate.
“Now,
we have the best political system, but Dalit’s struggle continues to be same,”
said Paswan. “Dalits are protected in the Constitution and other laws. If these
laws are not followed, then that’s a crime. But the protector of the
constitution—the state—itself practises discrimination.”
Jagat
Bahadur Sunar Bishwokarma, Minister
for Youth and Sports, admitted that the socio-cultural transformation of the
country has not happened along the lines of the new constitution. However, the
condition of the Dalits has improved in comparison to the past.
“The
Dalit liberation movement is not in a disappointing phase now. But there are
still incidents of caste-based discriminations and violence against Dalits,
which is shameful for all of us,” said Minister Bishwokarma.
“The caste system has victimised other groups as well.
Therefore, the whole Nepali society should come together to eliminate this
system.”
Braj
Ranjan Mani, an Indian scholar and writer on Dalit communities and their
struggles, said educating people is the tool that will liberate Dalits, and
they have started sharing their stories of struggles.
“History
has not been written from the perspective of Dalits,” said Mani. “Breaking the
imposed culture of silence, they have started sharing their stories which
animate Dalit literature and have sprung up in all languages of the
sub-continent.”
The
country adopting the federal system has also not yielded expected results in
terms of placing Dalits at the leadership level, say Dalit activists. Even
those in power are unable to fully exercise their rights.
They
pointed out that there is not a single Dalit minister in all the seven provincial
governments and not a single appointment at the 13 different commissions. At
the local level, only one Dalit mayor has been elected at a rural municipality
and six at the municipality level.
According
to Nira Devi Jairu, head of the joint parliamentary committee titled State
Directives, Policy and Liability Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation
Committee, political parties should give significant representations to Dalit
and marginalised groups.
“Now,
we don’t need yet another revolution to improve the condition. But improvement
is required inside the political system and political party,” said Jairu.
According to Mani, the spread of education and political consciousness has been
changing the structure of public discourse and public space.
“Despite
these welcome changes, Dalits are still struggling to enter the crucial areas
of knowledge production and policymaking,” said Mani. “More recently, Dalits
are resisting the newer forms of caste hegemony, cultural tokenism and
political co-option. Dalits are not merely an identity marker but also a
metaphor for human suffering, human resilience and human resistance against the
inhuman system. This metaphor signifies Dalit’s undying spirit to fight back
and regain their stolen rights, dignity, liberty and property.”
Chandan Kumar
Mandal
Chandan Kumar
Mandal is the environment and migration reporter for The Kathmandu Post,
covering labour migration and governance, as well as climate change, natural
disasters, and wildlife.
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