by Mukunda Das Shrestha
This article is a reflection of the writer’s personal view of Peace, Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. The ideas and opinions expressed here are less materialistic and more spiritualistic. As such, they do not repose much confidence in the existing philosophies, approaches and practices towards conflict resolution through negotiation alone. It is strongly argued that conflict resolution would not be possible without realization of truth, and internal purification of sinful mind, which calls for management of one’s own self, management of people and, finally, management of organizations.
Demonic Human Attitude
The demoniac person thinks: “So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the Lord of everything, I am the enjoyer, and I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.”
The person referred to above may be prosperous materially and physically, but poor mentally and spiritually. Such a person may be able to have the pleasures of life, but not enjoy the blessings of peace, because pleasures and happiness are two different things. Pleasures are material, and happiness, spiritual.
The term, violence, on the other hand, could be understood and stated as hateful and heinous actions directed towards destroying the existing order of beautiful things and commonly accepted set of customs, traditions and manners. The two, as such, are the human traits opposed to each other. Count Leo Tolstoy’s most celebrated novel War and Peace, the vast epic of Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia in 1812, gives a vivid picture of the two opposite human instincts. To elaborate, the two characteristics are a reflection of two different states of mind- mental satisfaction derived while being/getting attached to greater things, and the pangs of suffering and separation felt while getting detached from things of greater value. In short, peace is an elixir, a panacea for all pains and ills- physical as well as mental, whereas violence, a venom, a deadly poison.
Conflicts between Peacemakers and Warmongers
During ages of prolonged struggle between good and evil and between peace-lovers and war-mongers, human beings had and have witnessed how protagonists and war-mongers in different ages of human civilization, in their crusade against peace and the established order of things, got themselves defeated. Having no alternative, they had to submit to peace. Retreating from the battle against good and fine creation of nature, resulting in irreparable loss of millions of lives and property, and in pervasive destitute and dissolution, the war-mongers and the humpty-dumpy, who always took pride in sitting on the lofty wall of arrogance, in tickling their vanity, and in terrorizing the whole peaceful atmosphere, finally had to recognize and embrace peace as the ultimate truth of survival and human civilization. Samrat Ashok, the Great Ruler of the Mauraya Dynasty, after the sanguinary battle of Kalinga, and Angulimal, who quenched his thirst for human blood by wearing wreaths of human fingers, attained eternal peace only by singing hymns of peace and by preaching peace throughout the world. The currency note of India still bears the Pillars of Ashok, as an incarnation of peace. Contrary to this, nowhere in Germany has not a pillar or statue of Adolph Hitler of Nazi Germany ever been built, nor has any part of the land in Italy been spared to erect the statue of Mussolini. Even the name of the so-called Alexander the Great has been buried into oblivion, whereas the photos, logos, or statues of Lord Buddha are seen in many parts of the world with Buddhist communities. Nepal takes pride in that the Buddha, also called the Light of Asia, was born in Nepal, and that his message of non-violence is pervasive throughout the world. Mahatma Gandhi of India, an incarnation of non-violence, whose photo is seen hung in many offices, still dwells in the heart of many ideal and peace-loving people both in India and around the world.
Understanding Peace
The word peace is used with different connotations and discussed and understood in different contexts and perspectives-, social, spiritual, political, etc. Politically, and in the context of bilateral and multilateral relations, peace is understood and elaborated in a rather materialistic and non-spiritual sense. In reality, it is a state of mind, a human condition and a framework for thinking good, being good and doing good. It is only through this philosophy that we can enjoy the blessings of life. As such, peace refers not only to arms control and regional security (ACRS) arrangements, but also indicates various conditions that ultimately rest in the conviction of its necessity. Thus restoration of peace in the Middle East calls for an integrated process at three levels: an agreement upon political settlement, a coordinate economic development, then security arrangements which involve a stabilizing role for the United Nations. Unlike in the Middle East, the peace needs considerations in Indonesia and in Kosovo. The Asian sub-continent is of different nature
Factors Hostile to Peace
Peace is a sensitive state of mind opposed to unhappiness and mental unrest. Generally speaking, the domain of peace gets disturbed under the predominance of violence. All beautiful creations of nature being conserved and many other marvels of art and architecture preserved through years of toil during ages of peace and progress are damaged and destroyed in no time on the altar of violence.
Causes of Violence and the Dimension of Global Violence
A utilitarian theory that aims at the greatest happiness of the greatest number is utopian. As such, never has there been an age of all peace. It would not be an exaggeration to say that human history began with rivalry, if not with conflict, over the issue of commanding ownership over water (river or rivers). To speak of other causes, the gap between haves and haves-not, and the exploitation of the weak by the strong and of the poor by the weak are some of the tangible factors contributing to the origin of conflict. Asia and Africa have been the homeland of large number of people living below the poverty line. Violence, as such, in the Asian sub-continent and in the African countries is mainly poverty-related. It has driven the people to insurgency and terrorist and violent activities, all widening the magnitude and dimension of violence. In late 1970s in Cambodia during the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who abolished education and religion, more than millions of the innocent people were forced from cities into rural communes and another million people were killed or died of starvation. Pol Pot’s philosophy was that ultimate peace could be established only after violence and bloodshed. The world does not believe, but practice this.
Violence in Indonesia stemmed from student movements demanding political and economic reforms. President Suharto, in a bid to receive critical loans from the International Monetary Fund to cure the country’s ailing economy, announced an end to government subsidies. The result was a considerable price hike and bloodshed, leading to clashes between the riot police and the rioters resulting in the killing of thousands, burning of shops and houses of the Chinese nationals in Indonesia, seizure of the parliament building, etc. In spite of a series of political changes-resignation by Suharto and a take-over by his protégé Haibie, things did not change for any better. Despite these changes and peace restoration efforts, the island country is still at unrest with eruption of new racial and ethnic violence. Conflict resolution and reconciliation, in this country, through negotiation alone seems very difficult. In the Philippines, the corruption charges against President Joseph Estrada has not only resulted in violence, but also forced the President to resign. Behind the bars, he is facing a trial that may end in a life sentence.
Increasing Global Violence
Over the decades, violence has been increasing considerably, posing a great threat to global peace. Though the U.S. Crime Index Trends shows a steady decrease in crimes in the late 1990s, with the 9 % decrease in murder, and 8 % in robbery and 6 % in aggravated assault with 4 % fall in the crime level in 1996 in the suburban areas, the level of crime by region, geographic division, religion, etc. in other countries in the South-East Asia, East Asia, Africa, and Latin America- is increasing tremendously. The frequency of violence in Muslim countries is much higher. Fundamentalist militants in Egypt killed 58 foreign tourists and 4 Egyptians by striking at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the 3,400 year-old structure in the Luxor area. Armed men at the Tzotzil Indian village of Actea, in the Mexican village in the state of Chipas, took 45 lives on 22 December 1997. More than 400 people during the 9 days of December, 1997 and another 500 people lost their lives in violent incidents flared up by Muslim extremists at the onset of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. As estimated by the Algerian government, a total of 26,536 persons have died during the 6-year-long civil war in the country.
Other Factors Hostile to Peace
Not only physical violence, but also other factors and unusual happenings are hostile to peace. Disasters, diseases and epidemics and the lack of social security schemes/ programs are other causes of human unhappiness.
With the marvels of modern science becoming necessities of human life, the magnitude and dimension of disaster has further widened. With man’s increasing association with the scientific inventions and discoveries, the world is witnessing a considerable increase in disasters of all kinds. Such disasters are both natural and man-wrought. It is difficult to reckon lives lost in shipwrecks, aircraft disasters, railroad accidents, bomb explosions, nuclear accidents and tests. These are disasters with high rate of fatalities and others with relatively low fatalities. Earthquakes, mine explosions, hurricanes, typhoon, blizzards and other storms, fire incidents, etc. result in more disruptions and fatalities, adding more to human worries.
Life-taking diseases like cancer, HIV/Aids, diabetes, heart disease and cancer are also equally threatening.
Violence in the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal
For ages, Nepal has been recognized as a peace-loving country, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Considering the atrocities of cold war and regional conflicts spreading across the world, King Birendra had proposed before the distinguished heads of state and heads of government during the auspicious occasion of His coronation that Nepal be declared a zone of peace. The proposal was accepted by more than one hundred countries, but by India, Nepal’s nearest neighboring country.
The last six years after the restoration of the multi-party democracy in 1990, has seen political turmoil and disturbances and an unexpected increase in the Maoist activities throughout the countries. Such activities, which began sporadically, have now taken a devastating turn, resulting in mass massacre of police personnel and innocent people for the last six years. As stated in a report published by INSEC, during the one-year period rule by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, 2 hundred and 63 persons including and police personnel and the Maoist insurgents have been killed in the rigorous attack launched by the Maoists at Jhorletar, Rukumkot, Surkhet, Dolpa, Palpa and other districts. The organization has also reported 6,000 incidents of human rights violations. The report released by Deputy Prime Minister keeps the number of those killed since 13 February 1996 till now at 1 thousand and 27. INSEC has recently reported that a total of more than 2 thousand persons, including the police personnel, the Maoist rebels and the ordinary people have been killed during the six years period of Maoist operations and interventions.
Major Factors Contributing to Violence
The root cause of ever-increasing Maoist activities in the Himalayan Kingdom, as the majority of the people say, could be attributed to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the ruling party government. It has failed to maintain the law and order situation, eliminate poverty and backwardness and control increasing exploitation of the disadvantaged communities by those in power. Regarding the security issue, it has also been alleged that the government has not been able to mobilize security mechanisms available at its own disposal to ensure peace and security to the lives and property of the people. The government, on the other hand, has been condemning the Maoist activities as heinous, criminal and directed towards damaging the norms and values of the democratic system of governance. More and more allegations have been levied that the Maoists have turned down government’s proposal to sit together for an open dialogue and discuss the country’s burning problems. Most surprisingly, the Main Opposition Party and other political parties, witnessing the unusual developments taking place in the country at a faster degree, have not yet been able to state whether the Maoist insurgency problems are political or criminal. Some of them say that the problems are political needing political solutions. To an intellectual, such a cunning statement seems all confusing and deceitful, because it does not analyze the nature of the political problem, if it were a political problem indeed, nor does it explicitly propose or prescribe any tangible political solutions.
A Challenging Question
The government promises to be neat and clean and remain committed to the selfless service to the people, which seems to be a remote reality, and has recently announced a few development package programs for the downtrodden. However, it would worthwhile to ask, “Will this alone help solve the Maoist problem? “The answer could be both “Yes” to some extent, and “ No” to a great extent. It could be “Yes”, if Maoist invasions and operations against the government are directed and restricted to elimination of rampant corruption, misuse of national resources for fulfillment of vested interests of the political leaders in power, and for the establishment of a just and equitable society through restoration of peace and equal development opportunities for all. The answer to the above question may be “No” if the prime motives of the Maoist insurgency were to overthrow the multi-party system and establish a new Janabad regime of their own. It could be one of the reasons why the Maoists are not responding to the government’s call for an open dialogue. Their hesitation as well as refusal to sit vis-à-vis with the ruling parties across the negotiating table seems to be an expression of their hidden and evil intentions. With the intensifying of more disastrous interventions and operations, the possibility of open dialogue seems to be remote.
Assessment of Violence Situation in Nepal by Donor Agencies
The ever-increasing activities of the Maoist insurgents and the deteriorating law and order situation have posed a great threat to International Donor agencies working in Nepal for decades with various development projects. Over the years, in many Maoists held forums, effectiveness of donor assistance in terms of investment-returns ratio has been questioned. The Maoists have upheld that donor assistance has not been properly utilized. As a remedy to this, donor assistance should be directed towards poverty alleviation and overall development of the disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Donor agencies carrying out of their development programs in the Maoist affected areas have perceived mixed impacts of Maoist violence on their assistance. Such impacts at macro and micro levels are both positive as well as negative.
Strategic Change in Assistance Policies
After an in-depth assessment of the donor assistance and of increasing Maoist activities, donor agencies have felt the need for strategic change in donor assistance policy. They now realize that local development assistance should be less donor-driven and more local needs based. To this end, there have been increasing trends among the donor agencies to work in partnership. INGOs like Redd Barnet, GTZ, MS-Nepal, SAP-Nepal and many others with exception of a few, have already started working in partnership. There have been important implications of Maoist conflicts on the development agencies to change their incentive systems. DFID-Nepal in a study report on this issue has prescribed Do’s and Don’ts for the development agencies working in Maoist influenced areas. The Do’s focus, among other things, on the use of local resources – human, technical and material and formulation and materialization of local development policies in consultation with the target group/s. The Don’ts include moving and working of the donor agents with police personnel, and use of sophisticated and costly equipments.
Role of Civil Society and
Human Rights Organizations
in Attaining Peace
Over the years, it has been realized that civil societies and local NGOs can work more effectively than the GOs in raising public awareness and in properly mobilizing scarce local resources-human, material, technical towards poverty alleviation, good governance and effective participation of the local people in policy formulation and management of state affairs. But they seem to be least concerned with the Maoist problems. The problem being political or of some other kind, it is risky indeed for them to get involved in such matters. But they can, at least, help the people analyze and realize the seriousness of the problem so as to devise ways and means of solving the problem.
Impact of Violence
Violence is an offshoot of evil and destructive human instincts. It, as already been discussed, generates from a number of causes. But it is sure that all crimes are acts of violence. The loss of lives and property incurred in violence is irreparable. Civil wars, which sometimes become more disastrous than wars among nations, constitute one of the forms of violence. It can even endanger national strength and territorial integrity. With the disintegration of the former USSR, for example, into small nations, Russia ceased to be a Super Power with its glory eclipsed by internal civil disorder and with many misfortunes brought upon the lives of the people, who had never to worry about bare necessities of life. After its disintegration, the country saw and had to bear more violence. The country could not do what it could have done as a Super Power towards minimizing violence and maintaining power balance between the pro-communist and the pro-western nations. The disintegration considerably increased tendencies among communities, sects, races, tribes, etc. to be free from the Central rule. Not only Russia, but also many other nations, including even small ones, has now become vulnerable to the threat of separation. Needless to argue, global peace in such a situation is almost unthinkable.
Truth as the Precondition for Global Peace
Politically, an approach to peace stems from political leaders’ moral integrity to tell the truth to the public at large. Quite irrespective of the violence mounting in their homeland, they make tall talks about world peace. It sounds quite strange for countries without peace at home, to speak of peace abroad. Many political efforts seemingly undertaken for restoration and promotion of peace end in otherwise results. Transformation of a country’s atom-for-peace program into an atom-for-war-or-otherwise purpose, for example, is a testimony of this. Concerning the nuclear tests conducted in May 1998, by the two longtime adversaries- India and Pakistan, both Prime Ministers- Atal Behari Vajpaee and Nawaz Sharif said that there was no release of any radioactivity into the atmosphere from the tests. Coming days will see the impact of such tests.
Conscience Crucial for Conflict Resolution
Ceasefires, negotiations, summit meetings, though are most acceptable ways of conflict resolutions and restoration of peace, are not enough. We have witnessed failure of many efforts of this kind. Reasons of failure of peace-making efforts could be attributed, among others, to the lack of sincerity among the signatories of peace conference and summits and non-implementation of commitments. The failure of the League of Nations after its establishment in 1915 is a living example of it. Despite noteworthy achievements of the SAARC, the tension between India and Pakistan is increasing. Despite the fact that conflict is a human evil and that conflicts are manageable, they impede our development and drive us into momentary or long-term displeasure or unhappiness. Every conflict, it should be realized, stems from the want of conscience and from a state of non-realization of truth. For this, all the human beings could be accused- more or less or and one way or the other. Every accused is required to confess his or her guilt, and deserves to be forgiven. It is only through self-realization, apology and confession of guilt that we can get near to peace and remain far apart from conflict. The world has physically and materially been turned into a global village, but the feeling of alienation has kept us far apart. The WTO aims to bring together world business communities to enhance each other’s effectiveness and to benefit from each other. But contrary to this spirit, will the individual or communal feeling of suppressing others for fulfilling vested interests make WTO a reality of the day? The answer could be affirmative YES, if we could, as George Bernard Shaw in his masterpiece play Man and Superman expected every normal human being (Man) to be turned into a wise and judicious being (Superman), healthy- morally and spiritually, quick to love, affection and brotherhood, but slow to anger, greed, jealousy, malice, and ill-will. This calls for internal purification of mind of all human beings
Conclusion
People in the new millennium feel lucky to be living at the very moment of history when humanity is conquering new frontiers of knowledge. As space faring species, man’s life on Earth and his attitude towards the Universe are changing rapidly. With the advance in technological and scientific innovations, man has entered into an epoch-making era, making global communication easier and beneficial to all. Despite this, we have witnessed a steady decline in the amount of wisdom. Though all human beings can rightly assess the value of peace and estimate the dire consequences of conflicts, we are quick to violence, but slow to wisdom. Consequently, human civilization in the present-day world is faced with increasing violence, civil disorder, communal riots, separatist movements, and party conflicts for fulfilling everyone’s vested interests. World peace becomes almost impossible in such a situation. Such innovation, need to be compatible with peace needs of human beings.
All civilized societies perpetuate the memory of a great heroes- Buddhist, Christ, and Gandhi. Such societies will continue to denounce and condemn warmongers -Hitler, Mussolini, and Pol Pot. The decades of nineties and twenties ended with many conflicts and violence in many parts of the world. It would be too early for us to foretell the future of the new millennium. But let us conclude by saying, “Hope brings eternal in human breast”. Let us also take it in mind that peace begins at home. Without this, let us not talk about peace abroad. This peace at home would be possible only if the people elected representatives will remain clean and green and committed to the selfless service of the people.
Nepal is known the world over as a “Shangri-la”, a peaceful and beautiful mountain kingdom. It is becoming increasingly apparent, however, that the snow-clad peaks cover a deeply divided and conflict-ridden society. Sharp divisions between the high-caste elite and the many ethnic groups and “untouchable” low castes prevail throughout the country. Ten years of multi-party democracy has not been able to address these conflicts. Instead, new divisions have been developed between the urban elite, who have become part of the global middle class, and their desperately poor rural countrymen. The conflicts have deepened. The main actors to step forward to use them have been the Maoist rebels. A violent insurgency, now in its sixth year, has spread throughout the country.
MS has chosen ” Peace, Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation” as the theme for Global Action for 2001 and 2002. This theme is of particular relevance for Nepal in the present context. There is a clear need to explore peaceful and constructive uses of conflicts to build a more equitable and just society.
As part of its Global Action activities MS-Nepal has cooperated with Aarohan, a Nepali theater group, to create a village theatre about conflicts as they are seen from the point of view of the oppressed. The long-term aim of the project is to build the capacity of our grass-roots partners to work creatively with conflict management. The project is aimed especially at partner organizations representing indigenous and ethnic groups and “untouchable” castes — groups who feel especially discriminated against in Nepali society. Through interactive theater in their own communities, the participants will develop their capacity to work constructively with local conflicts. The project will also form the base of an ongoing network between MS minority partner organizations working on conflict resolution.
How can Dalit women be uplifted? by Pabitra Sunar
The so-called untouchable castes in our country are known as Dalits. It is only because they are born into the Dalit castes that society does not accept water touched by them, they are not allowed inside the house, and they cannot intermarry with other castes. This is inhumane treatment of man by fellow man. There is no greater or more inhumane discrimination in the world. One fourth of the national population is Dalit and nearly half of the Dalits are women. But in many areas of national life they have lagged far behind.
Whenever the problem of Dalits is mentioned, people generally understand it to mean caste untouchability. The problem of Dalit women is lumped together with the general problem of gender faced by other women. But the problem of Dalit women is separate from and more fraught than the problems of other women and Dalit men. The problem faced by Dalit men is the social one of untouchability, insult and economic poverty. Dalit women face these problems as well as the additional ones of total economic dependency on others and gender oppression within the family and in society. While there is no reckoning of the daily oppression around the house, at the kitchen, while shopping or fetching water, or when going to the temple, it is again Dalit women rather than their men folk who bear the brunt of communal violence at public places and torture. Apart from this, Dalit women are also at the receiving end when it comes to being beaten up, forced to eat feces or subjected to other forms of utterly inhumane treatment on accusations of practicing witchcraft. Furthermore, it is commonplace for upper caste males to entice Dalit women into sexual relations with allurements of love and marriage, and then leave them in the lurch. When they go in search of justice, justice is not to be found. The reason behind this is the economic indigence of the Dalits and their lack of access to the judicial and administrative machinery.
Dalits who have land have only enough of it for the produce to last them five or six months of the year. When such is the economic condition of the Dalit community as a whole, it can easily be imagined what the economic life of Dalit women must be like. Economic wellbeing has a big role in improving life standards. Once the economic level improves, education, health and awareness levels also follow. The extremely poor life standards of Dalit women can be put down to economic poverty. More than 70 percent of Dalit women are dependent on agriculture as a vocation. And most of those who are in this calling work not on their own land but on land belonging to others as agricultural laborers. While the overall Dalit literacy rate is 33.9 percent the literacy rate for Dalit women is only l2 percent. According to an Action Aid report, 90 percent of Dalit women suffer from prolapsed uterus. This can be attributed to the hard labor that Dalit women are forced to do to make a living. The life expectancy of other women is 58.9 years, but for Dalit women it is only 48.3 years. Out of the 200,000 agricultural laborers in the country 75 percent are Dalits. As agriculture labor and traditional caste based callings constitute the vocation of the Dalits, these are also life lines for Dalit women. Such economic conditions have made the situation of Dalit women extremely hard.
What the above mentioned facts show is that Dalit women are an extremely deprived lot. Life for this class is hardscrabble. There are in a ditch from which there is no getting out. With the advent of democracy the cause of the Dalit community has been taken up by government/non government organizations. But in practical terms neither has the state implemented the relevant laws nor have non-government organizations been able to make any big impact on society. And while it is the Dalit women who face the biggest problem, their problem has been sidelined. That is why there appears a clear need to bring the Dalit women into the mainstream of development. For this the Dalit women have first to be placed within the target communities. Joint evaluation and monitoring committees and pressure groups should be formed to see whether or not the things that governmental and non government organizations are supposed to do for Dalit women are actually done. Government and non-government organizations should come up with a concrete program calculated to improve the economic and educational conditions of Dalit women and implement these programs. Such a program should include compulsory free education, scholarships for Dalit women, a free medical service fund, employment-oriented skill training, land distribution for landless settlers, equal pay for equal work and a lot of other measures of economic reform. Such a program may be a stride in economic reform in favor of Dalit women, but a different kind of program has to be implemented for removing the social practice of caste untouchability. For this there should first of all be implementation of the law from the government level. With society deeply wrought in traditional ways, awareness should be aroused in the community through door to door campaigns, awareness-oriented training programs and radio and television programming with the focus on the rural community. Radio programming should contain material that is capable of changing the mindset of both Dalit and non-Dalit communities. This should make a positive impact against communal discrimination. Public awareness-oriented media programming can play some role in doing away with the oppression against women within the family. But the main approach to encouraging women in education calls for special initiatives by government along with the instituting of equal rights to parental property. The leadership class in society and the intelligentsia should sit down to eat together with Dalits and participate with them in entering homes. Special security arrangements should be initiated from the local level to cope with incidents of social boycott that confront inter-caste married couples. Yet, if Dalit women are to be rendered capable it is they themselves who should rise up. All these programs hold promise for the upliftment of Dalit women and utmost reform in their favor.
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Padmalal Bishwakarma is a name in Nepal’s Dalit movement which needs no introduction. Born in Assam, India in 2007 Bikram Era, Bishwakarma has had formal education upto M.A. and M. Ed.. Although his permanent address is Shantipur, Ilam, he has of late been living in Kirtipur. A lecturer in English at Tribhuvan University’s Kirtipur Campus, he has been actively involved in the Nepali Dalit movement since a long time back. His thinking is that whatever one’s political belief, the Dalit movement should be advanced independently, and effectively. At present he is active as central chairman of the Nepal Oppressed Dalit Caste Liberation Society, an independent, effective Dalit organization and the country’s oldest. What follows is a synopsis of a conversation that Rem Bishwakarma had with him, focusing on topical issues in the Nepali Dalit movement.
1.Who are the Dalits and what is the Dalit problem?
-The Dalit problem is the joint manifestation of the problems of class and caste. In the hoary past cast divisions came about in the course of the division of labor. Society’s laborers and artisans became consigned to the sudra caste. With the intention of lording it over them and exploiting them for all times, steps were taken to reduce them to sudra slavery. In the course of time, the feudal practice of looking down on labor and on laborers and artisans resulted in the lowliest sudras being relegated to the status of outcastes and mistreated as untouchables. The community which consequently bore the brunt of caste discrimination and the oppression of untouchability are the Dalits of today. Starting out as a problem of class, the Dalit question subsequently assumed the shape of two special humanitarian problems. The Dalit question is not just a class problem but has become a distinct humanitarian problem also. The biggest problem of the Dalits now is inhumane caste discrimination and untouchability.
2. How do you look upon the present state of the Nepali Dalit movement?
-The Nepali Dalit movement finds itself at present in a state of crisis, uncertainty and transition. This movement which took its first steps in an organized form in 2004 Bikram Era had become well organized, integrated and capable by 2049. The historic entry into the Gorkha temple, the struggle for drawing water at Sipapokhari, Sindhupalchowk, the milk movements in Syangja and Nawalparasi, the Katunje water drawing episode in Kavre, picketing and fast at Singha Durbar and the like undertaken by an integrated organization under the name of the Nepal Oppressed Dalit Caste Liberation Society have to be accepted as milestones in the Dalit liberation movement. But this movement had to cope with various kinds of opportunism and schisms before it could complete 50 years. Following the restoration of multiparty democracy, Nepali Dalits became divided under various political parties or took up with project-oriented or sponsored NGO’s. Most of the political parties used the Dalit donor organizations as a tool for party expansion, but never came around to taking up the problems of the Dalits as a political cause. At the same time the innumerable NGOs which have sprung up like a cottage industry have turned the Dalit issue into a means of livelihood, and used the political parties as a bug bear to pull the Dalit movement away from the party movement and help blunt its revolutionary thinking. The political parties opened many fraternal organizations. In the process of running projects for the donor organizations these ended up becoming of the same ilk.
Following the launching of the people’s war by the CPN-Maoists in 205l and its starting a Dalit fraternal organization in 2055, a part of the Dalit movement took to armed revolution. As a result, the role of the fraternal organizations of other parties, independent Dalit bodies and sponsored NGOs became eclipsed, and the state of emergency, the Destructive Activities Control Act and the mobilization of the army, which were resorted to in the name of suppressing the people’s war, rendered the Dalit liberation movement inactive.
3. What has been the role of political party fraternal organizations and Dalit NGOs?
-Whether one should take to a revolutionary party which is on the right political path or form the Dalit people’s class organization of such a party is a question which is not out of place. But the intention of many political parties which start Dalit fraternal organizations solely for the purpose of using Dalits as a vote bank instead of treating Dalit liberation as a political question is yet to be made clear. The Dalit fraternal organizations of such parties have been corrupting the Dalit movement. The Dalit fraternal organizations of the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, RPP, Sadbhavana and other parties belong to this category. Some so-called Dalit leaders of these organizations have managed to grab political appointments, but there has been indifference to the question of securing the rights of the Dalit masses.
And Dalit NGOs are of two kinds – independent and family type. Some Dalit NGOs have been worked as a business. If only the project-oriented organizations carried out their work honestly, be it within the parameters indicated by the donors, it would be a stride towards creating a favorable environment for Dalit upliftment.
4. It is said that a personality-oriented approach reigns in the Dalit movement.
- There is bound to be the odd personality-oriented instance in all movements. Rather than going into whether or not such an orientation reigns, the important question is should such a tendency be allowed to develop within organizations or in the movement itself. A personality-orientation develops when a system of collective leadership is not fostered or there is arbitrary leadership and the activists and workers start currying favor with it, doing its every bidding. Personality-orientation can be discouraged by making an organization’s internal system more effective. I do not feel that this is something that cannot be tackled.
5. What should be the role of the Dalits in the context of the government-Maoists talks
-The forthcoming talks are meant to turn the problem created by seven years of civil war into lasting peace. Ending caste discrimination and untouchability is part of the cause espoused by the Maoist people’s war. It is definitely true that the ruling side has to date been knowingly ignoring this problem. At present when the country is about to transform itself politically, the Dalit community which has suffered the most from discrimination in Nepali society, should be able to turn this into an opportunity to secure its own rights. Organizations which came into being to work for the rights and interests of Dalits will loose their raison d’etre if they do not now go about securing for them due respect and their just rights. All the Dalit organizations should close ranks and work out a common agenda of these rights, make sure that this agenda reaches the talks table, and bring pressure to bear for the proportionate and just representation of their community from the talks process to the round table conference, interim government and election to a constituency assembly. The Dalit community is certain to lag behind for ever if the battle is not joined for time bound reservations in all areas by way of compensation for their oppression to this day through caste untouchability.
The Dalit community should wake up and exert pressure if the impending talks are not to remain confined to the division of the spoils of office among the government, the Maoist party and the other parliamentary political parties. We Dalits have to play a role in order to make these talks result-oriented in terms of being forward looking and the good of the Dalits. Abstract peace is not what we need. Caste discrimination and conflict will not end until circumstances are created that will bring the Dalits freedom, equality and justice in the real sense.
In this context it may be noted that efforts are continuing on the part of the “Dalit pressure group for talks” constituted by 16 non-governmental Dalit organizations under the convenorship of Nepal Oppressed Dalit Caste Liberation Society Chairman Padmalal Bishwakarma with Jagaran Media Center Chairman Subhas Kumar Darnal as member-secretary. This group is pressing ahead with its role in the context of the talks and, in the process, roping in other organizations as well.
6. How should the Dalit movement advance now?
- It is an undisputed fact that without a correct sense of political direction the Dalit movement will naturally and ultimately die a sad death. It is urgent for the Dalit movement to pull together with the caste liberation movement and push ahead on that basis. Marxism is the main philosophy of Dalit liberation also. The Dalit problem in our context is a triangular problem of class, caste and untouchability (CCU). Compounded by caste discrimination and untouchability, the Dalit problem has become a vexed one indeed. That is why this problem cannot be rooted out easily through a resolution of the problem of class alone. For this, additional efforts are mandatory. Additional efforts mean adopting a policy of positive discrimination and reservations until the Dalits are on a par with the high castes and classes. The movement should also forge solidarity with project-oriented NGOs, other human rights organizations and organizations working for the ethnic communities, women and the Madhesis. In sum, the Dalit liberation movement should become an integral part of the national liberation movement.
Kirat Yakthung Chumlung is a non-political, non-profit making, Limbu indigenous peoples’ organization established in 1989. It was duly registered with the government in 1990 and affiliated with the social Welfare Council in 1994. Since its inception, it is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Limbu Language and culture; the upliftment of the socioeconomic and educational condition of the Limbus; the consolidation communal harmony among the various communities; and the protection and promotion of human rights and indigenous peoples rights. Its activities are mainly concentrated in nine districts of Eastern part of Nepal as well as in Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts.
Historical Background
Paying glowing tribute to Kirat, a well-known historian, Mr. Brian Hodgson has opined Kirats, on account of their distinctly traceable antiquity as a nation and the peculiar structure of their langrage, are perhaps the most interesting of all the Himalayan races. Existing chronicles show that 33 generations of Kirat rulers reigned over central Nepal in the past. Bu, with the succeeding dynasties and their influences ultimately led to the disappearance of Kirat’s sociocultural heritage thereafter. The Limbus, a section of Kirat, are indigenous people of Eastern Nepal with distinct cultural identity of their own, which are at the verge of being wiped out in future, if not preserved now.
Objectives
1. To undertake various activities for the upliftment of the Limbus, their language include Kirat Sirijonga script, literature. religion and culture.
2. To conduct research on subjects related to the Limbus and promote awareness among them.
3. To organize various activities of economic development in Limbuwan to improve the living standard of local people.
4. To make the Limbus, as well as other ethnic groups of Limbuwan, aware of the constitution of Nepal, their constitutional rights and the prevalent laws of Nepal.
5. To conduct effective programmes to curb the destruction of environment and ecosystem.
6. To develop and promote friendly relationship with other ethnic groups and communities, and hence work for the consolidation of democracy, national unity and preservation of the culture of the community.
7. To conduct awareness programmes against drug abuse and provide treatment and rehabilitation facilities for drug addicts.
8. To plan and carry out appropriate programmes in order to wipe out superstition and ignorance of people about health problems in rural areas. Also, to encourage them to make best use of available and possible means and measures in the field of (for) the primary health care.
9. To increase mass awareness among the people to stay away from AIDS and other fatal diseases. Also, to make them aware of safety measures and precautions against such diseases.
10. To work for human rights, indigenous rights and woman and child rights.
Chumlung Awards
1. Kirat- Sirijonga award:
Sirijonga who died for the cause of promotion and preservation of Limbu language and script, ad award has been instituted in the memory of him for those who contribute for the promotion of Limbu language, literature and research studies on Limbu history, religion and culture.
2. Imansing Chemjong Award:
In the memory of Kiratologist and historian late Imansing Chemjong, this award is instituted to encourage the dedicated writers on Limbu literature.
3. Udaya Art Award:
Instituted to encourage the contributors in Limbu song, music and art.
All the above awards are presented in every third year.
Cultural Programme
Kirat Yakthung Chumlung organizes ‘Mundhum Swarnim Sanjh’ every year and other similar cultural programmes. Another highlight of Kirat Yakthung Chumlung is the presentation of drama in the Limbu langrage.
Talk Programme, Seminar and Workshop
Kirat Yakthung Chumlung organizes talk programme, seminar and workshop to highlight on different issues related to the objectives of the organization.
Organizational Structure
National Convention:
It is the supreme body of the organization and is held every three years. It adopts policies, evaluates past activities and programmes. forms the central executive committee of the organization and works out the direction of the organization.
National Council:
The meeting of National Council is held every year. It monitors the programmes executed by central executive committee and also provides the guidelines to them.
Central Advisory Board:
Function of CAB is to advise in various issues to the Central Executive Committee.
Central Executive Committee:
It is the main implementing committee of the organization.
District Branch Committees:
These are the intermediary implementing committees of the organization. They are responsible for coordinating the activities of the village and municipality branch committees.
Village/Municipality Branch Committees:
these are the grass – root level implementing committees of the organization. The sole responsibility of implementation programmes of the organization to the grass-root level lies on these committees.
Membership
There are five types of members.
They are:
1. General Member
2. Life Member
3. Patron Member
4. Distinguished Patron Member
5. Honorary Member
A person from the Limbu ethnic group who complies with the provisions of the statute of Kirat Yakthung Chumlung can become a general member. Honorary memberships is given to a non- Limbu who has made contributions in promoting the Limbu culture, language, script, and religion. There are five honorary members of the organization.
They are:
1. Dr. Byod Michailovsky (USA currently working at LACITO/CNRRS, Paris, France)
2. Dr. Gerge van Driem (Netherland, currently working at Rijks University Leiden, Nethreland)
3. Pro. Shiv Kumar Shrestha (Dhankuta Multiple Campus, TU, Dhankuta)
5. Late A. Widart (Germany)
Financial Resources
Revolving fund.
Personal or group contribution
Cultural Programmes
Fund-raising Programmes
Grant from donor agencies
Publications
Contact
Kirat Yakthung Chumlung
P.O. Box 4548
Mahalaxmisthan, Lalitpur
Kathmandu, NEPAL Tel: 977(1)520349
Email : chumlung@wlink.com.np
Conflicts and Coexistence in Nepal by Vinaya Kasajoo
Every day and every year has its own importance and makes history of its own kind but the year 2001 holds special significance for the reason that Nepal is conducting its census, held every ten years. Conducting the census is arduous but this time it is going to be more difficult because people have understood the importance of census and different communities and ethno-lingual groups are determined to ensure that the census maintains their religion, language, profession and other vital statistics that oblige the policy makers to consider the socio-economic status of various groups while drafting policies and making decisions.
Age old discriminations against women, Dalits and the disadvantaged people are such in plenty in Nepal that they amply state why the country has remained undeveloped for so long and why the democratic culture still remains a wish for the people. The excess of the feudal practices is the reason why the Kamaiya or bonded labour system existed for so long even after the reinstatement of democracy in the country.
So different is Nepal’s geographical setting and its multi-faceted diversity that it stands “unique” in many respects. The diversity of the country is not only visible in the faces of people but in flora and fauna. Stretched only 150 kms north-south, the land ranges from 60 meters above sea level to the tallest 8852 meter Everest peak. Nowhere in the planet Earth is so much of divergence in the climate and culture and costumes within such a small area of land. As a result, Nepal is another name of diversities and for this reason, it is unthinkable that Nepal could or should ever be homogenous.
The varied geographical settings and the wide ethnic, linguistic and religious differences have been the bedrock to the development of the civilization and cultural set up of the country. Religion and culture have been so much part of the people that even those who call themselves ‘revolutionary’ dare not trespass the religious and cultural boundries, otherwise the consequences would be beyond control. Just like water diluting sugar and salt, the people of Nepal have diluted the varied diversity. Harmony and coexistence are not only the country’s specialities but a compulsion as well.
Relating to this backdrop, it is also surmised by some that violence could erupt when different communities, striving for their identity, wage a movement against all the existing inequalities. Some people have even held the view that on the basis of racial groups and linguistic backgrounds Nepal could one day break up as a nation into federal states. But with countries opting to be globalised under the World Trade Organisation, it is not only irrelevant but also fatal to think of breaking the country on the ground of racial and linguistic differences. The sovereignty of the country has to be defended, but by solving the existing disparities and inequalities. Despite equal provision for all in the constitution of Nepal, disparities between different communities are still pervasive.
Realising the gravity of conflicts and the reality of coexistence, efforts should be made at the earliest to narrow down the differences in the sharing of resources and state services and solve the conflicts in the way that the way conflicts are solved don’t trigger more conflicts.
Ex-Kamaiya Driven away: no place to live in
Yesterday, the 9th of January 2002, the Forest Office moved in and
destroyed four more kamaiya settlements in Kailali district. Following the destruction of a settlement in December, the government has once again show a sheer lack of sympathy and a sense of responsibility towards the “freed” bonded labourers.
With a state of emergency in effect the army is active throughout the country. Demonstrations are banned and newspapers are unwilling to write articles that appear critical of the government actions. The kamaiyas are left largely unable to resist the government actions.
The settlements destroyed yesterday were at Baskota, Athariya and Nanital in Kailali and Bangai in Bardiya District. In all cases the kamaiyas had been living there for at least a year now. They had farmed a rice-crop during the monsoon to feed themselves. They had avoided cutting down trees in the area, and stated that they
would resettle if the government provided them land.
The government is claiming that it is resettling the kamaiyas now.
However, many of the kamaiyas whose huts were burned down have still not received ID cards, so they are not recognized by the government. They have nowhere to go. Families who are registered have been directed to settle on land already occupied by other kamaiyas in other settlements.
It is now cold winter in the Tarai. Once more the kamaiyas have been thrown into homelessness by the government.
The life of the lower castes in the western part of Nepal.
by Berit Madsen
“In this hamlet we are all low caste people. The upper caste who live further up the village cannot touch us. If they do so they get polluted”, says Sunga Kami. She is an elder Dalit woman from Ratoli, a small village in Doti district in the far western part of Nepal. “But sometimes a woman from one of the higher castes comes to our house. Her name is Raju Bohara. She likes to sit in our yard. But when she returns home she has to purify herself by sprinkling gold-treated water over her body. That is the custom up here”.
Today Raju Bohara, who belongs to the Chhetri caste, visits Sunga Kami’s household. Her hamlet is only a few minutes away by foot. Raju sits down in the yard. It is a sunny afternoon and all the women in Sunga Kami’s household are busy drying lentils and rice grains on straw mats. A young woman begins to grind the already dried lentils in a stone grinding mill. She is dressed in pink and has a yellow marigold flower behind her ear. Goats and hens are walking around in the yard. It is the children’s job to keep them away from the straw mats with rice and lentils.
There are twelve family members in Sunga Kami’s household. Four of her sons live in India. One of them has just returned to Ratoli to pay his mother a visit. Two daughters are married and they both stay with their husband’s families in neighbouring villages. Sungi Kami’s household belongs to the Kami caste which is one of the many lower castes in Nepal. A common denominator for the lower castes is Dalit. The term originally means people living in the swamps (daldal) or oppressed people, but today it refers to all low caste people in Nepal. The Dalits is the group of people who are considered untouchable by the higher castes. It is believed that the Dalits can pollute higher castes and therefore any kind of close physical contact must be avoided. As Sunga Kami explained above, Raju Bohara has to clean herself ritually after a visit to Sunga Kami’s household. She has namely exposed herself to pollution just by entering a Dalit household.
The untouchability of the Dalits has an immense influence on their daily life. In most parts of Nepal the Dalits are not allowed into Hindu temples; they cannot use the wells, taps or other water sources that are reserved for the higher castes; they cannot enter restaurants and tea-shops, but have to sit outside and eat or drink from plates and cups especially reserved for Dalits; at the grocer’s shop they have to keep a distance while the goods are delivered to them; they cannot enter the homes of upper castes nor settle nearby the upper castes’ hamlets. In many ways these restrictions imply that Dalits live on the margins of the Nepalese society.
The Doti district
We are in the Doti district in the far western part of Nepal. It is a beautiful mountainous area covered with pine trees and small terraces cut into the steep mountain sides. The white, impressive Himalayas follow the northern horizon and to the South one gets a picturesque view down the valleys. The turquoise blue Seti river winds through the deep gorges from the mountains to the low lands. At this time of the year the fields in the valleys are covered with young, green wheat sprout. On the hill sides the fields are still barren and grey. Only a few kitchen gardens light up the landscape. Most of these gardens belong to upper caste people, as do most of the fields surrounding the villages. Only a few households from the lower castes own a piece of land or a kitchen garden.
The Dalits in the Doti district belong to three separate low caste groups – the Kami, the Sarki, and the Damai. Traditionally each group is linked to a specific occupation. The Kami caste works as blacksmiths, the Sarki as shoemakers, and the Damai as tailors – occupations which in Nepal all are considered “dirty” and therefore only should be carried out by Dalits. The three groups are further divided into different subgroups, each with a separate occupation, such as Sunar (goldsmiths), Bhul (leather workers), Lohar (metal workers), Parki (bamboo handicraft workers), and Tamata (copper workers). The upper castes in Doti consist of Brahmins and Chhetris. Traditionally the Brahmins are priests or scholars. The Chhetris are the warrior caste. Today Brahmins still carry out their traditional occupation, but most Chhetris make a living as farmers, landowners, or businessmen.
The Dalits in the Doti district all live in separate hamlets apart from the higher castes. Most Dalit hamlets are densely built-up areas of small houses with mud walls. Some hamlets are placed on hill tops and one wonders when the next strong wind will pull them off the ridge. Round haystacks are kept on wooden pillars in the yards. In the glaring winter sun the hay shines with a warm yellow colour. A few households have livestock such as buffaloes and goats. They keep them in small stables next to the house.
From a few Damai households the sound of an old iron Laxmi sewing machine crystallises in the air. One or two Kamis spend the winter repairing ploughs and other farming tools. But today most Dalits in the Doti district do not practice their traditional caste occupation. In lack of skills and modern technologies their products cannot any longer compete with high quality products made in the cities. Instead the majority of Dalits make a living as day labourers on the higher castes’ land or by taking on different manual work such as cutting stones, selling firewood from the mountain sides, or working on road construction. The higher castes rarely pay in cash for the different kinds of work the Dalits perform for them. Instead they pay with lentils and rice grains around harvest time – a system known as Bali Ghare Pratha. The younger generation is not particularly interested in continuing their parents’ professions as these jobs are considered “dirty” and are looked down upon from the rest of the society.
Winter time is low season for day labour work. Men, therefore, hang around, waiting for spring to come where the seasonal agricultural work begins. Women are, on the other hand, always busy with the daily house work, such as cooking rice (dhal), lentils (bhat), and flat, barley bread (chapati), fetching firewood and water, feeding the buffalo or goats, etc.
Winter time is, however, a good time for weddings according to the Nepalese calendar. If a couple is married in January or February their life together will be endowed with prosperity and fortune. One morning a Kami visits the local Brahmin astrologer. He wants the astrologer to find the most suitable date for his daughter’s wedding. The Kami brings a steel plate with uncooked rice, an orange flower, and a five rupees-note as payment for the astrologer’s prediction. While the astrologer figure out the time for the marriage to take place, the Kami has to sit outside in the courtyard and wait for the answer. If he here by mistake touches the earth – since he is a Dalit – it has to be ritually purified with cow dunk. “It is our custom and we have to protect out culture”, the astrologer explains, while the Kami is leaving with the most suitable date for his daughter’s marriage: the 30th of January at 5.00 am. “This is how we have done it for generations. And how can we, the higher castes, change caste behaviour when the Dalits also differentiate among themselves? A Kami thinks that he is superior to a Damai and treats him accordingly. Also, if I meet a Dalit person on the path he will automatically step aside in order not to touch me. So he is just as well keeping up the tradition, isn’t he?”.
The Nepalese caste system
Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world. The caste system is closely related to Hinduism. The Vedas – the 2500 years old sacred Sanskrit texts which Hinduism is based upon – separate the population into four groups: Brahman, Kshetriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. The four groups are hierarchically ordered with the Brahmins in the top and the Sudras in the bottom. According to the Veda’s creation myth, God created Brahman from his mouth, Kshetriya from his arm, Vaishya from his thigh, and Sudra from his feet. The Dalits or untouchables belong to the Sudra, those created from the feet and thereby the lowest of these categories. 20 % of Nepal’s population (22.6 millions in 1997 figures) are Dalits. More than 4 million people in Nepal are therefore considered untouchable.
In 1990 the practice of caste based discrimination and untouchability was declared illegal and punishable by law in Nepal. A person who is found guilty in caste discrimination can now be sentenced up to one year in prison or be fined to pay 3000 rupees (1 US $ is 74 Nepalese rupees). The law is, however, seldom taken into practice and numerous cases of discrimination against the Dalits are still taking place. As such the caste system still forms an essential part of the cultural landscape in Nepal.
Many Dalits explain their low status and untouchability as determined by the Gods. As Mohan Baral Kami, a Dalit goldsmith says, “God created the caste system and we have to accept our low caste status if not to make the Gods angry with us”. However, many high caste people also consider the Dalits to be impure because “they are dirty”, “they don’t keep their houses clean”, “they eat animals dead from accident or disease” – an explanation to the “impurity” which also are heard among Dalit themselves.
From a socio-economic perspective poverty is an important marker of the untouchables. Dalits are not only culturally inferior but also economically deprived. Since most Dalits in the hill regions own no land and only receive a small amount of grain as payment for their work, they are forced to take loans from higher caste people to buy food and other daily necessities. They hereby become a kind of “bounded labourers”, as they are obliged to work on the upper castes’ land to pay off the interest without much chance of ever being able to repay the loan. Most adult Dalits in the hills are illiterate, especially the women. Today some Dalits attend school, but rarely beyond second class for the girls and forth or fifth grade for the boys; quite a large number of Dalit girls do not attend school at all.
Migration and new strategies
Today almost every Dalit household have one or two male family members who work in India, either seasonally or for a longer period such as 5-10 years at a time. In India they find jobs as watchmen in hotels, dish washers, drivers, and other kind of casual work. Hill-Dalits have also begun to migrate to the Terai, the low land in the southernmost part of Nepal. In the Terai they hope to buy a piece of land or find new kinds of job opportunities.
The migration to the Terai also provide the Dalit families with new strategies to improve their social status. It is quite common among hill-Dalits to change their surname or leave out the caste indicator in the name – e.g. Kami, Damai, and Sarki – when they move to the low lands. By doing this they hope to get different and better possibilities within the caste system which they hope especially will be profitable for their children. Recently it has become popular among Dalits to convert to Christianity as a way of avoiding the caste system. Up till now about 10 % of the Dalits have taken on this new religious belief.
The caste system and its many manifestations has a strong impact on the every day life of Dalits in Nepal. But the caste system seen as a social system also opens up for individual strategies or multiple ways of choosing to navigate in this cultural landscape. As the local Chhetri healer, the Dhami Jhankri, in Doti tells: “Up here in my village I will never accept food from a Dalit’s hand. But if I travel to the capital Kathmandu I will eat food from everywhere, since in Kathmandu I don’t know the people so how am I to know who have cooked it?”.
The Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON) was one of the first human rights organizations in Nepal. From its creation in 1988, HURON played a pioneering role in the movement for the restoration of democracy. A unique feature of HURON stems from its formation, as it grew out of a mass-based people’s movement. HURON’s greatest strength is in its membership, who represent all political persuasions – left, right and center, and they are spread throughout the country in 61 Districts.
From the beginning HURON has played a lead role in the process of democratic change within Nepal, and in the protection of human rights and civil liberties. HURON recognizes the political, economic and social transition that the Nepalese society is currently going through. In response took the dynamic changes raking place in the society HURON is working towards building an organization/movement that will be responsive to the emerging and diverse human rights issues, as well as to support the strengthening of the democratic process in the country at all levels.
HURON is a mass based organization with 25,000 members. The organization has district chapters in 61 districts of Nepal. The organization was registered under the Chief District Office and affiliated with the Social Welfare Council.
Land in Nepal is scarce. And, when it comes to fertile agricultural land, it is far scarcer. Scarcity breeds competition; and competition in turn opens up possibilities for deceit and the use of unfair means. These phenomenon pervade the history of land ownership in Nepal. Scarcity, competition and inequality characterize land distribution in the country today.
The Kamaiya system that was prevalent in the five districts of western Nepal—before being finally banned by the government on July 17, 2000—was one of the unpleasant by-products of Nepal’s checkered history of land ownership. The Tharus are indigenous to the Terai. They were the natural owners of these vast tracts of fertile land. They lived in peace and plenty before the hill settlers—pushed by population pressure in the hills—descended in their territory. The new settlers managed to gradually nibble at the land and gain the legal rights, eventually evicting the Tharus from their own land. Without land and no other alternative forms of subsistence, the Tharus were forced to work for the newly turned landed gentry, many of them as bonded labourers.
After many long hellish years of bondage the Kamaiya freedom movement emerged in the midst of the gloom and frustration pervading the ten-year anniversary of democracy. The movement was supported by a coalition of social and human rights organizations, working together with the bonded labourers themselves, the media and international aid organizations and networks. In a sustained three months of campaigning the movement managed to force the government to cancel generation-deep debts of the Kamaiya.
Even after about two years of legal freedom from bondage, for thousands of Kamaiyas real freedom still remains distant and elusive. Efforts for their rehabilitation by providing them alternative jobs in already saturated market have proven not only insufficient but also increasingly frustrating to a majority of the freed Kamaiya. Without land of their own, thousands of Kamaiya have taken refuge in various public places. Disease, hunger and frustration are taking a heavy toll. The euphoria and expectations generated by the historic Kamaiya movement evaporates with each new day.
The struggle is still far from over. The challenge for the freed Kamaiya now is claiming the social prerogatives they were denied in slavery—reasonable plots of land, voices to speak in public and schooling for their children. “Many Kamaiyas remain to be freed in Bardiya, Kailali and Banke. The next challenge is to free them. The other challenge is effective rehabilitation. This newly acquired freedom is usually only skin deep. It takes a long time for the Kamaiyas to change their mental attitude. If support for rehabilitation is not strong they will fall into the same old vicious trap of bondage again. When the Kamaiyas get land they will also need houses and training in new agricultural techniques,” says BASE president and Kamaiya movement leader Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari.
It is against this backdrop that the “Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom in Nepal” has been written. This is the first full-color social documentary publication of its kind printed in Nepal using four color printing process, according to publisher Madhab Maharajan of Mandala Book Point. It chronicles the turbulent story of the on-going kamaiya movement in Nepal through the words of the kamaiyas themselves and a narrative sequence of documentary photographs and formal portraits made in their huts on landlord’s properties, refugee camps and on the open road, along with the stories of other protagonists such as landlord and former minister Shiva Raj Pant, and an introduction and afterword in Nepali and English.
In doing so Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom challenges the usual postcard image of ethnic groups in Nepal and the ease with which issues involving the lives of thousands of underprivileged people so easily slip off the public agenda.
During the tumultuous days after the government abolished the kamaiya system, documentary photographer Peter Lowe came to Nepal with a large format camera and the support of MS Nepal and Backward Society Education (BASE) to document the efforts of the kamaiyas themselves to turn government promises of a better life into reality.
“We should use whatever skills and opportunities we acquire to help create a more just world. The kamaiyas should have adequate land, housing and education, which they are still struggling for almost two years after the government’s historic decision to abolish the kamaiya system. We made this book together. Whether it helps to create a more just world for the kamaiyas or not depends on you,” Peter Lowe says.
Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom presents the story of the kamaiyas in both Nepali text edited by Vinaya Kasajoo and English. Photographs and book design are by Peter Lowe. Keshav Gautam translated interviews. Tim Whyte who worked as an MS Nepal advisor for BASE in western Nepal penned introduction and afterword. Earlier, he had studied the history of slavery in Nepal under the University of Wisconsin Nepal programme.
The book has been priced at Rs. 750 and is available at:
Mandala Book Point
P.O. Box: 528, Kantipath
Kathmandu, Nepal
Ph: 245570/227711
The ancient Greeks well understood the importance of the household in working with nature while developing their economy, in one of the most advanced and harmonious civilizations of post-glacial times.
The local and officially registered name for the JPP is the “Grihasthashram Kendra”, or Centre.
So the JPP sees Permaculture, a design system using the application of principles of ecology for creating sustainable human habitats, as a design system for creating a sustainable Grihasthashram.
Objectives
- To strengthen the local economy through ecological and agricultural security, productivity and diversity, supporting locally produced goods and services.
- To repair damaged lands into productive regions again.
- To protect and improve the natural ecology and resource base of forest, soil and water.
- To intensify production of food and other basic needs in a sustainable manner, as close to the consumer as possible, on the minimum amount of land, with minimum use of external resources.
- Networking to share resources with like-minded organizations and individuals.
- To support human rights for farmers, underprivileged and minority groups.
Contact
Jajarkot Permaculture Programme (JPP)
P.O. Box 10908
Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: +977(1)259833
Telephone:
Kathmandu 270466 (off.), 272167 (farm)
Nepalganj (081) 22389
Surkhet (083) 29313
Email: jpp@mos.com.np