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The rights of persons with disabilities in Nepal are primarily negotiated through the umbrella organization National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN). The organization works hard to shed light on the rights of persons with disabilities, and the human rights-based law that was passed in 2017 would not exist without it. But not everyone fully benefits from the organization.

There are voices within the movement that advocate an intersectional view of inclusion and human rights. That is, the importance of being aware that a person may experience multiple discriminations at the same time. Persons with disabilities from the indigenous population, persons with intellectual disabilities, or those who live in remote rural areas are just a few examples of groups that experience multiple discriminations. However, the intersectional view of inclusion is currently not much in vogue.

Unfortunately, a movement whose mission is to work for human rights is not immune from traditional values ​​and social structures regarding caste, gender and ethnicity. The leaders of the NFDN are mostly from upper castes and from groups of the most common disabilities— blind, deaf/hard of hearing and physical disabilities.

The 2017 law was a big step in the direction for a more equal Nepal. However, after the law was approved, progress within the disability movement slowed. Changes still happen, but new voices are mostly kept out.

“There is a hesitation to include new groups,” says Krishna Gahatraj, who has been active in the movement for several years. “Dalits and ethnic groups do not have the opportunity to speak up about their special needs within the disability issue.”

Gahatraj also points out that most activists in Nepal's civil society are connected to political parties, which hinders a critical approach to social development. “As most activists are also linked to political parties, they must also follow the agenda of their party and cannot criticize how politics is conducted,” Gahatraj continues.

Disabilities occur regardless of social status, but these hierarchies are still brought into NFDN unintentionally. Which means that there is an uneven distribution of power within the disability movement.

“NFDN seems equal on paper, but in practice it is governed by only a few people,” claims Padam Bahadur Pariyar, a consultant within the disability inclusion sector.

The disability movement is versatile, with great diversity in both the type of disability as well as in class, gender, caste, and ethnicity background among its members. When the main task of NFDN is to fight for the rights of persons with disabilities, it is easily forgotten that those with additional burdens may need to be specifically highlighted.

In the disability movement, the blind, deaf/hard of hearing and groups with physical disabilities have gained an advantage. They are among the most common types of disabilities and thus make up the majority of NFDN's members. They are more organized as these disabilities are relatively easy to detect and their organizations have received international support for a long time. Additionally, compared to persons with intellectual disabilities, they can more easily speak up for themselves.

This means that an internal competition emerges between the representatives of different types of disabilities. Activism is after all about attention, and within an organization the size of NFDN, you must compete for attention and the opportunity to express your needs to focal persons.

Shila Thapa, founder of Down Syndrome Society Nepal, has long tried to argue that the board should be more attentive to the needs of persons with Down.

“I talk to the leaders of NFDN about raising our issues. They are always positive at the time, but nothing happens,” she says.

When I have myself tried to discuss this issue with NFDN leaders, they deny competition between groups. The topic is not a popular one and I get fleeting answers.

Elite capture is common in human rights movements. This means that the already strong groups gain strength from development work, they benefit more from education and can become better at presenting their needs. Divya Gurung, long-time consultant for international organizations, has seen it many times.

“Most often, it is the groups who already have resources, such as money or knowledge, who benefit from development work,” she says. “It is very difficult to reach the most vulnerable.”

This problem is far from unique to the ​​disability sector. It is something that affects all of Nepal, including NFDN.

Continuing to develop the movement allows greater opportunities to gain extended rights and a chance to create an accessible society for all—regardless of where in the country you live or which ethnic group you belong to.

“If change is to happen, words must turn into action, and the attitude towards inclusion must change,” says Ghataraj. “We need to meet and discuss different categories of disability, in order to create an understanding of the other's situation.”

In an environment where politics is fragile and irregular, and where rights are recently achieved, it is perhaps not strange that you protect your own and the little you have attained. However, it is important that new groups are invited to enjoy the benefits. Which would mean that everybody gets a small piece of the cake, instead of a few having a hand full. But it can also mean that everyone gets more in the long run, due to strength in numbers and diversity.

It is a long-term process, where the stronger groups must take the first steps.

The author has an MSc in Global Studies from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Consumer goods including food items are being smuggled into the country from the southeastern checkpoints of Morang district.  

A team led by Inspector Kamal Bahadur Adhikari of the Armed Police Force Border Outpost (BOP) Rangeli seized a batch of smuggled goods on the evening of April 2. The team also seized a mini-truck used in smuggling. Chief of the APF, Morang, SP Tirtha Poudel informs that the smuggled goods including sugar, wheat, rice and bran were taken under control from Dhanatti Toll in Rangeli Municipality-5, Amgachhi.

According to Poudel, the goods were recovered while they were being loaded onto a mini-truck en route to Nepal from India. The truck and illegal goods worth some Rs 1.6 million have been handed over to the Biratnagar Customs Office. One Bharat Sah, who runs a grocery shop in Belbari, Morang, is accused of being the mastermind behind the smuggling. Sah, it is learned, has been running the grocery store as a front and smuggling goods from India for a long time.

Sah has been absconding since his illegal imports including the truck were confiscated. According to Poudel, routine search was intensified after the driver of the truck the APF was trying to stop at the Nepal border fled. Poudel also confirms that smugglers have started using new means of transport after the APF increased surveillance at border checkpoints and went on high alert.

Chief of the APF, Province 1, DIG Vanshi Raj Dahal, has mobilized a special team to control illegal trade and boost security in border areas. In Morang, which has a 63.4 km-long open border with India, there are 11 border outposts of APF with the responsibility of maintaining security and controlling smuggling.

Police have arrested a doctor working at the Chhinnamasta Hospital in Rajbiraj of Saptari on charges of sexually abusing a patient under the pretext of treatment.

Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Dhamala informed that they arrested Rajan Jaiswal, a pediatrician, on March 26 for sexually abusing the patient, a 25-year-old woman, at the hospital.

“Initially, I thought he accidentally touched me while examining my newborn baby,” the victim reported, “But then he started opening my blouse and touching me inappropriately despite my repeated protests.”

The woman from Khutuna in Madhubani district of Bihar, India, had come to her maternal home in Saptari for delivery of her child. She was admitted to Chhinnamasta Hospital and gave birth to a baby girl on March 24. The newborn was sent to the ICU.

Preliminary police investigation has shown that it is an incident of sexual abuse. The victim has lodged a complaint at the District Police Office. Hospital administrator Rajesh Jha has issued a statement informing that the hospital has immediately suspended Jaiswal.

In a police lockup in Nawalpur, a district in Nepal’s Gandaki Province, detainees can often be seen engrossed in books. Not only does it help them pass time but reading might even be their ticket to getting out of custody sooner.

“People are kept in lockup for 25 to 90 days, based on the nature of offence. We will consider shortening their sentences depending on how many books they read,” says SP Prakash Malla, District Police Office, Nawalparasi East.

‘Hirasat ma Kitab’, that provides reading materials to detainees, is one of SP Malla’s five initiatives, a part of the police program Working Extra Mile to bring positive changes in the community. The idea behind this particular initiative was to ensure a more humane treatment of those in lockup, prevent custodial deaths, and reduce stress that can build up in a closed setting.

“Reading helps bring about a shift in people’s perspectives. I think it’s especially necessary for those who have been involved in crimes,” says Malla. Since at any given time there are 10 to 15 people in the small space, and they are only required to work for an hour or two every day, reading keeps them engaged. Otherwise, they would have spent the rest of the hours sleeping, he adds.

However, getting those accused of various offences to read is also Malla’s attempt at a different kind of policing—one that prioritizes a change in mindset over retributive punishment.

Today, there’s a decent sized library of sorts at the police station in Nawalpur with over 500 books, both in English and Nepali. The books have been donated by local authorities, police, community folks, as well as Malla’s friends. They have even brought in books like Subin Bhattarai’s ‘Summer Love’ and ‘Saaya’ based on requests by the detainees.

“Surprisingly, people wanted to read and asked for specific books. Some wanted English novels. Quite a few seemed to gravitate towards spiritual books. We try to get them what they want,” says the SP.

Fiction is popular because most detainees are under the age of 25. Malla says that’s when stories appeal to you the most. There are also some who ask for books on law and religion as well, and spend all their time poring over those.

The station keeps a record of who has read what and how much time each of the detainees has spent reading. Based on their reading habits and subsequent behavior changes, the detainees might be able to go home sooner than expected. This acts as an incentive to read as much as they can. One detainee, Malla says, has read 19 books already.

Malla hopes they give continuity to their reading habit when they are eventually back to their regular lives. So, the plan is to have someone from the station check in on them six months after they are let out.

Malla has also been using his network to promote this system of reading beyond his station. The program has been replicated in two other municipal stations in Nawalpur—Gaidakot and Dumkibas. He recently got calls from the police headquarters inquiring about the initiative as well.

As an avid reader, Malla is always reading something. He recently finished Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Homo Deus’ and is currently reading ‘The Origins of Political Order’ by Francis Fukuyama. It’s his love for books and the compulsive need to read, he says, that gave birth to ‘Hirasat ma Kitab’.

“I used to find fiction entertaining and read a lot of it at one point in my life. Today, I prefer non-fiction—books on politics, economics, and history—because I think they have a lasting impact,” says Malla.

You could also say ‘Hirasat ma Kitab’ is being run with an ulterior motive. Malla hopes it will change how people view the police as well as improve the relationship between the two.

The reality is that people are mostly scared of the police. As law-enforcers, their job demands they put up a strict front. Malla’s initiatives, of which ‘Hirasab ma Kitab’ is a small part, are focused on cultivating respect and understanding between the police and the public as well as making people aware of violence, its causes, consequences, and how it can be prevented.  

“I believe a reading habit can be the start of many positive changes and a great deterrent for crime as well. Also, people will read if they have the means to do so. We are exploring that avenue as well,” concludes Malla.