Nepali society must stand up for Dalit rights

The last few days have seen a modest surge of interest in the fact that citizens belonging to the Dalit community are, once again, not represented in the Federal Cabinet. 

Just a few days ago, on Aug 10, there was a march at the center of Kathmandu in which activists were demanding a fair representation of Dalits in the national institutions. 

In the recently-appointed federal government, there is only one state minister, a junior position within the cabinet, belonging to the community, Rupa BK who was appointed with the Forests and Environment portfolio. 

As several news reports have highlighted, the lack of inclusiveness, especially in relation to the political rights of Dalits, is a consistent feature of national politics. 

Even the previous government under Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in theory a big supporter of Dalits ‘rights, did not have any full ranking minister representing the community. 

Dahal, just a few months ago, in the beginning of June, had announced that an effort was on to establish a Dalit Development Authority. 

While the details of such an initiative were never disclosed, there is a high probability that such an idea will never see implementation. 

Even if such an entity were to be established, its performances would be insignificant, most probably, not too dissimilar from the performance of the National Dalit Commission, a constitutional body that has as its core mission, the empowerment of the community. 

Like many other inclusiveness-focused bodies (for example the Tharu Commission or the Muslim equivalent or even the National Human Rights Commission), the institution has not been able to propose or actuate any noteworthy initiative. 

Even if they lack teeth, these bodies could help generate a national narrative that would be instrumental in reaching a new understanding of the suffering facing minority groups. 

Above all, citizens from the Dalit community really deserve the nation’s special attention and consideration. 

The real problem is that the country is not even close to that.

This is for me a key point and it is one of the most intricate policy conundrums facing the nation.

It is not that policies are not important; it is not that they do not count, they do as, ultimately, any change must have legal sanctions and policy discussions are paramount.

For example, the last’s march National Assembly resolution aimed at ending discrimination toward Dalits could be seen as a good blueprint to advance new practical actions to challenge and ultimately change the status quo. 

I do sincerely hope that the sub-committee in charge of monitoring the implementation of the resolution becomes effective in creating more accountability among ministries’ officials and among members of both chambers belonging to different communities. 

If such deeds are enforced, these would be real stepping stones but for real progress, we need something at much deeper and more personal levels, to begin with. 

Yet, the ultimate challenge is generating an interest among the people on the lack of political representation of citizens from the Dalit community. 

How can we ensure that rallies like the one that happened on Aug 10 can generate a buzz among citizens from different communities, especially the so-called “dominant” communities, who have almost an implicit monopoly on holding key power positions? 

In particular, what puzzles me is how to involve and engage youths in embracing the cause of Dalits. 

I do not want to overlook the neglect in political representation experienced by other groups, including sexual minorities and persons with disabilities but Dalits’ rights cannot be deprioritized. 

How can we generate the same excitement that exists among youths to fight for climate change also for the discrimination facing Dalits? 

I tend to agree with Dalits rights activist and academician Mitra Pariyar. 

“Dalits should form strong lobbies, watchdogs and pressure groups to apply pressure on ministers, junior ministers, government secretaries, CDOs and judges to think more about Dalit identity and rights and to contribute in that direction”, he wrote in a recent opinion piece.

Yet this strategy can only be successful in the medium and long run, if a new awareness, together with a new consciousness, is created among other members of the society. 

It is not that Dalits should stop vigorously reclaiming their rights, including, as explained for this paper by Sushil Darnal, on the need to establish stronger affirmative legislations that benefit them. 

But a major effort on the part of the society, starting from non-Dalit youths, must happen if Nepal truly wants to become truly equal and inclusive. 

First Dalits and non-Dalits youths need to have more opportunities to work together on issues related to social injustices and discrimination but also on other issues of contemporary importance. 

For example, how many Dalits youths are advocating for climate and biodiversity action? 

Those strong and bold enough do advocate for their own rights, but they might not have the strengths or simply enough “bandwidth” to get into other important issues. 

Those climate and biodiversity champions could make an effort to reach out to their peers from Dalit communities and establish joint coalitions, even if at very informal levels, even if with small goals of joint collaborations.

Embassies in Kathmandu, which have been championing youth empowerment, could uniquely support this attempt at coalition building. 

Yet, ownership should come from the youths themselves, who, ideally, must truly embrace this new “front” of cross-cutting themes-based collaborations. 

Possibly working groups or as I prefer to call them, a community of practitioners comprising youths from different backgrounds could be established, trying to formulate common policy proposals, identifying the links between caste and climate injustices. 

Inclusion and social justice have a myriad of facets and different angles but the overarching goal of the 2015 Constitution is achieving a more just and fair nation for everyone. 

Perhaps the debate on changing the threshold for proportional representation that the new government is pushing could be seen as a welcome opportunity as long as a wider discussion is also welcomed: The one focused on a stronger and mandatory quota for Dalits citizens. 

But even with such transformative measures in place that, as per now, are a long shot, we need people, especially youths from different backgrounds and castes, coming together. 

The biggest changes at societal levels do happen only when truly inclusive alliances are established. 

It happened in the USA during the Civil Rights Movement and the similar though different dynamics unfolded in South Africa to bring an end to the Apartheid regime. 

Let’s not forget, it can also happen in Nepal.

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