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UNTOUCHABILITY: HOW LONG WILL IT

PREVAIL?

- B. K. RanaB. K. RanaB. K. RanaB. K. Rana-Everyone aspires for self-respect, independence, equality,and justice against all sorts of prejudice, discrimination,oppression, exploitation, hatred and insults based oncaste, religion, colour, gender etc. But the situation issadly different for the people of South Asia, and Nepal isnot an exception. South Asian countries are beset withsuperstitious beliefs and orthodox traditions.

Many people in Nepal suffer from social evils, and aretherefore impelled to live a miserable life. In somesituations, they are treated no better than animals. An

animal is worshipped on different religious occasions,whereas some humans are treated as untouchables in society.Having remained segregated under different caste names suchas Sarki, Kami, Damai, Gaine, Chamar, Dushadh, Halkhor,Mushahar, Pasi, Teli etc. and some other Nepaleseuntouchable groups of peoples have now realized the needfor coming forward and fight against injustice under thebanner of Dalits. This has offered them a sense ofsolidarity in their struggle for social justice andrespect.

By and large, the case with Dalits in Nepal is different

than it is in India. There is an admixture of differentpeople of different origins and cultures in most of theNepalese societies. The formative processes of thesesocieties have been determined by Hindu ethical values.Having received highest priority and profound admirationfrom the state, both the people of Indo-Aryan descent andHindu culture had been and still today are able to gain afirm ground on Nepalese soil resulting in the gradualdecline of the people of other origins and cultures.

Prejudiced as it has remained so far, the state eventuallyhas promoted a fashion of mono-culturalism and dismissal ofother indigenous identities in the country. Hinduism thus

became more than a religious faith and practice but it cameup as a polity that disfavored human values and socialjustice. Over the years, several corrections have been madein the Hindu polity only to serve the interests of the so-called upper caste people.

As the country has quite diverse and extreme topographicaland climatic conditions, the caste hierarchy here is evenmore diverse and extreme. The stratified caste hierarchy

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has been the main basis for Hinduism. In caste cultureunder which ones own brothers are regarded as Shudras the so-called lowest caste peoples who are also known asuntouchables. The practice of untouchability in the Hinducaste system can be viewed as one of the major causes forunderdevelopment of Nepal. Similarly a vaster size of

population in other South Asian countries such as India,Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan has also beenfacing more or less the same types of problems ofdiscrimination and social injustice either on the groundsof descent or cultural traits.

Caste Culture & Its Impact:Caste Culture & Its Impact:Caste Culture & Its Impact:Caste Culture & Its Impact:

For ages, Nepal has been a common home to the people ofdifferent origins and cultures. Generally speaking, atleast three different types of people make up Nepalination: i) people in four-class Hindu varnasaharam Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, ii) ethnic people

speaking their own mother tongues and having their owncultures and, iii) others from different religious beliefs.The collective identity of these people is the Nepalesepeople as stated in the Constitution. Therefore, thereshould be no difficulty in distinguishing Hindus, whereasethnic people are known by their origin or descent ratherthan by their culture and nationality only. These peopleare also known as Janajatis (indigenous people ornationalities) of Nepal. Dalits fall in the classical HinduShudra category and the ethnic people are also notnecessarily recognized and placed above Shudras.Psychologically weakened, and with little or no resourcesof their own, such socially oppressed people have not beenable to better their economic conditions.

The Civil Code of 1854 recognized nationalities as thepani chalne (water touched by them will be acceptable)Shudras and put them above Dalit Shudras on the socialladder. This new stratification also forced Dalits tofurther suffer from another group of people, apart formHindus. Slowly but surely, Dalits are coming together andfighting for their rights. This sort of social movement isexpected to strengthen solidarity of the nation and promotesocio-economic development in the country. So long as thissocial discrimination continues to prevail, the country

cannot develop, socially and economically.

The Kathmandu PostThe Kathmandu PostThe Kathmandu PostThe Kathmandu PostKathmandu Magh 07, 2058. [Sunday January 20, 2002]http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/jan/jan20/features.htm

http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/jan/jan20/features.htmhttp://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/jan/jan20/features.htm