| News |
Posted
on 17-Aug-01 09:53 AM
Nepal outlaws caste discrimination
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Taking on the centuries-old Hindu practice of "untouchability," the Nepalese government on Thursday outlawed discrimination against members of the lowest caste and said it would move to end the caste system altogether.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who came to power last month after the resignation of an unpopular prime minister and the massacre of Nepal's royal family, said his Cabinet reached the decision as part of a package of reforms.
"Effective from this day the practice of untouchability and any discrimination based on it will be considered a crime punishable by a severe sentence," Deuba told Parliament in announcing the new policy. He did not say what the punishment would be.
Dalits, who are ranked the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy, now will be free to enter any temple or religious structure, the prime minister said.
The surprise move to ban the practice of deeming certain people "untouchable" was hailed by the opposition as a powerful step to push Nepal further out of its global isolation and choking poverty.
"This is a remarkable and daring decision by the government," said Bharat Mohan Adhikari, a member of Nepal's main opposition party. "This would end the feeling of insult these people have been facing through the years."
The Himalayan kingdom, one of the poorest countries in the world, remains strongly tied to the Hindu caste system and believes its king is an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
Hinduism's caste hierarchy is also a powerful force in neighboring India, a Hindu majority country where a 1950 constitutional ban on caste-based discrimination continues to be flouted.
In India's Bihar state that borders Nepal, 600 members of the Dalit community, described by many people as untouchables, complained Thursday to the state's top elected official that higher caste feudal landlords had barred them from entering a famous Hindu temple. The Dalits had threatened to convert to another religion if the persecution continued, said Rameshwar Ram, a cobbler in Lahang-Dumaria village.
Many Hindus, especially in rural or remote villages, still do not eat food prepared or touched by the so-called untouchables.
Nepal's constitution, drafted in 1990 following the restoration of democracy in Nepal, bars discrimination based on sex, religion and race. But laws and regulations to enforce these provisions have yet to be implemented, and none exist barring discrimination based on caste.
Deuba said the government would soon present a bill in Parliament to ensure an end to the caste system in the world's only Hindu kingdom. The prime minister announced the formation of a national commission for the welfare of Dalits.
"It is our duty and responsibility to end this system that is discriminatory to our brothers and sisters," said the prime minister.
Last year, Nepal's government outlawed the practice of bonded labor under which Dalits were forced to work in large farms owned by upper-caste landowners for generations, trying to pay off the debts incurred by their fathers or grandfathers.
The government said there were at least 16,000 bonded laborers in Nepal's five western districts and that anyone violating the ban could be jailed up to 10 years. Human Rights groups say the number of bonded laborers is closer to 40,000.
The law freed the bonded laborers of all obligations, including the money their families owed to the landlords.
The country's latest census has yet to be made public and it was unclear how many Dalits are among Nepal's 23 million people.
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| GP |
Posted
on 17-Aug-01 07:56 PM
Nepali Communists and Deuba family too, they talk a lot about
caste systems, but, when Deuba got married at late age, he still
needed Chhetri Girl (woman?). Similarly, Makune or Bharat Mohan
Adhikari or all so called communists, they try to look for girl or boys
for their kids to be strictly from their own caste. Its just dekhaune
daat, and rules are made for citizens, not for them. In fact such
rules gives me a sense that these rule makers are "untouchables"
from the law they make it for citizens.
These rule makers should think of being touchable in the perpespective
of law, orders. As long s they are untouchables for all social evils
and crimes like corruptions, the new laws do not make difference.
GP
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