HOR declares Nepal “untouchability free” country

In yet another major announcement, the reinstated House of Representatives on Sunday unanimously endorsed a proposal to declare Nepal a country “free of untouchability and all kinds of discrimination.”

The legal and constitutional status of the proposal, however, remains unclear.

Moving a proposal of “urgent public importance,” a lawmaker of the CPN (UML), Parshuram Neghi Gurung, called on so-called dalit community—that constitutes 16 percent of the country’s 27 million population—in all processes of making new constitution and ending all sorts of discriminatory policies and practices including so-called untouchability.

The proposal calls for mobilization of special economic programme for education, health and employment for dalits and those under the absolute poverty line to their status.

The constitution of the kingdom of Nepal 1990 prohibits all types of discrimination against citizens on the basis of caste, gender or religion. But activists said a number of discriminatory provisions and laws were still in practice.

Addressing the House session on Sunday, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Narendra Bikram Nemwang said untouchability was a social crime and that the government would introduce a new bill soon to make necessary amendments in the existing Act.

Earlier, the House of Representatives has already declared Nepal a secular state and asked the government to formulate laws so as to issue citizenship certificated to children in the name of their mother. Earlier, the certificate could be issued in the name of father only.

I am a human being first and a woman second. I dont categorize myself according to some british imposed caste system..... but in case u need to know..... i sadly fall under the top category one which i hate to say....and am studying islam.... so that i could get converted and dont have to use my samanti hajurbuwa's last name

Felicity you can change your surname without having to convert your religion. I don't see why someone would need to change their religion. Just believe in GOD.

Remember that God does not have any religion.

How about "Just believe in you? Remember you don't have religion. "

And if this implies that you are a god. Let that be...

well... i really dont believe in hinduism...sorry...no offense... but polytheism is not my cup of tea.

i can of course change my religion...when i marry ...but thats not iwhat i want... my school certificate still carries my father's surname. yeah..it is easy to change my name here...... thus i just use my first name most of the time...
as far as religion.. i dont find it as opium..i think it is a code of conduct..tahts why i want to convert to ISLAM.

I am curious what do you find so appealing in Islam that you want to convert?

Sorry to be late...I was out for lunch...

Thanks Felicity for your positivity.

Now talking about eating in the same plate with a Dalit.......... I did not want to get personal....especially here in sajha but i guess I will have to.......

I married a woman from the dalit community. She is the first woman lawyer from the Dalit community. taking about sharing plates? I am living a life together with so-called dalit.

Consequences?
There were many and there were some challanges too.
visit LAW NEPAL www.santosgere.wordpress.com , You will know about me in details.

Of course, my relatives and parents were against me. i lived life like a prince but decided to start as a commoner, if my marriage was not acceptable.
Time heals and people's brains and perspective changes too.
Today after 4 years, my relatives have realised that they were wrong and that their perception on 'caste' was a MISSTAKE afterall.
Today, my younger sister is happily married with a so-called Dalit . My younger brother also did an intercaste marriage and my daughter is loved and adored by everyone.

I just want to be clear that 'Dalit' is not tatooed on their forehead.....it is your brains that need to be cleared off that crap!

Again, together we can and together we will make a difference.
I dont believe in the words of the leaders too. But still the stance they have taken is historic and that may subject 34 lakh dalit community towards proper justice and equality.

well.. there is so many misunderstanding about islam..... like media blows everything opur of proportion.
first thing.. i believe in ONE GOD.....monotheism. now u will say.... how abt jewish and christian religion then? well u see all these 3 religions are basically same except one point... jews dont believe christ to be the prophet after moses....and christians dont believe Muhammad to be prophet after jesus. i believe the later.
And what appeals me most is the notion of unseen, supernatural power..... which is not depicted in any form of pictures or murti.. which is where my fundamental belief lies as well. The other thing is place of Women in ISLAM...and when i started reading Quran.. i found that there is code for each stpe of our lives.. i mean there are legal things and scientific things etc. I am currently reading science and ISlam..... and it is amazing how many thing that we have been discovering recentlky is already in quran. And see.. i am a scientist ... so there r so many things that i find unansered in science ..yet been answered in quran.

if u have more quests.. u will have to wait till tomorrow......i need to attend a meeting at 5 pm.
thanks

santoshgiri that is cool. I have also made love to a dalit woman. It didn't feel any different from any other girls i made love to.

Wow... santosh...... I am very proud of you for standing up to be a man as u are.

i wish lot more nepalese guys were like u.

bhushan.... making love to someone and sharing a life full of love with someone is entirely diffrent thing.....please....
and that is another part of islam that appealed to me..... no sex before marriage....or no one night stands..... i think sex is very beautiful...if it is shared with the person u really love and are committed to as in ..marriage.

oh gosh.. i am late. but guys thanks for lively discussion.

bhushan i will write more tomorrow...

Felicity life is full of contradictions, you talk as if everything is clear cut. You talk as though no muslims engage in the bliss of pre-marital sex. And the place of women in islam? Can you explain how burkha fits into this?

Bhusan, memyselfand nepal, felicity and sunnydev......great discussion.....

lets keep our minds, spirits and thoughts clear and pure.....this is all we have to do nothing else.

Islam is a primitive religion that mandates circumcision for all males who have come of age. Only today, there was this nice article that maintained that in Saudi Arabia, anything that's not Wahhabi is shunned upon. Only if Sufism were more mainstream. Mohammed, for example, raped a 9 yr old by the name of Aisha. He was a war-mongering, Arab imperialist, for whom Islam served to unify all warring Arab/Bedoin tribes, and he used this new-found solidarity to launch his Jihad on "pagan" culture. Actually, even Christianity is founded on killing people in the name of religion. These are primitive religions that see pagan religions as problematic, which is a joke.
Declaring Nepal "untouchability free" does not make Nepal "untouchability free". India's constitution is 100% secular, yet Indians have more problems with caste then Nepalis have ever had. These are issues that should be left untouched, because otherwise it just ends up dividing people more.

running away from problem never solves the problem.
Even though we have this black cloud of untouchability, we have to be thankful for the silver lining 'UNTOUCHABILITY FREE NEPAL' declaration.

NO COMMENTS ON RELIGION.
For me every religion has the same level, In my single life.......i would always want to see , feel, know and cherish everything this world offers, not run away from it.

I do not pray often but whenever I do, I remember all those idols of different religion that i am aware of.

Great Example Setting Giri Ji!
i have tremedous respect for you .See the point i was trying to make is individual makes difference not laws.You are one of the individual who made the difference.Laws are their to guide but as in every laws there is loop holes.We need to change the mentality but not forcefully .Law can go only upto certain extent it is upto society to adopt it or not.
Consciousness and realization is the key to change these kind of social tabbos.NOT 5 years of jails.
I do not advocate for stricter law ,i advocate for more money to be invested on rural consiousness programs.i advocate for implementation of the law.
You know and i know how much dedicated Netas we have!!!

Great conversation today......
At least we all can say for sure we all are serious and focussed.






























































The leaders.....?
I cant explain how down they have fallen in our eyes..................!

so I can touch anyone now without being discriminative??? thank u oh government for putting that in paper..otherwise i would have never touched many people.. i would just have been the discriminative SOB...

Touch and Not to Touch can also be seen in this way:

Right to Self Determination: A United Nations Declaration of Human Rights instrument
To Bar someone to enter into your home: Right to Property

BUT:
1. Discriminating in public places such as drinking water resources 9dhara, padhero, kulo, inaar) is a crime.
2. To discriminate in public services or places such as a tea shop, hotel, etc is a crime
3. To force the Chamaars to consume dead carcass of animals because they are from that caste is a crime (this always happens in Lahan every year)
4. To reject ones personal choice of marriage and to bar them from property rights and family rights is a crime-which most parents do in arranged and forced marriage against intercaste marriage
5.To rape/have intention of rape. sexually molest Baadi women and the teenage girls is a crime (People in the western Nepal still follow the tradition of treating these vulnerable women as sex toys and rape them every now and then, even the police do not file their cases)
6. To construct and supply water from different taps to the dalits and non-dalits is a crime because, neither the state mechanism nor any person has the right to segregate the society in terms of caste.