UNTOUCHABILITY: HOW LONG WILL IT

PREVAIL?

- B. K. Rana
-
Everyone aspires for self-respect, independence, equality,
and justice against all sorts of prejudice, discrimination,
oppression, exploitation, hatred and insults based on
caste, religion, colour, gender etc. But the situation is
sadly different for the people of South Asia, and Nepal is
not an exception. South Asian countries are beset with
superstitious beliefs and orthodox traditions.
Many people in Nepal suffer from social evils, and are
therefore impelled to live a miserable life. In some
situations, 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 such
as Sarki, Kami, Damai, Gaine, Chamar, Dushadh, Halkhor,
Mushahar, Pasi, Teli etc. and some other Nepalese
untouchable groups of peoples have now realized the need
for coming forward and fight against injustice under the
banner of Dalits. This has offered them a sense of
solidarity in their struggle for social justice and
respect.

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

than it is in India. There is an admixture of different
people of different origins and cultures in most of the
Nepalese societies. The formative processes of these
societies have been determined by Hindu ethical values.
Having received highest priority and profound admiration
from the state, both the people of Indo-Aryan descent and
Hindu culture had been and still today are able to gain a
firm ground on Nepalese soil resulting in the gradual
decline of the people of other origins and cultures.

Prejudiced as it has remained so far, the state eventually

has promoted a fashion of mono-culturalism and dismissal of
other indigenous identities in the country. Hinduism thus
became more than a religious faith and practice but it came
up as a polity that disfavored human values and social
justice. Over the years, several corrections have been made
in the Hindu polity only to serve the interests of the so-
called ‘upper caste’ people.

As the country has quite diverse and extreme topographical

and climatic conditions, the caste hierarchy here is even
more diverse and extreme. The stratified caste hierarchy
has been the main basis for Hinduism. In caste culture
under which one’s own brothers are regarded as Shudras –
the so-called ‘lowest caste’ peoples who are also known as
‘untouchables’. The practice of untouchability in the Hindu
caste system can be viewed as one of the major causes for
underdevelopment of Nepal. Similarly a vaster size of
population in other South Asian countries such as India,
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan has also been
facing more or less the same types of problems of
discrimination and social injustice either on the grounds
of descent or cultural traits.

Caste Culture & Its Impact:

For ages, Nepal has been a common home to the people of

different origins and cultures. Generally speaking, at
least three different types of people make up Nepali
nation: i) people in four-class Hindu varnasaharam –
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, ii) ethnic people
speaking their own mother tongues and having their own
cultures and, iii) others from different religious beliefs.
The collective identity of these people is the ‘Nepalese
people’ as stated in the Constitution. Therefore, there
should be no difficulty in distinguishing Hindus, whereas
ethnic people are known by their origin or descent rather
than by their culture and nationality only. These people
are also known as Janajatis (indigenous people or
nationalities) of Nepal. Dalits fall in the classical Hindu
Shudra category and the ethnic people are also not
necessarily recognized and placed above Shudras.
Psychologically weakened, and with little or no resources
of their own, such socially oppressed people have not been
able to better their economic conditions.

The Civil Code of 1854 recognized nationalities as the

‘pani chalne’ (water touched by them will be acceptable)
Shudras and put them above Dalit Shudras on the social
ladder. This new stratification also forced Dalits to
further suffer from another group of people, apart form
Hindus. Slowly but surely, Dalits are coming together and
fighting for their rights. This sort of social movement is
expected to strengthen solidarity of the nation and promote
socio-economic development in the country. So long as this
social discrimination continues to prevail, the country
cannot develop, socially and economically.

The Kathmandu Post

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