March 21- The Day Concern For Dalits of Nepal
प्रकाशित मिति : चैत्र ७, २०७८ सोमबार
Dalits of Nepal are celebrating March 21 as the international day to eliminate racial and caste-based discrimination every year. It is in memory of the Sharpeville massacre of March 21, 1960. There was age-long discrimination between white and black people in South Africa. At that time, the white rulers had full support for white people. The black people were treated as slaves and cattle and were deprived of opportunities and national resources. They were fighting for a long time for equal rights and duties. Their battle was led by their supremo Nelson Mandela. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. Ultimately the confrontation between the black peoples and the rulers was converted into a terrible situation. On March 21, 1960, the police officers opened fire, killing 69 people. More than 180 people were injured on a group of black people who were peacefully protesting against oppressive laws in a black township Sharpeville in South Africa. Later the white rulers were overthrown, and the regime came to the hand of black people in the leadership of the revered leader Nelson Mandela. So the problem was settled forever. This is an inspirational case to bring Dalits of Nepal into state power and remove the incidents based on caste-based discrimination forever.
Since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, the UN Charter and the declaration of human rights of 1948 have strongly protected the human rights of the people worldwide. Unfortunately, some countries have exercised discrimination based on religions, races, colors, or castes. It was leading to conflict and crisis. The inhuman massacre of Sharpeville sensitized the world against Racial Discrimination, which led the UN to organize the International Convention in 1965, which passed an international treaty to end all types of racial discrimination seen in the world. The international convention on eliminating all forms of racial discrimination adopted in 1965 played a pivotal role in minor social discrimination. Its first session condemned the massacre and passed a resolution declaring March 21 as the anniversary of memorizing the inhuman Sharpeville Massacre and remembering it as the day against racial discrimination. It gave a message for the higher interest of humanity to put an end to such a massacre forever in the world. Later in March of 1967, the General Assembly of the United Nations had proclaimed March 21 as International Day and requested the world to celebrate it as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Since becoming a member of the United Nations in 1955, Nepal has had an obligation to abide by its resolutions and charter. The social discrimination in South Africa might be over now, but in Nepal, it is still existing in extreme conditions. Even today, Dalits are dying in Nepal because of caste-based discrimination. We can give the example of the recent incident of Rukum west which is commonly known as the “Soti Massacre .”The recent incident of the Rukum west massacre of May 23, 2020 (10 Jestha 2077 BS ) is the best example of thousands of atrocities done based on caste-based discrimination in Nepal. In this incident, commonly known as the “Soti Massacre,” 6 peoples of the so-called lower caste group ( Dalits and a few others ), including Nava Raj Vishwakarma, were massacred, and the other nearly 12 people, including maximum Dalits, were beaten brutally and made injured by so-called upper caste group of the local village. The event was begun when a fact of the love affairs of Nava Raj Vishwakarma of Dalit community with a girl of Malla Thakuri, a so-called upper caste family, was disclosed. The guardians of the girl did not like this possible relation of their daughter with a boy of the so-called lower caste group. After some years of the affair, one day, the girl called on Nava Raj Vishwakarma to her village in Rukum and requested to take her to his home. On May 23, 2020, Nava Raj Vishwakarma went to her village with some of his friends. When the villagers, including the girl’s parents, saw the boy coming with his friends to meet his girlfriend, they called the villagers and got ready to attack them. When the villagers met the group of boys with Nava Raj Vishwakarma, they started to attack and murdered six people of them, including Nava Raj Vishwakarma, and made others injured. Some of the murdered boys were packed in jute bags and thrown to nearby Vary River. Later, police discovered some dead bodies from the river in a packed position. The trial is in court, and a few of the criminals are in police custody.
Let’s compare the cases of South Africa and Nepal. We can find white peoples had ruled black peoples in South Africa, and so-called upper caste groups, especially of one race, have ruled Dalits and other marginalized groups in Nepal. In most service-providing offices, either civil services or police forces, or courts, the powers are occupied by the same group of so-called upper castes in Nepal. That is the reason when a Dalit goes to the service provider to report the case to get justice; the service providers show reluctance to register the case or to give them justice. Even if they register the case, they give late justice. We can imagine the same situation may be repeated in the case of the Soti Massacre. We know ‘late justice is no justice.
The nature of the Soti Massacre of Nepal exactly resembles the Sharpeville Massacre of South Africa, although the number of death tolls is different. Sharpeville Massacre became able to draw the attention of the international field, but Soti Massacre could not do that. It is just because the Dalits of Nepal are mostly illiterate and are suppressed by the regime. However, one could think there are a number of missionaries in Nepal to look after such cases. But from the first day of their arrival in Nepal, they are circled and influenced by the so-called upper caste rulers and people, and the access of the voices of Dalits to their respective offices is completely blocked or suppressed. Dalits of Nepal have negligible access to the international missionaries in Nepal. We can see a number of incidents based on caste-based discrimination are happening monthly on average in different parts of Nepal. Still, mostly they are not being able to get justice in time. Soti Massacre is only one example. Although the political system has changed from time to time, the rulers have not changed. Dalits have contributed even their lives to change the political system and restore democracy in every people’s movement of Nepal either those might be the movements of 1940, 1950, 1980, 1990, and 2006 (1997, 2007, 2036, 2046, and 2062/63 B. S. respectively). But Dalits never came effectively into the state’s power. Some regimes sometimes bring only one “yes man” from the Dalit community in only one ministry to show inclusion to the international field. Unfortunately, ‘one’ representative from the Dalit community could not be ‘two’ either in the Panchayat system, the Multi-Party System, or the Federal System of Nepal. But Dalits are not tired. They are still fighting through different forms for equal rights and equal duties. Could we learn the peaceful process from abroad to treat equally, give justice, and empower to Dalits of Nepal?