COUNTRY REPORT FOR UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION FOR ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (Prepared with Special Reference to Dalit Community of Nepal) – 1994.

 

Author:  Hira Vishwakarma

 

Published by:

Dalit Welfare Organization, Milan Road, Teku, Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel. No. 215534; and

Feminist Dalit Organization, Kupondole, Lalitpur, Nepal. Tel. No. 523382.

 

Sponsored by:

Action Aid Nepal and Save the Children, USA.

 

 

This was perhaps the first Nepal Report on the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination that was prepared by Dalit activists themselves for submission to the concerned committee of the United Nations’ Convention. Thanks to a provision under Article No. 14 of the Convention for lodging a written complain directly to the convention by the victims, this report was prepared collectively by the intelligent Dalits under mitigation of a few NGOs, which were working against the racial discrimination in the country. This was an alternate report to the Government supported report, prepared with no apparent transparency, that has been submitted to the UN Committee regularly during the erstwhile Panchayat system, and has been continued even during the era of Multi-party democracy following 1990 popular movement.

 

The report outlines the existing situation of caste discrimination specially relating to Dalits who have been declared untouchables by the law of land until 1963 when the Naya Muluki Ain (New Civil Code) was enacted.

 

The Contents of the Report are:

 

  1. Preface
  2. Introduction
  3. A Brief Historical Background of Nepalese Dalits

-      Dalits Before the Unifications of Nepal

-      Unification of Nepal and the role played by Dalits

-      Situation after Muluki Ain (National Code) of 1853

  1. Who are these Untouchables or Dalits?
  2. Current Situation of Dalits

a.    Education

b.    Economic

c.    Health & Environment

d.    Participation in bureaucracy, Judiciary and Technical Service

e.    Army and Police Service

f.     Participation in Politics or legislation

  1. Social Status and Human Rights Situation
  2. A few incidents related to the violation of Human Rights of Dalits over the lst two years

1)          Incidents of not accepting milk from Dalits by Dairies and Cooperatives

2)          Temple entering incidents

3)          A struggle to take water from a well of Sipa Pokhare

4)          An incident of blowing Conch-shell

  1. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

              Article 1 – 7

  1. Analysis of Nepalese Dalit Movement in the Light of International Anti-Racial Movment
  2. A Brief Analysis of the Roles played by various Human Rights Organizations of Nepal against Racial discrimination.

a.    Human Rights Organizations

b.    INHURED International

c.    CWIN

d.    Amnesty International

e.    INSEC

  1. Human Rights and Dalit Women of Nepal
  2. Commitment of Major Political Parties towards Dalit Human Rights:

1)          Nepali Congress

2)          Nepal Communist Party (UML)

3)          National Democratic Party

4)          Nepal Sadvawana Party

5)          Nepal Labourers and Peasants’ Party

6)          Nepal Communist Party (Masal)

  1. Some Recommendations for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Disrimination and Protection and Promotions of Human Rights

1)          Government

2)          Opposition Political Parties

3)          Dalit Organizations

4)          Human Rights Organizations

5)          International Organizations

  1. Conclusions
  2. References
  3. Publishers’ Note
  4. Few Words

-      By Ramesh Singh

-      By Keith Leslie