Roadmap of Dalit movement

According to a UN report, 97 percent of people admit that there is discrimination in society. There are hardly any Dalits who do not experience untouchability, humiliation, contempt, beatings, boycotts in one way or another in their homes, courtyards, streams, monasteries, schools, marriages, vows, death rituals and feasts.

Although there is provision for proportional representation in the constitution, Dalit representation in the current federal and state governments is zero. Dalits were neglected in any appointments made by those governments. Even though untouchability is prohibited by the constitution and laws, violence and discrimination against Dalits are increasing, but resistance and rebellion are decreasing. Why did the Dalit movement, which should have ignited the fire of rebellion against such deprivation and discrimination, become lax? It is necessary to review the policy, structure and leadership of the Dalit movement with the answer to this question.

The varna system starting from the Rigveda was transformed into the caste system based on birth and lineage. Jang Bahadur Rana passed through Jayasthiti Mall in Nepal. Institutionalized caste and caste system through the Civil Act of 1910. It established a divisive hierarchy in the name of Tagadhari and Matwali, making one caste smaller than the other, making high and low, untouchable and untouchable, pure and impure. Over time, the caste system continued to advance in the name of religion, culture and values ​​and forced the Dalit community, who were born as human beings, to live a hellish life like animals. The struggle against this inhumane caste system based on the Hindu caste system by the warriors from Buddha to Bhagat Sarvajit Vishwakarma included the rights even though they were limited in the constitution. However, in practice, the Dalit community has not been able to realize it. In such an environment, the Dalit movement of the future is looking for a roadmap to draw a line of a new form of overall Dalit liberation by creating an environment in which the Dalit community can use the rights granted by the constitution.

The long struggle of the Dalit movement, established as the oldest social movement, has led to the conclusion that a multi-faceted struggle should be made, establishing the issue of Dalit liberation politically. It has also contributed to the establishment, leadership development and empowerment of various associations and organizations that are building the theoretical and ideological ground of the Dalit movement. Now Dalit question has been accepted by all parties and states. Because of this, Dalits have been able to be present in the documents and structures of the parties. Dalit issues have been listed in the constitution as a policy achievement.

The constitution prohibits untouchability while the untouchability act makes it punishable. It has started to be included in the government's policies and programs, budgets and plans. Reservation has also started in various agencies of the state. Constitutional Dalit Commission, Development Committee, Badi Development Committee have been formed as structural achievements. The Dalit issue has now become internationalized and works are done in connection with various structures of the United Nations along with the SARD Convention.

Limits of Dalit movement

Without a brutal review of the Dalit movement, a concrete path for the future cannot be prepared. That is why I, my caste, my organization, my party and my future should be reviewed. Dalit community leaders and fraternal organizations in political parties are active for Dalit issues and representation in the state government and party by building nationwide structures. Work has also been done to make the constitution, laws and structures Dalit-friendly and to make the Dalit community aware and join the party. However, to clarify the theoretical and ideological issues of the Dalit movement, to liberate the Dalit community from the party's vote bank and prepare and mobilize the Dalit liberation blueprint, there is no concrete conflict within the party.

There is a growing trend of not taking concrete initiatives in the case of untouchability, but to get a position in the party and state power. Study, research, knowledge production and advocacy work based on that have not been done. There is a lack of a plan to develop critical consciousness, to internationalize the Dalit movement by linking it to the global agenda, to restructure the Dalit movement and change it into a federal structure. Indifference in the effective implementation of the constitution and laws and slowness in the question of handing over leadership to the new generation through regular meetings. There are also problems such as not being able to cover other professions, caste society, youth-students and civil society.

organizations have taken initiatives to spread public awareness to the grassroots, to empower them, to protect and promote human rights, to provide access to justice, to internationalize Dalit issues, and to make policy programs and budgets Dalit-friendly. However, there is a problem in this area of ​​being limited to a caste, class, community and focusing on the project rather than the core issue of the community. There is a tendency not to develop leadership, not to prepare and mobilize subject experts, not to involve the new generation in the work of the international sector, and to ignore fraternal organizations.

It seems that the Dalit Commission has given caste listing and recommendations, the Development Committee has given scholarships, provided general assistance in income generation and has taken initiatives to protect the human rights of the Dalit community. Most of the party workers are recruited in these bodies rather than subject matter experts, there is no effectiveness in the work, there is no fair and transparent work, and the problems of not being able to suggest and pressure the government through studies and research. People who are MPs and ministers complain that they are not able to work for the community. Because of

party whip, it seems that they cannot stand up for the Dalit community, they do not take concrete initiatives or intervene when making laws, periodical plans, government policy programs and budgets.

Representation of Dalits in army, police and civil service is positive. However, those who represent it do not seem to be doing solid work in favor of the community. In essence, there is a growing tendency to reach various positions in the state in the name of Dalit community but not be accountable to that community. The Dalit movement, which has to stand up for the effective implementation of the constitution and laws to change the feudal society based on the Hindu caste and caste system, which has not been changed by the people's movement and armed struggle, appears to be in a confused and innocent state. As the target of attack cannot be identified, the form of struggle is not clearly visible, and the movement has become loose due to various problems.

Ideological confusion is an old problem of the Dalit movement in Nepal. Dalit question is class or caste? How to address it? How to connect the socialism in the constitution with Dalit rights? Should we continue the issues that were raised with the centralized state power, i.e., before the constitution was made, or should we prepare an agenda adapted to the national and international environment that has developed since then? Is the liberation of the Dalit community possible with the rights in the constitution, or do we need to establish other issues? In trying to find answers to such questions, the movement seems to be trapped in jargon like the word Dalit, Dalit identity, reservation, progressive reservation and special rights.

Internationalizing the Dalit issue seems to involve only limited NGOs and their leaders. The political leadership is not interested. It has not been possible for everyone to take a common initiative by connecting the new generation. There is an increasing trend of people who have potential in the movement going abroad and migrating there. However, it seems that they have contributed to Nepal by gaining experience and skills from abroad. In recent times, people who have read, traveled abroad, have more followers on social media and reached a position have started presenting themselves as messiahs saying that I am the one who knows and listens, I am the movement and the organization. Such people who do not understand the history of the movement, its meaning and issues have added a great challenge to the movement. Similarly, raising questions about the role of party leaders and their fraternal organizations, one line of Dalit movement is in favor of building an alternative power. Although there is no solid basis for this, confusion has arisen in the movement. We have the problem of getting to office on the strength of

movement but not doing concrete work for the community, starting the movement but not being able to conclude it. It has not been possible to develop a new model of pyramid-style movement by connecting different political, professional, commercial organizations, gasses, youth-student organizations and people who have gained expertise in various fields, which are scattered like islands in the country and abroad. They are far from the movement when the new generation does not have the blueprint they want. There is no atmosphere to bring them into movement, develop leadership and transfer responsibility.

Likewise, skilled manpower and knowledge production have also been neglected. It has not been possible to identify new issues with the experience of the world, conduct studies, document historical documents and take the movement to a new height based on facts and data. It does not seem that there is an exchange of knowledge, skills and experience between the old generation and the new generation, producing and deploying the necessary experts for this. The Dalit movement has been facing problems like the lack of a common person like Ambedkar of India who can include everyone, who is not prejudiced, who rises above party and self-interest, who can provide timely policies, structure and leadership.

The main question

In order to take the current movement to greater heights and make it result-oriented, it is necessary to prepare a concrete roadmap for the mainstream movement to address the above-discussed problems. For this basically two aspects should be focused on, the Dalit renaissance campaign and the restructuring of the Dalit movement.

Dalit Rebirth Campaign: Rebirth literally means revival or revival. That is, a search for the glorious past and a 'critical inquiry'. Dalit emancipation campaign can be enriched through Dalit renaissance campaign just as Renaissance made Europe in darkness. 'Critical Inquiry' is necessary to identify Dalit's identity, history, contribution to the country and society, the root of discrimination and the concrete way to end it, the achievements and challenges and weaknesses of the movement.

The self-respecting contribution of the Dalit community as inventors, engineers, designers, information carriers, cleaners and musicians of this country is worth being proud of. With their skill, art, hard work and ability, they led the humans from the Stone Age and the Wild Age to a civilized society. Renaissance is necessary for a comprehensive search of that glorious history while being proud of the history and present of the contribution made by Dalits for human civilization by enduring extreme exploitation-oppression, injustice-tyranny. This will break the traditional negative commentary on Dalits and establish a new respectable commentary or identity.

Dalit movement started by Bhagat Sarvajit in 2004 by organizing self-reliant, self-reliant and rebellious Dalits has a proud history. In the year 2045, with the formation of the Oppressed Caste Upliftment Platform, nationwide temple entry, milk filling, water boiling, co-bhoj, Sino Boycott, Singha Darbar girao and Bhadrakali fast, the struggle of the Badi community took place. After the people's movement of 062/63, it is necessary to be proud of the resistance movement for Dalit rights in the new constitution and take serious lessons from it.

The self-reliant, self-reliant, self-respecting tendency and rebellious spirit within the Dalits should be strengthened while being proud of the pioneers who started the movement while dealing with the complex social and political situation. Writing/rewriting history, seeking freedom from inferiority complex and self-respect while reviving Dalit self-esteem, developing critical consciousness, creating an environment for knowledge creation and intellectual contribution, social-cultural transformation and moving forward in the direction of ending the caste and caste system is only possible through the Dalit revival campaign. .

Restructuring of the Dalit movement: In the 50s and 60s, wherever there were incidents of discrimination, there was strong protest and resistance. However, no matter how big the incident, there has not been a resistance movement. The main reason for this is the inability to restructure the Dalit movement. If the movement did not transform into local, provincial and federal structures in time, without the necessary organization and leadership for resistance, Dalits could not gain rights in practice.

The struggle against unitary, centralized, feudal state power led to restructuring of the state. A three tier government was formed. The agenda and priorities of the state changed but the thoughts, ideas and behavior did not change. In the past, the government with only one executive power was in the union and the struggle was also done in one place. However, now there are 761 executive governments at three levels with constitutional powers. Therefore, it is imperative that the Dalit movement be present at all three levels to make the government at all levels accountable to Dalit issues, to make policies, programs and budgets Dalit-friendly.

In the context of the future, political, economic, and social issues should be adapted according to the national and international environment, constitutional achievements should be institutionalized, and issues that are not addressed in the constitution should be raised continuously. Abolition of caste and caste system is mandatory for real Dalit liberation. For this it is necessary to take the class and caste liberation movements together. Also, the issue of disaster, epidemic and climate change, SDG, Dalit empowerment, proportional representation in the decision-making process and Dalit-friendly development and prosperity should be made the main roadmap of the movement. Along with the

policy, Dalit fraternal organizations, civil society and other concerned bodies should restructure their structures to adapt to the three-tier structure. A dynamic leadership with a vision to carry the above-mentioned policies and structures must be built. It is necessary to build a common leadership that can push the feudal, racist and discriminatory state structure, which has not been overthrown even by people's movement and armed struggle, has a broad scope of knowledge, and understands the national and international environment.

Now the Dalit movement should make a concrete roadmap with the goal of effective implementation of the constitutional provisions as they were then and the long-term goal of ending caste and caste system. It is necessary to create an organization according to this roadmap and restructure your thoughts, ideas, behavior, and work style in such a way that it is compatible with the new system and the world environment. In the information technology driven world, the new generation has come with different thoughts, ideas, knowledge, hopes, expectations and enthusiasm.

In such an environment, it is difficult to lead the future movement in a traditionalist and ad hoc manner like yesterday. Therefore, the leadership should be able to present itself as a visionary and dynamic leadership with knowledge, skills, science, information technology and language in order to address the attitudes of the new generation. A new roadmap of the movement should be prepared by connecting the issue of ending caste and caste system with the goal of achieving socialism in the constitution. To achieve such a goal, it is necessary to fight strongly from the four sectors of digital platform, road, house and government.