The maze of land reform

Thus, the population of Nepalis involved in agriculture is more than 41 lakh 30 thousand. However, there is a history of making a large part of the labor force involved in agricultural production landless for hundreds of years. Especially agricultural production land started with human settlement. In this way, the tribal community has a great contribution in the preparation and production of arable land. In this way, since ancient times, the land of communities and individuals involved in agricultural production has been forcibly seized by the state and distributed in the name of jobs, jobs, etc.

In 1910, after Jung Bahadur Rana made a law to regulate which caste could own property or not, the land of farmers involved in agricultural production was taken away because of caste, on the other hand, thousands of bigha of land were given to Hindu priests who did not contribute much to agricultural production. Not only this, throughout the Rana-Shahi reign, the Raj family, the Rana family and high-ranking staff administrators who were not involved in agriculture, captured thousands of bighas of productive land across the country. In the name of jobs, productive land was confiscated and distributed to the employees of the government. In this way, the land made productive by farmers was seized by the state and distributed to Brahmins and Kshatriyas as priests who were not involved in agriculture, Rana and some Magars and Gurungs who worked in army and personnel administration as jobs. Similarly, productive land was distributed to certain people of the so-called upper castes of Terai-Madhesh, some upper castes within the Newar. This resulted in millions of people engaged in agricultural labor and production becoming peasants. Not only this, the Dalit community was forbidden to keep property in their name.

If we look at the history of Nepal's land ownership in this way, the state took away the land of real farmers by making laws and made millions landless, while marginalized communities including Dalits were forcibly made landless by not keeping land in their name. Therefore, a large group that was not involved in agricultural production and labor took over the land of arable farmers, and by forcing those farmers to do agricultural labor, took sole possession of the produce obtained. As a result, millions of agricultural workers are still landless. In this way, the landlords have now turned into capitalists by seizing the land of the farmers, while the farmers who have lost their land or the tribes who are not allowed to own the land are still in the most poverty-stricken condition.

The rationale of land reform

The contribution of agriculture in Nepal's economy is gradually decreasing and the population that depends on agricultural production is also decreasing. In the context that Nepal has entered the capitalist economic system, the argument that there is no justification for land reform has been strongly raised from time to time. But even if we take the data of the National Land Commission as a basis, there are more than 1.5 million landless squatters in Nepal. Thus, a large population of the landless belongs to Dalit and marginalized communities. Haliya and Khalo customs are still in place in Far West and Karnali. Likewise, the herdsman tradition is alive in Madhesh. Both of these are exploitative systems based on forced bonded labour. This community, which contributes to the overall agricultural production of the land, does not get wages commensurate with their labor, nor do they get any royalties for being involved in agricultural production for years. The state announced the liberation of Halia in 2065, who had been severely exploited for hundreds of years. The state has also implemented a rehabilitation program. However, no action has been taken to prosecute the landlords who have been forcing generations of bonded laborers and to compensate the families of the recent settlers. The recently freed slaves have been converted from laborers to wage laborers, but there has not been a big change in economic life.

Landlords in Terai-Madhesh keep herdsmen as bonded labourers. More than 70,000 people work as pastoralists in Nepal. Most pastoralists do not go beyond the farming and household work of a particular landlord. In 2079, the state announced the emancipation of Harwacharwa, a form of modern slavery. However, no work has been done except the declaration of liberation of Harwacharwa. On the other hand, a very large population of the Musahar community, who have been working in agriculture for generations, are landless. In this way, a large group of people who have been engaged in agricultural production for years are still landless, while the main occupation of the zamindars occupying arable land is not agriculture. Therefore, the state must provide land for the justice of the agricultural laborers who are forced to be landless and are subjected to extreme exploitation. In the context of Nepal, land is not only an asset, it is also a person's identity and social reputation. Not only that, but also life, culture and civilization. Therefore, land reform is mandatory in Nepal to establish the land ownership of landless farmers, to protect the land of the community whose identity, existence and civilization are connected with the land.

On the other hand, Nepal is being transformed into a consumerist society, meaning that agricultural production is constantly declining. The land that was once in the possession of landlords and feudal lords is becoming barren due to lack of labor force, while the peasants engaged in agricultural labor have no land. On the one hand, this has led to a decrease in the productivity of arable land, while the laborers involved in agriculture have to go to foreign jobs. Therefore, even if we want to increase the productivity of the land and reduce the trade deficit by increasing the agricultural production, we must establish ownership over the land of the poor and landless farmers. In addition, the state should support farmers in new knowledge, technology and market management necessary for production. On the one hand, it facilitates the economic life of landless farmer families and also helps to strengthen the national economy.

Dishonesty on squatters

If you look at the Nepali political history, from the Communist Party to the Nepali Congress, revolutionary land reform was made a political agenda. The Communist Party also took a strong stand against land-feudalism during the struggle. Landless farmers, poor and marginalized communities joined the political struggle because of revolutionary land reform slogans. Revolutionary land reform became the agenda by the time the political movement was brought to a height and the parties were brought to power. However, after those parties came to power, no concrete program of land reform could be made. After all the parties came to power, only the work of forming the National Land Reform Commission, studying the situation of the landless or collecting data is being done. On the basis of those data, a small number of landless people have been distributed Lalpurja, but on the whole, no effective work has been done to distribute fair land to the landless and to provide land to people who have been forcibly evicted from the land or have become squatters.

Similarly, in the name of development, conservation, etc., people have reached the situation of being displaced from the land. Fishing on the banks of the river, small trades and subsistence fishing, the land has all been taken away and they are unable to earn a living from traditional occupations. Due to roads, electricity generation, etc., a forced situation has been created where people have to leave their homes and move. There is a situation to be alienated from the existence, identity and culture connected to one's land. Due to landlessness, people who are forced to live on the banks of rivers and on dangerous terrains suffer from disasters like floods, landslides and inundation every year. Neither the Land Commission has been able to work seriously on such broad issues nor have the political parties made a concerted effort to solve landlessness and the problems created due to it. Nepal's political parties have not been able to be honest about the agenda and commitments made in the past regarding land reform. This is an injustice to the expectations of landless squatters.

The strong movement of the landless

There has been a movement for land rights in Nepal for a long time. At one time, land rights movement became the agenda of political parties. The landless from all over the country were protesting in an organized manner. The landless protested not only in the districts, but also to put pressure on the Kathmandu center itself. As the debate about the landless in political circles has weakened, the movement of the landless is also slowing down. On the other hand, due to landlessness, they are falling into the cycle of multifaceted problems. On the one hand, the state declares Kamaiya, Haliya, Harwacharwa free, but does not provide for alternative livelihood, on the other hand, the landless are suffering from having to take loans on metered interest to meet their basic needs such as livelihood, education, and health. Not only this, the landless are getting trapped in a cycle of new forms of financial exploitation. The state should make an immediate and long-term plan to address the problems faced by millions of landless or landless people. The state should take special initiatives to free them from financial loot such as metered loans, microfinance, and equitable land should be distributed to the landless and forcibly displaced people through scientific land reform. In this regard, there is a need for an integrated and strong land rights movement to hold the state and political parties accountable.