The Big Gap

Bel Bahadur Sunar was fined Rs. 40.000. The offence— he violated the unspoken law, which applies to Dalits in his village or he did NOT clean the cup after having tea at a tea stall. Bel Bahadur Sunar’s ignorance of this specific code for social behavior was perceived to be a conscious criminal act because he belongs to that part of the Nepalese population which carry the invisible mark of "untouchability" with him 24 hours every day of his life. Hence the cup was considered to be impure and not to be touched by anyone else.

Bel Bahadur’s case represents an endless line of incidents in which discrimination and prejudices against the untouchables are still prevailing as a means of dividing the population into a socio-economic hierarchy. The hierarchy leaves no obvious room for social mobility. On the contrary there is a huge gap between the upper-caste people and the untouchables. Subsequently, it is not wrong to claim that caste system is very much alive and kicking in Nepal.

The every-day life for the so-called untouchables is constituted by numerous codes of conducts which basically have to do with segregation and keeping people apart. The codes for social behavior between different castes in Nepal are primarily based on avoiding physical contact. Hence when exchanging money, the money is either thrown or put down and picked up by the receiver. You cannot take water from the same water tap. Instead two separate water taps are installed in many villages: one for the upper caste people and one for the lower caste ones. Even though nobody is using the high caste water tap the lower caste people rather wait for hours to take water from their own water tap. Untouchables cannot eat in the same room as the high caste people. Likewise, they cannot enter Hindu temples.

As a common denominator low caste people or untouchables are known to the rest of the population in Nepal as Dalits. The Dalit label covers a wide range of groups within the Nepalese society. What unifies them is that they all share the same "curse": that they by birth belong to the utter bottom of the social hierarchy. The Dalits are socially and economically most oppressed group in Nepal.

The system has deep roots within the Nepalese mentality and cultural tradition. It has a centuries long history. The fact that Nepal has for the past twelve years enjoying democracy based on a constitution that guarantees equality and basic human rights for all is in direct contradiction to the sad but unavoidable fact that not much has changed when looking at the Dalits. In theory the principles of equality and freedom are dominant features but in practice the opportunities for social change and mobility have not been accessible for the people who actually need them most. The tree has not been shaken enough to make a considerable change for the Dalits. Instead it is high caste people who are getting access to good education and consequently good and lucrative jobs.

These days democracy in Nepal is under severe pressure and is facing a serious backlash. The Nepalese government is positioned in a vacuum. They seem dazed and confused unable to act, especially after the military has been assigned to eliminate the Maoist insurgency and a state of emergency has been declared. It is somewhat ironical that the top leaders of the Maoist movement are from the high caste as are those in the government. From a sociological perspective they have more in common between each other than between the Dalits and the Maoists. That is probably also why none of them serious about the plights of the Dalits. The consequence is that the Dalits are all the more exploited and are being caught in crossfire.

It would be logical to conclude that the discrimination and exclusion from any possibility to improve their living conditions would create a solid foundation for solidarity among the Dalits. However, that is not the case. A Dalit is not just Dalit, it is far from as simple as that. When scratching a just a little on this very comprehensible black and white surface, you will soon realize that a very refined system of different ranks exists within the Dalit community. To add even more confusion when trying to identify the core identity of the Dalit community the Dalit communities also differ according to Nepal’s geography. Giving a very rough outline a distinction can be made between the Dalits living in the hills and the Dalits living in the Tarai. Apart from these two groups, a third group of Dalits is living in Kathmandu Valley. However, members of this group have lately announced to the public that they do not wish to be labeled as Dalits by the public authorities. Instead they want to be an active part of the modern democracy in Nepal on equal terms with non-dalits: " We thought that everybody was supposed to be equal in a democracy, but there are still people who want to keep the discrimination alive" explains a spokesman from the community of Kathmandu Valley.

Unfortunately, it seems that Nepal’s democracy has not been able to change the deeply rooted hierarchy of caste. It is also evident when one looks at the lack of representation at all levels within public administration and the parliament of Nepal.