Nepali politician educates herself at age 43

For an illiterate woman from a destitute family of former bonded labourers, Chun Kumari Chaudhari could not have been more removed from the power centres of Nepali politics.

She comes from a family of kamaiya in western Nepal, who till 20 years ago used to be bonded to landlords through a hereditary system of indentured labour. Chun Kumari spent her childhood working in her landlord’s house as a semi-slave kamlari, and at 15 was married off. She never went to school, and in her husband’s home she was too weighed down with household chores to learn to read and write.

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But earlier this month, at the age of 43, Chun Kumari got word that she had passed her SEE high school examination with a GPA of 2.25. She now plans to juggle her law-making duties at the provincial legislature by enrolling in political science at college. 

“There is a lot of work still left to do in our country,” says Chun Kumari, “nothing can stop me now.” 

It is this extraordinary confidence and unfailing grit that has brought Chun Kumari so far. She started out as a member of a local community forest user group in Kailali, and rose up the ranks to become a member of the Far-Western Provincial Assembly. She then educated herself, and is determined to fight socio-economic disparity and societal oppression.

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“Because of my poverty and society’s restrictions on females, I never got to go to school,” she recalls. “Later on, I was often humiliated because of my illiteracy.”

In 2018, when she became a member of the Far-Western Provincial Assembly, she had to face much ridicule from party co-workers for being illiterate. Chun Kumari says: “I decided then and there to turn my shame into determination and found the courage to join a school.”

So in 2018, inspired by another former kamlari Shanta Chaudhary who was elected to the Constituent Assembly seven year ago, Chun Kumari joined Grade 8 of Bhageswor School.

She did not tell her husband or children, thinking they would not approve. A week after her classes started her husband found out, but luckily he was supportive. 

In class, Chun Kumari was aware of her age difference with other students. “It was incredibly uncomfortable at first. I couldn’t even bring myself to get up and use the washroom. I became ill because of the stress. But slowly, I made friends among my classmates who were much younger than even my own children,” she says. 

Chun Kumari’s son Dipak is 25, has graduated in science from college, and is now working at the Shuklaphanta National Park.

Chun Kumari Chaudhari’s political life began in 1994, much before she taught herself to read and write. She started out as a member of the local community forest user’s group and worked her way up to be secretary and chair. She then was elected vice president of the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN).

She was affiliated with the UML party, and in 2017 was elected to be a member of the provincial assembly. She says, “My role now is to change society, so that girls are not discriminated against, have better opportunities, and do not have to go through what I did.”