"I shut down my poultry farm as the villagers did not buy fresh chicken from me,” sums up a Dalit farmer from Arghakhanchi district why he had to leave for work.&nbsp;
Most people can sell fresh meat in their villages and make a good profit but Dalits still cannot because people will not buy from them due to caste stigma. Dalits have no choice but to sell their poultry to outside suppliers for lower profits.&nbsp;
“Other hoteliers found out my caste and used it to push me out of competition. They informed my customers of my caste and discouraged them from staying at my hotel,” a Dalit hotelier shares.&nbsp;
The hotel was close to a medical school and had earned a good reputation among hospital visitors, at least until they discovered his caste.
As ‘higher’ caste customers stopped coming, he moved his hotel to the East-West highway, where customers, in a rush, do not have time to worry about the caste of the owner.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-looks-at-alternative-investments">Nepal looks at alternative investments</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey
“They will knock me out of the business if they know my caste,” says a Dalit who owns a pipe manufacturing business in Western Tarai. He has been in the business for several years. Due to fear of ostracisation from non-Dalits who dominate the industry, he has erased his caste name from all his documents and uses a non-Dalit surname.&nbsp;
These three incidents illustrate deeply rooted caste barriers blocking Dalits from entering and thriving in business even as they make up 14% of Nepal’s 29 million population.
Yet, due to Nepal’s hierarchical caste system, Dalits continue to be looked down upon as ‘untouchable’ and of ‘lower’ rank, and non-Dalits, as per caste norms, do not eat food and beverage items touched by them.&nbsp;
In a 2018 Tribhuvan University study, even seven years after anti-caste discrimination laws were passed, 34% of Hill Dalits and 28% of Madhesi Dalits reported routinely facing caste-based discrimination.&nbsp;
Caste-based barriers obstruct Dalits from freely participating and thriving in business, yielding at least three distinct types of market and non-market barriers.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar
First, caste bias means ‘higher’ caste groups avoid buying goods and services from Dalits, except for menial labour. In their 2019 book Good Economics for Hard Times, Nobel laureates in economics Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo show that social norms such as caste and patriarchy, and not just price, shape business decisions.&nbsp;
In Nepal’s case, ‘upper’ caste customers examine not only the price and quality of what they are buying but also the social value of goods and services.&nbsp;
Second, companies use caste norms to sideline Dalits out of competition. Development economists confirm that firms often deploy caste and ethnic discrimination to remove their competitors from the playing field.&nbsp;
Third, Nepal’s Dalits do not have easy access to resources such as land, capital, and networks that are usually a precondition to enter and thrive in business. Impoverished by decades of exclusion and discrimination, Dalits do not have collateral for loans. They face social stigma and stereotypes and do not get access to idea-and-trust-based loans.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times
As a result, they are forced to get by with low capital and higher interest rates. Dalits also do not have strong business networks, nor do they have access to the social spaces where business decisions are made. They do not have a strong community support system, which could compensate for low capital and weak policy networks.&nbsp;
These caste barriers not only block the entry of Dalits into business but also create market failures. Just like the Dalit hotelier in Bhairawa who was pushed out of the market, discriminatory practices allow only a few castes to dominate, forcing customers to buy in a market not governed by price and quality but by non-market measures. Eventually, such caste-based business practices create conditions for cartels and monopolies, blocking the free market.&nbsp;
Caste-biased business practices also yield inefficient resource allocation. Caste-based preferences in recruitment mean businesses are forced to draw from smaller talent pools, and Dalits miss out on opportunities for human development. Resources such as land and capital do not move across social groups, ultimately leading to unequal income distribution and lower economic growth.&nbsp;
Despite the challenges, Nepal is committed to ending discrimination in employment and business. In 1974, Nepal ratified the ILO Convention 111–Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958. In 2002, the country enacted the Bonded Labour (Prohibition) Act, formally ending forced labour such as Kamaiya, Haliya and Haruwa-Charuwa. In 2020, Nepal Rastra Bank issued a guidance note to encourage loans to Dalits of up to one million rupees on concessional interest rates.&nbsp;
While the commitments on paper have been swift, they have not led to tangible results. In 2023, the ILO Experts’ Committee called for Nepal to implement Convention 111 to address discrimination against Dalits and to promote their access to productive resources such as land and capital.
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside">Caste Aside</a>, Nepali Times
Ahead of its upcoming graduation to middle-income country status in 2026, Nepal has prioritised private sector-led development, hoping to increase investment from domestic and international investors. The Nepal Investment Summit this weekend is designed to attract investments.&nbsp;
While these are welcome moves, Nepal should not miss the opportunity to free itself from barriers holding back the Dalit community. By unlocking Dalits from discrimination, Nepal can add to its human capital, ensure fair income distribution, increase resource allocation efficiency, and augment economic growth.&nbsp;
We need research on how caste-based discrimination has reinforced market failures. The business development capacity of Dalits needs to be enhanced by creating better access to information and business networks. Nepal’s macro and micro-economic policies should combat visible and invisible caste-based business barriers.&nbsp;
Monetary policies can grant Dalits access to non-collateralised finance at concessional interest rates, and tax exemptions can create a level playing field. Finally, there could be a policy guarantee that the government, as one of the largest buyers, purchases goods and services from Dalits.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dalit-lives-must-matter">Dalit lives must matter</a>, Shristi Karki

Subhash Nepali

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Putting Dalits back in business

In her Tarai village not far from Hetauda, <a href="https://www.recordnepal.com/sarita-pariyar-who-is-going-to-tell-our-stories">Sarita Pariyar has written</a>, ‘Only certain castes were expected to read and write.’ Tamangs, Dalits and 'higher' castes attended her school, but only some were thought to have the capacity to learn.
‘People would say Chtteri Bahun ka bacchaharu bhayepo padchan; Bhote, Kami Damai ka baccha kaha padchan? (Chettri Bahun children can study, why would Tamang and Kami Damai children go to school?).’
As a child, Sarita believed what she heard about such groups. She saw that very few Tamang and Dalit students made it far in her school. Later she realised that these students faced economic, social, and linguistic barriers, not least the low expectations about their intellectual capacity.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-class-divide/">Nepal’s class divide</a>, Tom Robertson
‘The caste system led higher caste kids to believe that reading and writing are in their blood, but Dalit and Janajati kids were made to believe that they could not study and had to do manual work,’ writes Sarita, who realised that many talented children fell victim to these self-fulfilling prophecies. ‘Stories about what one group can or cannot do carry tremendous power.’
In Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/class-differences/">schooling and education</a> was once for higher castes only. Even after schools were opened in the 1950s and 1960s, for many years Dalit children either could not go to school or had to sit apart, on the floor or at the back. They could not use the water tap. They faced taunting and teasing from other children.
Today the situation is much improved. There is very little overt discrimination of the kind there once was, but much remains to be done. One big barrier that Dalit children face, as Sarita Pariyar’s story so powerfully reveals, is the bigotry of low expectations.
Many high caste people still believe that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/caste-aside-dalits-battle-sitgma/">Dalit</a>are not smart or have less potential than other children. Sadly, some teachers to whom students look to for guidance believe this. And even more tragically, some Dalits believe this about themselves and their children.
I often hear Nepalis making generalisations about castes. Tamangs are this way. Brahmins are that way. Newars are this way. One of the most horrible stereotypes is “This group is not smart. They are not capable.” Such comments are routinely made about many groups: girls, disabled children, and janajati, particularly Tamangs <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/5-myths-about-the-tharu/">Tharu</a>. It is probably most commonly said about Dalits.
Historically and even today, some 'higher' caste groups have considered Dalits of low intelligence. "In general,” one Dalit friend told me, “conservative Nepalis agree that Dalits’ fate — their Karma — is to serve non-Dalits with manual labour. They consider that Dalits have unintelligent minds — moto buddhi."
Another Dalit friend added, "From the very first day of childhood, children of lower caste are made to believe that they are worthless and fit for nothing. But upper caste children are made to believe that they are the purest and the most intelligent and then they alone have to get into education and professional work."
Read also: After quantity, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-quantity-nepals-education-needs-quality/">Nepal’s education needs quality</a>, Prakriti Kandel
Even some teachers hold these beliefs. By far most of Nepal's teachers are from higher caste groups. One longtime teacher-friend (from the upper castes) explained the situation this way: “I’ve never seen active discrimination. That has decreased. But many teachers in their minds still hold negative concepts.”
I asked how these teachers thought about Dalit children. “They are dirty, they do dirty work, they can’t grasp ideas. Teachers won’t say this directly but that’s what they think. It’s in their minds still.”
Nepali teachers often <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/teaching-nepali-teachers-to-teach-better/">do not have good training of any kind</a>, much less effective training on anti-discrimination thinking. Thus they rarely have a deep understanding of systemic racism or generational poverty.
They tend to assume that the status quo is natural and inevitable -- they look at the world around them only long enough to confirm preexisting biases. If they see a Dalit student struggling, they are quick to blame it on caste genetics, not other factors, such as lack of opportunity.
"Jat janayo' (his caste is showing) is a common expression used to humiliate Dalits,” explains a Dalit friend in his forties. “Teachers used this stereotype sometimes when they found I was not performing well in school. As I look back to my school days, I find that teachers were biased about Dalits’ intelligence. They were prejudiced with thoughts that Dalits cannot perform well in class. They consider that reading and writing is not in Dalit culture."
A Dalit friend <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chitwans-bote-people-in-a-changing-world/">Chitwan</a> says, "When Dalit students don't do well, it is blamed on their caste. No one says that maybe they never got a chance. Because if Dalits get a chance, they do great, just as well as any other group."
Worst of all, low expectations can shape reality, they can become self-fulfilling. Children can begin to believe the things said about them. They face obstacles because of poverty or other reasons, but begin to doubt their native capacity. ‘Believe that you will fail, and you are likely to fail. Believe that you can succeed and you will have begun to succeed,’ an American educator explains.
Some <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/black-lives-matter-but-dalit-lives-dont/">Dalit</a> children hear these negative stereotypes not just from higher castes but also from other Dalits, sometimes even from their own parents. A friend says, "Dalits also thought, and in rural underdeveloped areas continue to think that reading and writing is not their work and they are not born for these works.”
He adds, "Lower expectations and/or inferior feelings are widespread among Dalit families — both children and their guardians. They often express their feelings that “dalit le padhera ke paauchha ra?” (What benefits would an educated Dalit receive?)” or “Padhera ke po hune hora?”(What would a Dalit become after studying?)”
In other words, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-caste-struggle/">Dalits</a> have internalised the inaccurate myths about them created by the caste system. It is worth repeating Sarita Pariyar’s words: 'Stories about what one group can or cannot do carry tremendous power.'
This is, in effect, a new form of caste discrimination. Today Dalits may be allowed to attend school. They may be allowed to sit in seats like everyone else and in the front but they are still caged in by low expectations. It is just as bad as if they are not allowed to attend school.
Fortunately, the situation is changing. "Nowadays most of the Dalit children and adults don’t express low expectations about their own intelligence and educational potential," an interviewee told me. "Due to electronic media, they see so many doctors, engineers, singers, political leaders and others from Dalit community and these examples give them beautiful hope that even in the circle of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/caste-no-bar/">caste system</a> we can change ourselves into good people."
This is encouraging. Just as low expectations can be self-fulfilling, so can high expectations.
Tom Robertson is a historian and the former director of Fulbright Nepal.

Tom Robertson

Bigotry of low expectations

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372216d9c7e80680e0c02b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/><figcaption>Photo: RATNA SHAHI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>As usual, when the wedding season kicked off last month, I received many invitations. However, not even one of them was a Dalit and non-Dalit tying the knot.Despite the belief that caste stigma is limited to the fringes of Nepali society, there is still much ‘<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/loves-victory-over-racial-hatred/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">selective openness</a>’ regarding marriage. Unions between castes may be accepted in some circles, but only to a certain extent.For instance, a Brahmin family may accept a Chhetri son-in-law but would resist a Newa daughter-in-law. Even educated Nepalis still practice caste-based discrimination, even through its branding and packaging may have changed from the past.Many of us in our 20s constantly get unsolicited advice on marriage and choosing the right partner: “पहिले जस्तो जातपात भनेर त हामी रोक्दैनौ, तर पनि चल्ने सम्म मात्र रोज्नु है” — We may not discriminate on the basis of caste, but make sure you chose the right one.Alas, this ‘well-intentioned’ statutory directive fails to offer tips on how exactly one is to find a genuine partner. Instead, it perpetuates a mathematical theorem to maintain <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/race-against-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">historical caste divisions</a>: Avoid mingling with the Dalits at all cost.Liberal Nepalis today will accept anyone – foreigners or Nepali – but only to an extent, and definitely not from the Dalit community.Inter-caste marriage may be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-turning-into-a-nation-of-hybrid-identities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more common than before</a>, but it has not eliminated discrimination. Activist Shiva Hari Gyawali tallies 60 reported caste-based deaths during the last 10 years, even after the implementation of the Caste-Based Discrimination and Untouchability Act (2011).Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Caste aside</a>, Sushma BaraliEvery year, there are many reported cases of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-caste-attack-turns-deadly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">caste-based violence</a> as a result of inter-caste marriage. Nabaraj BK, Prakash Biswokarma, Ajit Mijar, Sangita Sunar – these are names that prove how deeply exclusionary marriage is even today.As whatever is personal is also political, the next step for any Dalit-ally advocating for the elimination of caste-based discrimination and violence is to promote safe space for inter-caste marriage between Dalits and non-Dalits. This may help demolish the ‘walls’ that divide castes, and help reverse centuries of injustice.The end of casteism does not just ensure justice the Dalit community but also for non-Dalits. One Brahmin restaurant owner says his parents objected to his establishment offering pork memos because “it is not in our culture”.This ‘culture’ is a toxic environment shaped by generations of patriarchal and casteist doctrines that forces hurdles upon anyone who wants to pursue their dream, be it in love or occupation.In Nepal, marriage is not just a union between two people or families: it ensures the transfer of social capital and financial resources. Removing social barriers to inter-caste marriage can be a potent tool to eliminate discrimination.Government policies to promote inter-caste marriage is mostly lip-service. A 2011 program to provide financial incentives for inter-caste marriages was discontinued ostensibly because of ‘fake marriages’ where couples separated soon after getting their money. But <a href="https://idsn.org/nepal-minister-breaks-up-inter-caste-marriage/">a report published in 2018 </a>indicates that the authorities were themselves engaged in breaking up the marriages.The Caste Handbook published by the Asian Human Rights Commission in 2019 shows that for every case of human rights abuse faced by a Khas-Arya and Janajati couple due to inter-caste marriage, there were almost 16 cases registered by Dalit and Janajati couples, and nearly 40 more for Dalit and Khas-Arya couples.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/i-never-thought-i-would-be-alone-this-early-in-life/">“I never thought I would be alone this early in life”</a>, Sushma BaraliThis difference in the varying degrees of acceptance of inter-ethnic and inter-caste marriages could be the driving force behind the separation of couples, which in turn may be furthering stigma against inter-caste unions.Activist <a href="https://cdwn.org/staff/1/">Gaura Nepali</a> of the Centre for Dalit Women Nepal says inter-caste marriages could be a powerful tool to end caste-based discrimination. This is also because a woman marries into a man’s house. The family can be an agent of change among their relatives and society at large.The Khas-Arya has always had transactional relationship with the Dalit community because they used to rely on Dalits to make their clothes, tools, and jewellery.While much has changed today with urbanisation, globalisation and mobility, much remains the same. That is why casteism is still rife while renting out rooms or conducting business. These are new forms of the same transactional relationship that our ancestors practiced.It is time for non-Dalit allies to commit to actionable solidarity with the Dalit community, and move beyond just verbal commitment. One should not wait for another <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/they-killed-our-son-and-now-they-are-killing-justice/">Nabaraj BK to lose his life</a> to speak against casteism.Promoting a neighbourhood’s Dalit artisan, participating in rallies and advocacy programs on Dalit rights, conversations at home with parents and grandparents about caste-based injustice, can be some ways to practice this solidarity.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/uncategorized/one-step-forward-two-steps-back-on-same-sex-marriage/">One step forward two steps back on same-sex marriage</a>, Gopal GartoulaRabina Luitel is with the Center for Dalit Women Nepal (CDWN) and recently participated in the Dalit Reader’s Writing for Social Justice course.

Caste no bar

<figure><img width="1338" height="731" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcab9c7e80680e0a0ba1jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Laxman Ramtel was recently appointed priest of the Ganesh Mandir in Godamchaur. Photos: HIMALKHABAR</figcaption></figure>One evening 20 years ago, Laxman Ramtel headed to Bhaktapur from Godavari to meet up with his friends.  When he arrived, Ramtel saw that one of his friends was shaving his beard. Thinking he too could use a shave, he attempted to borrow his friend’s shaving equipment. But another one of his friends stood up abruptly to stop him, proclaiming: "Dalits are not supposed to use the same blade as Brahmins and Chhetris." His friend’s words hurt Ramtel deeply. “I was humiliated and heartbroken that day,” he recalls. “I came back home and wept all night.” Many years later, a priest came around to his neighbourhood in Godamchaur on the southern outskirts of Kathmandu Valley, where Ramtel was born and raised, to tie the holy strings on people’s wrists during Janai Purnima.  His family, however, was treated differently. “The priest personally tied the doro on everyone else,” he says. “But when he learned that we were Dalit, he refused to approach us -- he tossed the holy thread at us from afar.” For Ramtel, the years before, between, and after these two incidents have been peppered with similar <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-caste-struggle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">discrimination</a>. He has experienced caste-based <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/caste-aside-dalits-battle-sitgma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prejudice and intolerance</a> all of his life, be it from strangers or friends, in a village or city, market or temple. But now, Ramtel is at the precipice of change. In July, he was appointed priest of the Ganesh Mandir at Godamchaur by the chief priest of the temple, Pandit Deenbandhu Pokharel. <img width="1703" height="999" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcae9c7e80680e0a0ba2jpeg.jpg" alt="">Ramtel, an electrician by profession, was overjoyed--to the extent that he briefly forgot about his past experiences. But soon enough, the worry began to creep back in. What if the people refuse to receive tika and blessings from a Dalit priest, he thought. “Although I was chosen because I was qualified for the job, I believe and hope that this decision contributes in some way in building a society without caste-based discrimination,” says Ramtel.oGenerations of Ramtel’s family have made their lives and livelihoods in Godamchaur. He grew up trailing along with his mother often during her visits to the Ganesh Mandir, and the temple is as much home to him as his own house. As such, Ramtel is a man of abiding faith. “I fast every Tuesday for Lord Ganesh, and I see him often in my dreams,” Ramtel says solemnly. “This opportunity might very well have been the fruit of my conviction.”As news of his appointment spread, Ramtel garnered encouragement and support from some high-profile civil society leaders, including Dr Govinda KC, who visited the temple along with social workers, writers, and legal practitioners to receive tika from the new priest to boost his morale. (Pictured, below) <img width="800" height="511" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcb19c7e80680e0a0ba3jpeg.jpg" alt="">“I was very happy to have received offerings and blessings from priest Ramtel,” said KC, while advocate Omprakash Aryal, who accompanied him says that he hopes Ramtel has been encouraged by the support.Priest Ramtel, for his part, was pleasantly surprised to have met KC and the team of civic society leaders in front of Godamchaur residents. "Today is among the happiest days in my life,” he said.Ramtel has participated in the conservation of the temple for years and was directly involved in its restoration when the 2015 earthquake destroyed it. In fact, the temple bell is still at their home and will be taken to the temple after it is fully reconstructed, says his wife Puja Roka.Ramtel’s day typically begins at four in the morning, when he makes his daily rounds of the holy pipal tree nearby before moving on to other tasks of the day. And although he has been worshipping the tree and the temple for a long time, Ramtel is unfamiliar with the rituals he will need to perform as a priest, and the protocols he needs to follow.  <img width="1800" height="1347" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcb49c7e80680e0a0ba4jpeg.jpg" alt="">But he has ample time to learn, with the temple reconstruction expected to be complete in three months. Meanwhile, he is adapting to his new circumstance, learning about the ins and outs of the temple and his life as its custodian. He is also reading the Bhagawad Gita and the Ramayana as he familiarises himself with religious texts ahead of his lessons with the chief priest Pokharel.Once he is done with the training, the hands that have helped light people's homes will also light the diyo oil lamps in the gods' home. <img width="1000" height="503" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcb79c7e80680e0a0ba5jpeg.jpg" alt="">Ramtel is also making tentative plans and schedules for the time after the temple reconstruction is complete. He intends to spend his mornings at the temple every day and entire Tuesdays. He wants to devote his time rebuilding and conserving other temples, idols, and places of religious significance around Godamchaur.His father Govinda Ramtel commends his son’s faith and attachment to the temple, which he believes was vital in his appointment by the Sanatan Goraksha Rashtra Nepal. But he also worries about the kind of reception he would get from the communities.“I hope that my son makes other people happy through his service, but I fear others will speak badly to him, make insulting remarks questioning the son of a Dalit being a priest,” says the 89-year-old.The young priest himself hasn’t forgotten the kind of treatment he received all his life for being a Dalit, and he is constantly thinking if he will face more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">caste-based discrimination </a>as a priest now. He says: “I am a Hindu in the same way a Brahmin or Chhetri is, my faith in God is the same as theirs. God doesn’t care about caste, doesn’t discriminate, only humans do.”Links to Himal Khabar series on this subject:<a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125353" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125353</a> <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125374" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125374</a> Translated by Shristi Karki.

History in a house of worship

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131152/636cf4009c7e80680e09d9a0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Flood impacted Dalit house in Rajapur, Bardiya, in 2010. </figcaption></figure>Last week, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) warned that this year's monsoon might cause <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-braces-for-monsoon-pandemic-double-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">even more destruction in Nepal than last year</a>. And sure enough, when the monsoon arrived on 11 June it brought heavy rains across Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">triggering deadly landslides and floods</a>. Already, the death count is in the dozen, with many more missing. And this is just the start of the rainy season. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand the suffering caused by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monsoon disasters</a>. They believe that monsoon-triggered landslides and floods hit all sections of Nepal equally. In reality, some people suffer more than others. In disasters in Nepal poorer  populations living in vulnerable areas, particularly Dalits, face greater burdens.  ‘Dalits are frequently the worst affected in disasters,’ says a 2013 International Dalit Solidarity Network report. ‘They are often systematically excluded from relief and recovery efforts.’  Dalits living on steep slopes and riverbanks and other marginal land face increased exposure to the landslide and flooding. In the mountains, Dalit settlements often sit on dangerously sloping land. The scattered Dalit settlements often lack electricity, drinking water and other basic amenities. And because of remoteness and neglect, development work and government services reach these communities last or not at all.   In the Tarai, exploitation and discrimination have pushed Dalits to live in more dangerous low-lying land where flooding is most severe, and they cannot afford to build pakka houses with raised foundations to better withstand flooding. The so-called upper castes live in elevated areas in pakka houses that remain intact during disaster. In an article ‘<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/08/floods-devastate-nepals-southern-plains" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Floods Devastate Nepal’s Southern Plains</a>’, Peter Gill and Bhola Paswan describe the deprivation of Saptari's landless Dalits. ‘Poor Dalits are living in a floodplain not because of their own choice. The historical, social and other factors forced them to live in flood prone areas,’ they note.  In local development work, disaster risk and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13868#.YMxeGC8w3BI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dalit concerns often get neglected</a>  A few years ago, a Gulmi gaupalika constructed a rural road above several Dalit houses. Local elites reportedly forced construction of the road without any environmental impact assessment and without adequate participation of local Dalits.  During the 2019 monsoon, landslides washed away two of these Dalit homes, killing eight people. Many people believe that the poorly planned road killed the Dalits.   Non-inclusive development often escalates Dalit vulnerability. In public meetings, elites often drown out Dalit voices. For example, in 2013, in Khara, a remote Rukum village, the upper caste village secretary used the budget meant for Dalits for local road construction. He claimed Dalits along with non-dalits used the road. In reality, the road mostly benefited the upper castes.  They bought motorbikes and tractors to carry goods. But Dalit lives didn't change. Worse, due to haphazard use of the bulldozers, Dalit houses close to the newly constructed road faced increased risk of landslide.  <figure><img width="1280" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131152/636cf4049c7e80680e09d9a1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Unequal disaster responseDalits live in poverty, they lag behind in income and assets. Disaster-related stress can overwhelm them, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/after-the-coronavirus-the-deluge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">caste inequities shows itself especially during time of crisis</a>. “Poor Dalits living in disaster prone areas lose whatever they have accumulated such as food grains or household assets throughout the year in recurring flooding. Urgent action is required by the government to break this vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability,” says Kathmandu University's Purna Nepali, who recently conducted research on natural disasters and Dalits in Saptari and Siraha.In addition, Dalits often confront unfair practices during disaster response. In 2008, during the Kosi flood, Dalits faced unequal distribution of relief because of the lack of Dalit representation. Similarly, in 2017 Tarai floods Dalit families in Loharpattai, Mahottari reported discrimination in relief distribution. Local leaders favoured their caste group and political party cadres.For weeks, the Dalit families slept along the Janakpur-Jayanagar railway track. They were forced to live under an open sky.  Later, following media reports, another relief organisation provided tarps. In Bhaktapur in the 2015 earthquake local upper castes denied Dalits hot meals cooked in a community kitchen set up by a relief organisation. And upper castes did not want to share the shelter with Dalits. The practice of ‘untouchability’ was reinforced in the middle of the crisis, and they faced discrimination in receiving relief after the 2015 earthquake.In the time of disaster, Dalits lack a strong voice within the government and relief organisations. The government and relief groups tend to overlook caste discrimination and the vulnerable situation of Dalits. As a result, pre-existing vulnerabilities and exclusion expands.A ‘blanket approach’ to disaster relief programs usually ignores discrimination and untouchability. In the 2017 Tarai floods, one relief organisation targeted flood-affected Dalit families in Rautahat district because they were the district’s poorest families.However, a newly elected Ward Chairperson blocked the targeted distribution of relief packages to Dalits.  “Distribute to all the ward population," he threatened, "or else go to another location.”After days of non-cooperation from local authorities, the relief organisation pulled out of the district, leaving the flood-affected Dalit families deserted and distressed. <figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131152/636cf4079c7e80680e09d9a2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During disasters, Dalits also often face special difficulties overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. The privileged castes have आफ्नो मान्छे in government and get special treatment in relief distribution. ‘Upper’ caste people easily overcome legal hurdles, but Dalits face problems getting government relief because they lack legal documents.Nepal's Constitution has guaranteed the rights to housing and quality of life and outlawed caste-based discrimination. But in reality, Dalits face greater risks because of centuries of discrimination and exploitation.Dalits' weak presence in in decision-making processes leaves them without strong voice in disaster risk reduction and relief programs, trapping them in a vicious cycle of poverty.Relocation of Dalits to safer locations could address their historical exposure to disaster. Additionally, post-disaster rebuilding could allow for a new beginning. If handled appropriately, post-disaster rebuilding could address their vulnerability.During disasters, Dalits require enhanced attention from all sections of government and society. Awareness raising among relief workers about the pre-existing discrimination and vulnerabilities can help create inclusive disaster response, as can a proportionate number of relief workers from the Dalit community.Shikhar Sharma is a participant of Dalit Reader's Writing Workshop, an initiative for academic advocacy on Dalit issues.

Dalits, disasters and discrimination

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93369c7e80680e06f191jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Flood impacted Dalit house in Rajapur, Bardiya, in 2010. </figcaption></figure>Last week, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) warned that this year's monsoon might cause <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-braces-for-monsoon-pandemic-double-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">even more destruction in Nepal than last year</a>. And sure enough, when the monsoon arrived on 11 June it brought heavy rains across Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">triggering deadly landslides and floods</a>. Already, the death count is in the dozen, with many more missing. And this is just the start of the rainy season. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand the suffering caused by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monsoon disasters</a>. They believe that monsoon-triggered landslides and floods hit all sections of Nepal equally. In reality, some people suffer more than others. In disasters in Nepal poorer  populations living in vulnerable areas, particularly Dalits, face greater burdens.  ‘Dalits are frequently the worst affected in disasters,’ says a 2013 International Dalit Solidarity Network report. ‘They are often systematically excluded from relief and recovery efforts.’  Dalits living on steep slopes and riverbanks and other marginal land face increased exposure to the landslide and flooding. In the mountains, Dalit settlements often sit on dangerously sloping land. The scattered Dalit settlements often lack electricity, drinking water and other basic amenities. And because of remoteness and neglect, development work and government services reach these communities last or not at all.   In the Tarai, exploitation and discrimination have pushed Dalits to live in more dangerous low-lying land where flooding is most severe, and they cannot afford to build pakka houses with raised foundations to better withstand flooding. The so-called upper castes live in elevated areas in pakka houses that remain intact during disaster. In an article ‘<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/08/floods-devastate-nepals-southern-plains" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Floods Devastate Nepal’s Southern Plains</a>’, Peter Gill and Bhola Paswan describe the deprivation of Saptari's landless Dalits. ‘Poor Dalits are living in a floodplain not because of their own choice. The historical, social and other factors forced them to live in flood prone areas,’ they note.  In local development work, disaster risk and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13868#.YMxeGC8w3BI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dalit concerns often get neglected</a>  A few years ago, a Gulmi gaupalika constructed a rural road above several Dalit houses. Local elites reportedly forced construction of the road without any environmental impact assessment and without adequate participation of local Dalits.  During the 2019 monsoon, landslides washed away two of these Dalit homes, killing eight people. Many people believe that the poorly planned road killed the Dalits.   Non-inclusive development often escalates Dalit vulnerability. In public meetings, elites often drown out Dalit voices. For example, in 2013, in Khara, a remote Rukum village, the upper caste village secretary used the budget meant for Dalits for local road construction. He claimed Dalits along with non-dalits used the road. In reality, the road mostly benefited the upper castes.  They bought motorbikes and tractors to carry goods. But Dalit lives didn't change. Worse, due to haphazard use of the bulldozers, Dalit houses close to the newly constructed road faced increased risk of landslide.  <figure><img width="1280" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93399c7e80680e06f192jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Unequal disaster responseDalits live in poverty, they lag behind in income and assets. Disaster-related stress can overwhelm them, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/after-the-coronavirus-the-deluge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">caste inequities shows itself especially during time of crisis</a>. “Poor Dalits living in disaster prone areas lose whatever they have accumulated such as food grains or household assets throughout the year in recurring flooding. Urgent action is required by the government to break this vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability,” says Kathmandu University's Purna Nepali, who recently conducted research on natural disasters and Dalits in Saptari and Siraha.In addition, Dalits often confront unfair practices during disaster response. In 2008, during the Kosi flood, Dalits faced unequal distribution of relief because of the lack of Dalit representation. Similarly, in 2017 Tarai floods Dalit families in Loharpattai, Mahottari reported discrimination in relief distribution. Local leaders favoured their caste group and political party cadres.For weeks, the Dalit families slept along the Janakpur-Jayanagar railway track. They were forced to live under an open sky.  Later, following media reports, another relief organisation provided tarps. In Bhaktapur in the 2015 earthquake local upper castes denied Dalits hot meals cooked in a community kitchen set up by a relief organisation. And upper castes did not want to share the shelter with Dalits. The practice of ‘untouchability’ was reinforced in the middle of the crisis, and they faced discrimination in receiving relief after the 2015 earthquake.In the time of disaster, Dalits lack a strong voice within the government and relief organisations. The government and relief groups tend to overlook caste discrimination and the vulnerable situation of Dalits. As a result, pre-existing vulnerabilities and exclusion expands.A ‘blanket approach’ to disaster relief programs usually ignores discrimination and untouchability. In the 2017 Tarai floods, one relief organisation targeted flood-affected Dalit families in Rautahat district because they were the district’s poorest families.However, a newly elected Ward Chairperson blocked the targeted distribution of relief packages to Dalits.  “Distribute to all the ward population," he threatened, "or else go to another location.”After days of non-cooperation from local authorities, the relief organisation pulled out of the district, leaving the flood-affected Dalit families deserted and distressed. <figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b933c9c7e80680e06f193jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During disasters, Dalits also often face special difficulties overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. The privileged castes have आफ्नो मान्छे in government and get special treatment in relief distribution. ‘Upper’ caste people easily overcome legal hurdles, but Dalits face problems getting government relief because they lack legal documents.Nepal's Constitution has guaranteed the rights to housing and quality of life and outlawed caste-based discrimination. But in reality, Dalits face greater risks because of centuries of discrimination and exploitation.Dalits' weak presence in in decision-making processes leaves them without strong voice in disaster risk reduction and relief programs, trapping them in a vicious cycle of poverty.Relocation of Dalits to safer locations could address their historical exposure to disaster. Additionally, post-disaster rebuilding could allow for a new beginning. If handled appropriately, post-disaster rebuilding could address their vulnerability.During disasters, Dalits require enhanced attention from all sections of government and society. Awareness raising among relief workers about the pre-existing discrimination and vulnerabilities can help create inclusive disaster response, as can a proportionate number of relief workers from the Dalit community.Shikhar Sharma is a participant of Dalit Reader's Writing Workshop, an initiative for academic advocacy on Dalit issues.

<figure><img width="934" height="442" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5a59c7e80680e0736d6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Kalpana Nagari and Kalawati Auji from Godavari Municipality who face double discrimination from society for being Dalit and because their relatives tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from India. Photo: UNNATI CHAUDHARY</figcaption></figure>Across Nepal, it is the already under-served and vulnerable who have been affected by the prolonged lockdowns. But it is the Dalit returnees from India who have tested positive and their families who face double discrimination.The Ministry of Health issues a daily tally of COVID-19 cases, but no one is counting the poorest of the poor who are dying of hunger or pre-existing diseases, or have been have been driven deeper into destitution.Kalpana Nagari, 30, works as a day labourer by the roadside in Godavari Municipality to earn enough to feed her two children. This time of year there are plenty of jobs planting or weeding paddy fields, but she is unemployed because of social stigma after her husband, Tika Narayan, tested positive for COVID-19 last month.Tika Narayan Nagari had returned from India after he lost his job there on 15 May. He tested positive was quarantined altogether for 50 days first at the border, and later because of delays in getting his test result. But even after he got out, the Dalit family has been shunned by neighbours and society.   <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-long-journey-to-nepal/">The long journey to Nepal</a>, Upasana KhadkaHer family used to face discrimination even before because they were Dalit, but COVID-19 has added another layer of prejudice. Even that is not what worries Kalpana the most – it is not earning enough to feed her family.“Without work, how are we going to feed our children that is what I am most anxious about,” says Kalpana, who does not have a house of her own and lives with her sister-in-law. Her husband had to go to India to find work to repay a loan he took for his mother’s funeral.“During every meal, I worry about where the next one will come from, and I feel faint,” says Kalpana. “The landlords did not give me any work in the rice fields because they said ‘your husband has corona, you might also be infected’.’” Kalawati Auji, 40, is also from Godavari and raised her three sons all by herself after her husband died nine years ago. Her eldest son died last year, and her youngest has heart disease. Her middle child, Dipak is 22 and worked in Bareilly in India. It was the money Dipak sent home that allowed Kalawati to pay for food and medicines for her daughter-in-law, son and grandson.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside/">Caste aside</a>, Shusma BaraliBut Dipak lost his job and returned to Nepal on 30 June. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was confined in a quarantine for 34 days where he was ostracised both for being infected, and for being a Dalit. After coming home, he quarantined himself in a cowshed for a week.But even after he recovered, the family has been harassed and humiliated by neighbours. Neither Dipak not Kalwati can find a job, and they owe a neighbourhood provision store Rs50,000.Says Kalawati: “This pandemic has come to kill the poor like us.”  Fifty-year-old Harish B K also returned from Bareilly in the first week of May. Among the 234 people whose swab samples were taken, Harish was among 70 who tested positive – only two of them were non-Dalits.“The non-Dalits in the quarantine used to get hot water, lunch, and more food than us. If we asked for more food, they would ignore us,” he recalls. Now out of quarantine, but jobless, deep in debt, and facing double discrimination and humiliation, Harish says he often has suicidal thoughts.  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal/">Workers return to jobless Nepal</a>, Ramu SapkotaGodavari Municipality says it has plans to provide farm subsidies to the most vulnerable during the pandemic and lockdown. Deputy Mayor Ratna Kadayat says the plan will give priority to Dalits, women, and marginalised communities under the 'Prime Minister's Employment Program'.But these future plans are a mirage for most Dalit families like the Nagaris, Aujis and BKs here. Their needs are urgent and immediate, and they have heard these promises before.Rights activist Savitra Ghimire at the Dalit Women's Rights Forum (DWRF) says the relief may be too little too late for most Dalit families. Godavari and the Attaria highway intersection are hotspots for a surge in coronavirus cases. In the past month alone, the area got 4,000 returnees from India, and of them 349 tested positive and 294 have recovered and gone home.  However, being virus-free is just the beginning of the struggle for Dalit families here in western Nepal. As more and more districts re-impose lockdown, business is not expected to pick up soon, and this means fewer options for employment. And even if jobs open up, Dalit returnees and their families here will be the last to get them.­­­Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/they-killed-our-son-and-now-they-are-killing-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“They killed our son, now they are killing justice”</a>, Shusma Barali<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/black-lives-matter-but-dalit-lives-dont/">Black lives matter but Dalit lives don't?</a>, Pratistha Rijal

COVID-19 sharpens caste discrimination in Nepal

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;

dalit-community

Putting Dalits back in business

Bigotry of low expectations

Caste no bar

History in a house of worship

Dalits, disasters and discrimination

Dalits, disasters and discrimination

COVID-19 sharpens caste discrimination in Nepal

The Last Days of the Khampa

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

Turkish to Seville

Being Prabal Gurung by design