Dalit lawmakers call for building equal society

Members in the National Assembly expressed their concerns over discriminations against country’s six million Dalit population despite the guarantee of equal rights and opportunities to all castes and communities by the Constitution.

They said, “Dalit people continue to experience de facto caste-based discriminations and social exclusions though they are equals by laws.”

Bhuwan Sunar in a session of the upper house today presented a resolution that calls for ensuring social, cultural, economic and political rights of Dalits by eliminating all sorts of discriminations and exploitations on them and building a just society.

The Constitution of Nepal has envisaged an equitable society based on equality, but the exploitations against Dalits continue to take place, according to them.

The resolutions demands corrections in insulting words in the citizenships and passports issued for Dalits and to compensate them for them for mental sufferings they faced because of such ill-treatment.

Through the resolution, Sunar urged the government to monitor the status of implementation of documents about the Dalit rights, the participation of Dalits in Public Service and in the employment sector and provide technical and higher education opportunities for Dalits.

Suresh Ale Magar described untouchability as one of the worst forms of crime against humanity and underlined the need of more and more social awareness to combat it. He echoed the need of an honest implementation of laws to eliminate such kind of a social offence.

Taking part in discussion on the resolution, Gopi Bahadur Achhami, Singha Bahadur Bishwokarma, Narpati Luhar, Jagat Bahadur Parki, Jaga Prasad Sharma, and Pramila Kumari said Dalits faced constant discriminations and the effective implementation of laws and an increased level of social awareness are among the tools to combat it.