Having heard again and again from fellow Nepalis — both on and outside of social media — that there is really no or very little caste-based discrimination in Nepal, on June 7, 2018, I made a series of tweets starting with that fact (see image above). Then over time, underneath that thread, I documented news articles that reported on discrimination faced by Dalits, the lowest caste in our social system, the caste system. The last addition I made to the thread was less than a week ago.
Discriminatory behavior againsts Dalits runs the whole gamut of teasing and humiliating them to refusing to rent out rooms to them to refusing to custom non-traditional Dalit businesses ensuring their failure to thrashing them for minor “infractions” or “transgressions” (some made up) to raping them to even murdering them.
Here to begin with are the first two tweets from the original thread. The second one is about a Dalit MP struggling to find a house owner (and NOT a tenant as I mistakenly say in the tweet!) open to taking her in as a tenant. I have heard about this from Dalits directly as well.
(Jan. 26, 2023 correction: “…tenent…” in the above tweet should read “…landlord/landlady…”.)
Here are the next two from the original thread. The first one is about the alleged displacement of a Dalit family for one of the members daring to marry someone from a higher caste. The second one is about the brutal attack, by three women, of a Dalit representative leading to her death.
The following are the final two from the original thread. In the first one I counter what some may be thinking about the attack described in the article shared in the above tweet — that she might NOT necessarily have been attacked so brutally because she was Dalit. I argue that the attacker “didn’t stop, or weren’t stopped…BECAUSE she was a Dalit.”
The final one, the second one below, is a link to a blog post of mine. In the blog post, I tear apart the fallacy-ridden meme arguing that there is no caste-based discrimination in the country.
The following are the rest of tweets documenting reportage which appear to be about caste-based discrimination or arising from discrimination and prejudice against Dalits.
The next tweet is an update on the Dalit victim who tried to kill herself.
The first one below is about the struggles of just attending and staying in school as a young Dalit girl — struggles arising from obstacles, opposition, and hindrances put in front of her by fellow Nepalis! And the only reason we know her story is because, in spite of all that, she succeeded academically and was able to make something of herself through education!
The headline of the article shared in the tweet below reads: ‘Complaints of a Dalit community — “We are treated like as if we were animals.”‘
Dalit girls and women are raped by men at disproportionately higher rate than non-Dalits.
And can you blame them from converting to Christianity? (The second tweet below is an article about that.)
Not surprisingly, someone who apparently is the Chief of The Education Development and Coordination Unit blame the Dalits for their lack of awareness and poor economic conditions! Clearly, the chief doesn’t know or, if he does, is in denial of how Nepali society has failed Dalits. On the one hand, the society constantly tells Dalits how they are failures while, on the other hand, constantly prop up virtually insurmountable barriers to their success and advancement! Forget about providing the social and economic support and opportunities they need for success.
The second tweet is actually some good news out of Sindhupalchok.
The one below is about how a six–SIX!–year-old Dalit child is forced to quit school because of discrimination. And how does the principal react? By saying, “No student is ill-treated because of caste.”
The second tweet is about a hill so-called high caste Hindu priest who says he would rather die than touch and bless a Dalit baby!
The first tweet below is a correction to the one above.
And the final one (the second one below), which I added just a few days ago! The article actually is written by a Dalit girl about her struggles with being a Dalit. Even her teachers scoff at her for staying on in school and daring to make something of herself through education.
Of course, it goes without saying that these are but just a sampling of news reports about their plight. Of course, the level of discrimination and abuse is probably much higher than what these articles would indicate. Most stories of caste-based discrimination and abuse don’t make it into the news. What gets reported on is just a small tip of the iceberg that is the discriminatory and prejudiced people, society, systems, and institution of Nepal.
And to be sure, Nepalis do NOT only discriminate, or are NOT only prejudiced, against Dalits, the lowest caste. Nepalis can and do discriminate and are prejudiced against others too, others who they view as of lower caste than them or inferior than them in some way (for example, females) or poorer than them, for example. My people, ethnic Tibetans whose original and ancestral homes lie along the mountainous Northern border of the country are discriminated against. I have blogged about that here, here, here, here, here, and here. Others of Tibeto-Burman stock are also discriminated. The indigenous people of the Southern Plains, the Madhesis, are discriminated against. I have blogged about that here, here, here, here, and here.
I have decided that Nepalis generally are considerably more discriminatory, prejudiced, and misogynistic against and judgmental of their own people than they are of others. Part of the reason for that, if not THE reason, is, I think, our patriarchal and highly stratified society, stratified along, of course, caste lines, among others.
Jan 26, 2023 Update
Since publishing this blog in January 2020, two years ago, of course, I have come across many more articles detailing caste-based discriminations, many of which I have added to the twitter thread. Here they are.
.Another article (this one by @khardobad ) containing a small bit about how the teachers themselves discriminated against the #Dalit children in Southern #Nepal. #CasteBasedDiscrimination https://t.co/LpEaEyIh15
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) January 30, 2020
.Yet another article (but an oldish one) about #Dalit children suffering from #IdentityCrisis cuz of their caste. I suffered from it growing up cuz I'm a Bhote NOT a Dalit. Imagine how much MORE they must suffer from it. #CasteBasedDiscrimination #Nepal https://t.co/eBOgPm4OhM
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) February 16, 2020
.Another story of caste-based discrimination. This one by a #Dalit Madhesi woman. #CasteBasedDiscrimination #Nepal https://t.co/3EA62Xw5JP
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) March 14, 2020
Yet another instance of #castebaseddiscrimination. A #dalit man is prevented from using a communal building for for the purposes it was build: for death rituals! Part of the funding was public money! #Nepal #castesystem https://t.co/k0zT5ATW6A
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) May 7, 2020
Nepalis discriminate fellow Nepalis MUCH more than others.#Dalit man beaten to death for loving "higher caste" woman. Strictly speaking, foreigners are lower caste too, BUT have you heard of similar action taken AGAINST a foreigner? #Nepal #CasteSystem https://t.co/Ok5k5XcvlY
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) May 24, 2020
There’s more to the above story…of course. A volunteer and I did a informal analysis of the coverage of the above story by mainstream media over the next several weeks following the incident. What I discovered was not surprising: their interest in the story lasted about a month. Some of the tweets below, covering about a month, will likely be about the incident.
Another article about d same incident but in Emglish. Two #Dalit young adults murdered for one of them daring to love & ask hand in marriage of a higher caste female. #Nepal #CasteSystem #discrimination https://t.co/ltA2ZiTITr
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) May 25, 2020
A 13-yr old #Dalit girl was raped Friday, given away in marriage to her rapist Saturday, & her lifeless body was found hanging from a tree! The article lists names of others murdered also for being #Dalit. #Nepal #CasteSystem #CasteBasedDiscriminationhttps://t.co/ZwPqA4LBy9
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) May 27, 2020
"[Asmita Rijal's] teacher told her […] she was different from her peers [cuz] she was a kaami."
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 3, 2020
When those responsible for providing education to fight against #CasteBasedDiscrimination themselves discriminate…what hope is there?! #Nepal #CasteSystem https://t.co/TKnXpahWcY
I understand, #caste-dictated discriminatory
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 9, 2020
practices had been widespread.
Muluki Ain (Law of the Land) of 1854
made #CasteBased #discrimination
officially legal. Here's some of d ways
it discriminated against other castes,
notably #Dalits. #Nepal https://t.co/MgtfxC1UpE
"The police reported Sada’s death as a suicide[…]. However, after hearing the tragic news, members of Sada’s community and family – who are #Dalits […] – refused to accept the police version of events." #Nepal https://t.co/FaQZnZEGfN via @pitaarji & @AbhaLal2
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 23, 2020
This is from Oct. 4, 2018.
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 24, 2020
Unfortunately, the link is broken! 🙁 🙁 #Nepal #Dalit #CasteBasedDiscrimination #RageAgainstRage https://t.co/qnw6mfPODF
What drove this #Dalit man to kill himself is the legacy of our discriminatory history which has propped up & supported system & structures that made it virtually impossible to not be bound to & by archaic traditional practices & social forces. #Nepal https://t.co/FejARqAJtV
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 29, 2020
.The warped #systems & #structures we have today in #Nepal are legacies of our history. They pre-dated d 1854 Muluki Ain. But, what d Ain did was legitimize, support, & perpetuate them ensuring their survival to this day! #CasteBasedDiscrimination #Dalit https://t.co/z03pfPL4il
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 17, 2020
.The #CasteSystem, to reiterate, is an insidious & a pernicious monstrosity. So much of d suffering of those featured in this documentary (& many many more like them) is for something they had NO hand in: birth as a #Dalit. #Nepal #CasteBasedDiscrimination https://t.co/TYUFfEFVtC
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 20, 2020
.Brief description of #CasteBasedDiscrimination of #Dalits by educators the write came across during his life. #Nepal #Caste #CasteSystem https://t.co/wrjcmxW6Uj
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 22, 2020
.One more detail I omitted
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 29, 2020
in the twee above about
the female victim of#CasteBased #discrimination
& assault:
she was seven months pregnant.
In other words, she would have
been VISIBLY pregnant!#Nepal #Caste #CasteSystem #CasteBasedDiscrimination
.This is because of #systemic #discrimination of #Dalits & yet many don't see the value in and importance of #AffirmativeAction (#reservation). #Nepal #CasteBasedDiscrimination #CasteBased https://t.co/H2JzaU2w6W
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 29, 2020
.Yet more data confirming that victims of rape are disproportionately #Dalit females. In other words, rape is NOT about #sex but about #power! #RageAgainstRape #Nepal #CasteBasedDiscrimination https://t.co/TrezLFC3Oz
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) October 9, 2020
Reason refused treatment in home district?
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) October 30, 2020
Lack of funds.
Why lacked funds?
B/c a #Dalit.
Proportionally, d highest % of d poorest are #Dalits, a consequence of centuries of #CasteBasedDiscrimination, marginalization, & disenfranchisement. #Nepalhttps://t.co/E0EUYDKJBO
"हामी सधैँ जहाँको तहीँ" (We are always where we started)
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) October 30, 2020
"गाउँमा ‘दमाईं’ भनेर हेप्थे, सहरमा ‘टेलर’ भनेर हेप्छन्" (In the village abused for being a "Damai" (nepali for tailor), in the cities for being a "Tailor")#CasteBasedDiscrimination #Nepal #Dalit https://t.co/MnH7reRWGm
These three are from June 2020. #Nepal #CasteBasedDiscrimination #Dalit https://t.co/W9oHpdx2LE
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) November 19, 2020
No one should have to face what Ramji Ram & pretty much ALL #Dalits in #Nepal face, pretty much EVERY SINGLE DAY ALL THEIR LIVES!
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) January 12, 2021
But what do we as a society do? Deny that #caste exists or that #CasteBasedDiscrimination exists etc. https://t.co/7AMcwrsyFU
Another article about #CasteBased
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) March 14, 2021
discrimination.#Dailts in a village have been
ostracized by d rest of d villagers
over d refusal of d family of a 14-yr
old #rape victim to acquiesce to a
settlement through mutual agreement
with d perpetrator! #Nepal https://t.co/J8S0pMVu0m
Yet another incident of#CasteBasedDiscrimination in#Nepal. A #Dalit teenager beaten up
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 7, 2021
in public for allegedly writing a love
letter to a girl from a different #caste.#CasteSystem https://t.co/N9NTNP7HD3
After more than a year of not
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) July 15, 2021
getting justice for d murder
of their son in May 2020, the
appointment as Foreign Minister
of the man who protected the
suspects cause Nabaraj's parents
to further lose hope of getting
justice! #Nepal #CasteBasedDiscrimination https://t.co/ZzjHN6cZ6V
Another story of #Dalit Nepalis suffering from #CasteBasedDiscrimination. This 1 in academia–at Tribhuwan University–& elsewhere, & how while Californian Universities have recognized caste based discrimination, Nepali institutions still don't. #Nepal https://t.co/K32nEnLQ8W
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) February 18, 2022
Another eg of #CasteBasedDiscrimination.
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) June 2, 2022
"७ दाजुभाइमध्ये सूर्य प्रकाश कान्छा छोरा हुन् । ६ भाइले सँगै बसेर खान्छन् । बुहारीलाई घर पर्तिरको केराबारीमा राखेर खाना दिइन्छ । ‘कुनै पनि धार्मिक विधिमा सामेल नै गराइएको छैन,’ रञ्जुले भनिन् [।]" #Dalit #Nepal https://t.co/1LHGZigZys
The reality for many #Dalit females in #Nepal:
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 14, 2022
"…दलित भएपछि कसैको मृत्यु पनि आफैं ओझेलमा पर्दाेरहेछ। उनी…भन्छन्, ‘मेरी बहिनी निर्मला दलित मात्र थिइनन् पत्रकार पनि थिइन् र महिला पनि थिइन्। तर उनी दलित मात्र साबित भइन्।’" #CasteBasedDiscrimination https://t.co/TbrkUeHFTA
If indeed, #CasteBasedDiscrimination did not exist as Nepali after Nepali after Nepali claim, why did the country have to enact a law in 2011 criminalizing caste-based discrimination?!?! #Nepal https://t.co/kbR8qK5XFc
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 14, 2022
This is from 2021. There are Nepalis who cannot accept #Dalits teachers b/c then their children wil have toto greet them. & yet, I have come across Nepali after Nepali who have tried to convince me that there is NO #CasteBasedDiscrimination in #Nepal. https://t.co/lYidCGXj9I
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 14, 2022
I have a hard time believing it but apparently, #LifeExpectancy of #IndigenousNepalis is <20 yrs than those of non-indigenous! & Nepali after Nepali have argued with me there there is no or little #CasteBasedDiscrimination in #Nepal. https://t.co/eo2SDAYR6P
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) August 14, 2022
In #Nepal it's #Dashain, d biggest NATIONAL/HINDU festival, celebrating d triumph of good over evil. You'd think that people would be more ACCOMMODATING. But no! A #Dalit man was beaten up for allegedly entering a #temple. #CasteBasedDiscrimination (src: https://t.co/6BtXX0sqef) pic.twitter.com/2PTHJ6B3I8
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) September 29, 2022
Yet another story of #CasteBasedDiscrimination, something #Nepal lives in denial of.
— Dorje Gurung, ScD (h.c.) (@Dorje_sDooing) January 26, 2023
A young couple–#Dalit male & non-Dalit female–were driven to end their lives following all d harrowing pain & suffering family of female & society put them through. (https://t.co/zGGOMDlsyP) pic.twitter.com/A3h3iWidnC