My Marching MOVEMENT WAS AGAINST CASTE DISCRIMINATION
प्रकाशित मिति : बैशाख ३०, २०७७ मंगलबार
It has been one year since my hiking movement all over the country. After a long stay abroad, I returned to Nepal with eternal love and dreams; I’m Rita Pariyar. When I was living in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, as Rita, I lived as a human being with dignity. As soon as I came to Nepal, I became an untouchable.
I became a human being even lower than an animal because an animal can be touched, but I cannot be touched because I am untouchable.
Years later, my wounds healed. This untouchability and caste discrimination must be removed now; I want to live as a human being, and I want the people of my community to live with dignity. Although the nation has written in the constitution that caste discrimination and untouchability should not be done again and again and if it is done, severe punishment will be given. However, caste discrimination and untouchability are still deeply rooted in our society.
In a democratic country, everyone has the right to live a dignified life. It is a crime to abuse someone, in any way. Violence on the basis of caste is even more unacceptable. Therefore, such activities that add obstacles to the path of a society free from caste discrimination must end.
The condition of having to live a life of humiliation from birth is a great disgrace for any civilized society! A Dalit child has to bear the burden of hatred and humiliation.
If this is how a child is treated in the US and Europe, it will take years for him to recover and return to normal. Imagine that every Dalit child has to go through that trauma.
Carrying all these thoughts, I walked from Mahakali to Mechi. The journey was hard and painful but my pain was nothing compared to the pain my community has endured over the years. Everyone on the trip had the support and solidarity of friends, social workers and the municipality! This journey will continue as long as the social structure is based on discrimination for hundreds of years.
Dalits are the worst victims. The country is developing rapidly, but the problem of Dalits remains the same. Public places, houses, temples, streams and wells are made to suffer from discrimination everywhere and yet our society is still largely insensitive.
Until the letters of the constitution come out in practice, thousands of Ritas like me will continue to walk in the vision of this non-discriminatory society.