Dev Kumar Sunuwar

Int’l Indigenous Peoples’ Day

DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, AUG 09-

Breaking away from the tradition of marking the International Indigenous Peoples Day with ritualistic cultural parade, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), an umbrella body of indigenous peoples, has decided to use the occasion this year to put pressure on the politicians. NEFIN has unveiled a month-long agitation programme to press for the rights of indigenous people in the new constitution. The protests include a nationwide torch rally on Aug. 14 and blockade of all the entry points to the Capital the following day.

“We have now realised that unless we exert pressure on the political leadership and the government to promulgate the constitution on time with the guarantee of the rights of the indigenous people, marking indigenous people’s day is meaningless,” said Raj Kumar Lekhi, chairperson of NEFIN. “Therefore, we decided to stage protests instead of taking out a cultural parade.”

Nepalese indigenous people, who constitute more than 38 percent of the country’s population, fought for social, cultural and religious identity in the past. Now, they are fighting for their rights, said Lekhi.

He added that NEFIN has been demanding full and effective participation of the indigenous peoples in the decision-making processes, besides a guarantee of several other rights.

Government officials, however, say the state has already fulfiled both international obligations and indigenous people’s demands by ratifying the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Convention 169 on Sept. 14, 2007 and by adopting the UN’s declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the same year. The government, with the coordination with the Ministry of Local Development, has already

prepared a national action plan for the implementation of the ILO Convention 169.

Nevertheless, the implementation remains tall order. Sociologist and indigenous rights activist Krishna Bahadur Bhattachan said, “Although ratification of the international conventions relating to indigenous people’s rights is a welcome step, it would be meaningless unless those commitments made in the international forums are reflected in the country’s constitution and government’s plans and policies.”

If the government fails to transform its pledge into a practice, indigenous people’s peaceful protests could turn violent, he cautioned.

Meanwhile, speaking at a corner meet organised by Association of Nepalese Indigenous Journalists, Lekhhi said indigenous peoples’ movement was to ensure their rights in the constitution.

Addressing the meeting, lawmaker and former NEFIN Chairman Pasang Sherpa said that the existing political deadlock put the issues of backward and excluded groups on the back burner. “Therefore, Madhesi, Dalit, indigenous people have to work in unison to pressurise the political leadership to end the impasse and concentrate on constitution writing,” said Sherpa.

• To be first language at elemenary level

DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, DEC 02 –

Nepali, which has so far been the first language and primary medium of teaching and learning in the country is to become the second language and second medium in schools till the elementary level now. Read more…

BY DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, Aug 23

- The much-hyped project to build an ethnographic museum in Kirtipur is to begin soon. The construction work of the museum has been stalled for over 10-years owing to the paucity of funds, according to project officials. Read more…

ADITYA ADHIKARI
Sept. 22 –

Over the past two years, various organisations representing the interests of Adivasi-Janajatis have begun to assert their rights through international legal instruments regarding the rights of indigenous people. NGOs such as the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), which has been around since the opening up of democratic space in the early 1990s, and more recent militant groups led by former Maoists have found common ground in the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and — more importantly, since countries that ratify it are legally bound to adopt its provisions — the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Indigenous and Tribal People’s Convention 169. Read more…

• Self-determination, inclusion top agendas

Post Report
Kathmandu, September 10 –

At a time when the issue of state restructuring has hit a roadblock in the Constituent Assembly (CA), indigenous experts from over 13 Asian countries gathered at Dhulikhel today to share their knowledge on the right to self-determination in federalism and inclusion of indigenous peoples’ rights in the state constitution. Read more…

DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, March 28 -

The Committee for Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) under the office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recommended setting up mechanism to ensure indigenous people’s participation in the ongoing constitution making process.
Read more…

Form panel to push the agenda
DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, April 3 –

Over 20 organisations of Indigenous peoples, including the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), have formed a committee to make the state set up a mechanism to ensure indigenous peoples’ participation in the constitution-making process. The formation of the committee comes at a time when the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) under the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recommended the government to ensure indigenous people’s participation in statute-drafting. Read more…

By BISHNU SAPKOTA

Let me begin with a politically incorrect reference, a colleague of mine whispered to me. “If only I were a Janajati (indigenous people) or a woman for that matter, I would have climbed a couple of more career ladders by now and would have been nationally recognized as an academician-activist.” In the background (Shankar Hotel conference hall last week), the grand ILO-supported “national dialogue” program was going on to discuss the ILO Convention 169 that spells out the rights of the indigenous and tribal peoples in relation to a potential peace process in the country. Read more…

BY POST B BASNET
KATHMANDU, Sept 4 -

Dambar Bahadur Baram, 50, can speak Nepali as fluently as any native speaker. But when he mutters, he automatically switches to his mother tongue – Baram.
Read more…

DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, March 8 –

At a time when Constituent Assembly members have been doubling up their efforts to draft a new constitution and for state restructuring, the government has formally begun the linguistic survey of Nepal from Friday.
Read more…