Seven Ways You Can Support Dalit Lives Matter Nepal

The death of Nawaraj BK, Ganesh Budha, Sandip BK, Lokendra Sunar, Tikaram Sunar and Govinda Sahi in Rukum has once again highlighted the tragic stories of caste-based discrimination in Nepal. Along with what happened in Rukum, the story of 13-year old Angira Pasi, a young girl who was raped, then married to her rapist and found dead the next day has shocked millions. Their stories along with the many murders and violence against people due to caste based discrimination has led to many calling for more support and justice for the Dalit community.

George Floyds death has sparked Black Lives Matter protests across America and the world and many Nepalese people are also having the much needed conversation around racism in Nepalese society and caste-based discrimination. The tragic stories from Rukum and Rupandehi came in the final week of May and along with Black Lives Matter, we are seeing a huge outpour of outrage online and offline with #DalitLivesMatterNepal becoming a commonly used hashtag.

Taking inspiration from other websites, I have decided to list the different ways you can support Dalit lives to ensure that they get justice and for us to educate one another and challenge assumptions of family members and wider society. There is a lot of unlearning and learning that we need to go through as a society and whilst it may be uncomfortable; we need to do this.

Photo: Kantipur

Here are the different ways you can help:

The Word Dalit – further reading

Photo: Dalit Lives Matter

One of the most important things you can do is to educate yourself on why this continues to happen… I might not be able to change the mindset of people in Rukum but I know that caste-based discrimination is rife within the Nepalese communities in the UK. I know of the challenges that people my age face in marrying the ones they love, whether they be Gurung, Thakuri, Limbu or Shrestha. There’s huge discrimination that continues to take place and we can start by having these difficult conversation with ourselves and with our loved ones. The more we learn about ourselves, we’ll find out what we want to speak up for and what we stand for. That can be the beginning for many…. and please, keep an eye on the news websites, social media, ask your favourite influencers to read about this, ask for their views and for them to also share widely.

I worry that this too will slowly fade away, as often many things do… but I hope you also keep tabs on me and continue to remind me because we all know that caste-based discrimination is not something we can change overnight – we need to be persistent.

HUGE THANK YOU TO DALIT LIVES MATTER NEPAL TEAM FOR SUPPORTING THIS ARTICLE

This video by UntoldKatha comes from the UK

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Lex Limbuhttps://lexlimbu.com
Lex Limbu is a non-resident Nepali blogger based in the UK. YouTube videos is where he started initially followed by blogging. Join him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

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