Ban on taking dead bodies of Dalit community from public road in Humla

Dalit Online 6 April 2023, Thursday

Kathmandu – The dead bodies of the Dalit community have been banned from being taken from public roads.
The dead body of 74-year-old Padamwere Luwar of Chankheli rural municipality ward 4, Humla district has been banned from being taken from the public road.
On Sunday 19th of Chaitra, the Thakuri community of Chankheli Rural Municipality ward No. 4 stopped the body of 74-year-old Padambire Luwar from Chankheli Rural Municipality Ward No. 4 on the public road.
Karnbir Luwar, the son of the deceased, complained that even in the 21st century, the body was not allowed to be taken from the public road. Luwar said that he had to go through the fields to carry his father’s corpse through the public road of the village.
He complained that the Dalit community is under such oppression by the intellectuals and politicians of the village. Mun Bahadur Luwar, the grandson of the deceased, complained that he had to be humiliated by the representatives of the ward.
Will Chankheli rural municipality president Parilal Shahi follow the old path? He informed that the locals of the village had told him. But it does not need to take a big form, according to President Shahi.Meanwhile, the Nepal Dalit Liberation Organization has said that it has drawn serious attention to the inhumane incident that the Thakuri community has stopped. The liberation organization has demanded that immediate action should be taken against this incident, which has been reduced to institutional protection of caste untouchability by people of Thakuri community and people holding public positions, which is a vertical challenge to Nepal’s constitution and existing laws.In a press release issued by Vasant Kumar Bishwakarma, Karnali Province in-charge of Nepal Dalit Liberation Organization, it is said, ‘Humla Chankheli ward no. We strongly request that whoever is involved in the incident be investigated immediately and the strictest action be taken against him. We would like to make it known through this press release that if this incident is ignored, the responsibility for the consequences arising from the resistance to the incident will be the responsibility of the concerned community or individual. Also, we sincerely appeal to the National Human Rights Commission, the National Dalit Commission, the human rights community and justice-loving civil societies to study this inhumane incident on the ground and take necessary initiatives.