West Rukum massacre and facade of egalitarian Nepali state

The government declared Nepal free from caste-based discrimination and untouchability on June 7, 2008. Every year, Jestha 21 is celebrated as the day of elimination of caste-based discrimination and untouchability. Likewise, the government also passed the caste-based discrimination and untouchability (offence and punishment) Act in 2011 to deter and criminalize caste-based discrimination and untouchability. The Constitution of Nepal, 2015 has also enshrined the fundamental rights of Dalits in the Article 40. Despite all these discouragements, caste-based untouchability is still rampant in the Nepali society.

In more than a decade since Nepal became a Republic, we have witnessed several incidents in which many members of the Dalit community lost their lives due to their caste. The recent incident of this is a caste-based massacre of Navaraj BK and his friends Ganesh Budha, Sandeep BK, Lokendra Sunar, Tikaram Sunar in West Rukum. Another friend of Navaraj, Govinda Shahi, is still missing. This massacre occurred when Navaraj BK, a Dalit, came to a village with his friends to marry a high-caste Thakuri girl. This incident reveals how caste-based discrimination is rampant in Nepal. Even though Dalits are facing discrimination in everyday life, this incident has brought a vivid picture of caste-based discrimination to a wider audience. Another remarkable thing of this incident is its spatial feature—the massacre occurred in West Rukum which was a bastion of the Maoist 'People’s War' which promised utopian vision without caste and class-based discrimination.