Jaya Bhim and Namaskar!
Over the past 18 years, SUS has established itself as a nationally recognised CSO, representing most marginalised Dalits within Dalit communities. SUS has successfully reached and impacted over 300000 individuals. Through strategic partnerships, policy advocacy, and capacity building, we have facilitated access to finance, sustainable livelihood, human rights and social justice, markets, and government protection schemes. SUS has played a pivotal role in promoting the sustainable development model. However, this is a tireless effort of myself and my team members of the SUS board. Today, I would like to share my brief life journey with you.
My birthplace is Madi Municipality-8, Chitwan. I am the 3rd daughter of my parents among 4 sisters and 3 brothers. My parents were traditional musicians called Gandarva, a so-called lowest caste group within Dalit communities. They used to move around the village and sing songs composed by themselves on current social issues. It was tough to join our hands and mouths for our parents. My community was landless; until 1863 AD, owning the land was illegal for the Gandarva communities.
My elder sisters did not get the chance even to attend school. However, I got a chance to go to school. Remembering my first day in the school always hurts me as I was forced to sit on the last bench. My class teacher threatened me and said, “You are from a low caste, so you cannot sit together with a high caste class “. I have several incidents and memories about my childhood, where I faced discrimination and exclusion in society and at school due to my caste status.
I was often not allowed to drink water from the bucket kept at school. I was denied even to touch the water tap and needed to drink water from the well. I could not buy things from the shop of high caste owners even paying money. Sometimes, I was forced to wash dishes after taking food from the local hotel. Such incidents, and continuous discrimination and boycotts by society and school encouraged me to fight against the caste system and the exclusion and exploitation of my society.
I have felt the pain of discrimination since my birth. There were altogether 85 households, and all of them were in fear of high-caste people due to high debt. I tried to organize my people and started to raise our voice against high debt and discrimination in each stage of our life. When I started to raise our voices, high-caste people also started to threaten me and my people. Many times, we used to hide in the maize and paddy farm at night due to the fear of attack by high-caste people.
I was just 15, when I encouraged to form a group of our sisters and mothers and started to conduct monthly meetings and monthly saving within the group from NPR 1. Within one year, we succeeded in raising some amount and started to revolve it within the group, which supported minimising high-interest debit from high-caste people. When, I passed my high school at my age of 16 and started to teach uneducated women and girls from my community at nighttime. I could not continue my further education for one year due to financial difficulties. In that time, I got a chance to attend a three month long Nepali Hand Making Paper Production training at Kathmandu. However, my father denied sending me for the training. I had attended the training without informing my parents. Therefore, my parents sent a message not to back again at home and village. After the training I came back to my home and started a micro-enterprise on Handmade Nepali Paper Production in collective way. Many women and girls were with my side; therefore, my parents did not say anything. Later I have received a year-long fellowship to continue my higher education from an NGO, which was working on Dalit issue.
In 1996 I got a job offer by an INGO in Okhaldhunga district as social mobilizer. After my job I started to support my parents and my brother for their education. However, during my job period I had very bad experience of discrimination based on my caste. As a social mobilizer I have to go to the field visit, and sometimes need to stay at the home of beneficiaries. It was said that there should not be any discrimination in this field. On the first day at my office, I was forced to sit on the table outside of the office room. When I went to the community, I had to stay in the cow shed. None of the high-caste people were allowed to enter their houses.
Once, I had to stay in a high-caste people’s house. They asked me to sleep out of the house, and they locked the door. There was a dog, and at midnight a Tiger was roaring a bit far from the village. Later, I heard a loud sound of a dog where a tiger had attacked the dog. If there was not a dog, the tiger would have attacked me. I cried all night. The organization aimed to work especially in the areas of Dalit and marginalized communities. However, that was only their teeth for showing not for real change.
After seeing such a trend of an INGO working on Dalit issues, I felt that I need to work for the upliftment of my people. I resigned from my Job and came to Kathmandu, where I met with Markku Voutilelin, a Finish missionary, and I shared my interest in working for Dalit communities in must remote area. Later, in the leadership of Markku, I conducted a baseline survey in Punarbas area of Sarlahi and Bandarjhula in Chitwan in 2004.
Two hundred and four families of Dushad, a Dalit community residing in Thadi Jhinjha village, Dhanusa were shifted to Netragunj (Punarbash) in 1978 by the Government of Nepal. The majority of the inhabitants belong to the Dushadh community. Historically, most of the Dushadhs have taken to theft and dacoity as their main occupation. The Dusadhs blame the Rana regime for having compelled them to follow such an occupation for generations. According to them, local officials during the Rana regime used to detain and torture the Dusadhs whenever a crime was committed near the village. Even children were arrested and tortured, they allege. According to them, it was because of such excesses that they took to theft and dacoity.
The condition of children and women in that place was very miserable. Two to four people were killed a year by fighting each other. That news would never come out. Women were oppressed. There were many challenges in how to transform that society. They used to fire guns to show fear on me. We started Uplift project 2005-2007 in Punarbash. I courageously worked continuously for 10 years, to change their criminal mentality. I conducted various income-generating and counselling campaigns, especially with women. Today, no one is involved in such types of criminal activities. We supported the formation a cooperative and CBO in the village. Similarly, we implemented similar activities in Bandarjhula of Chitwan. Based on the experience even during the Maoist movement, we Dalit Christian youth from various regions of Nepal decided to establish SUS in 2008.
The campaign that the nation has taken to make happy Nepali and prosperous Nepal. However, other happy Nepalis have been imagined by ignoring the parties suffering from societal discrimination. In a society without discrimination, Dalits can also be included! Dalits can also live with self-respect! All the opportunities given by the state can be taken equally! My dream is not far beyond here.
Bimala Gayak
Madi, Chitwan
1.1.2025
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