Introduction
-Shiva Hari Gyawali, Programme Manager, Samari Utthan Sewa
From ancient times in Nepal, subjects like astrology, tantra, gods, hunting, warfare, medicine, religious rituals and procedures were inscribed on stone inscriptions, copper plates, palm leaves, etc., as evidenced by history. All these handwritten materials were stored in monasteries, viharas, mathas, etc. In the context of Nepal, these monasteries, temples, monasteries, and viharas were the ancient forms of today’s libraries. In medieval history, libraries were known by various names such as Granthalaya, Granth Kut, Safuthucha, etc. (Karki, 2002).
After Prithvi Narayan Shah’s conquest of the valley, handwritten manuscripts collected from monasteries and temples in Gorkha Palace, Nuwakot Palace, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, etc., were gathered in the worship room of the palace at Hanuman Dhoka. After a few years, that collection of books unofficially gained the status of a royal library. During the reign of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah, on Bhadra 15, 1869 BS, a lalmohar (royal decree) regarding the ‘Book Collection Treasury’ was issued. Through this lalmohar, the library received legal recognition, possibly for the first time in Nepal’s history (Adhikari, 2065).
Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur moved all the books from the Book Collection Treasury at Hanuman Dhoka Palace to the Jaisi room of Thapathali Palace in 1904 BS. During Bir Shamsher’s time, in 1953 BS, it was moved to Darbar School and started being called ‘Darbar Library’. In 1957 BS, it was moved again to Ghantaghar and began to be addressed as ‘Bir Library’ or ‘Ghantaghar Library’. In 1962 BS, its name was changed to ‘Bir Library Government Book House’ (ibid.).
Although some work related to libraries was done by the government during the Rana period, opening libraries by the general public was considered illegal and criminal. Even to study the books in the government library, permission from the Rana Prime Minister was mandatory. It was only from Bir Shamsher’s time that the government library was opened to the general public. However, it was still very difficult for the general public to establish libraries. For example, around 1987 BS, young people including Dharmaraj Thapaliya who were preparing to submit a petition to then-Prime Minister Shri 3 Bhim Shamsher for permission to establish an institution called ‘Saraswati Guthi’ and open a library from it were punished (Gautam, 2002).
Outside the Kathmandu Valley, around 2007 BS, libraries began to open hesitantly in various places. In Tansen, Palpa, with the initiative of education enthusiast Ambika Prasad Lakoul, a ‘Book Reading Hall’ was established in his own house in 1983 BS. But that library was closed within a year. Later, in 2003 BS, that library was re-established as ‘Dhawal Library’. Before the establishment of democracy in 2007 BS, 31 libraries including Dhawal Library had been established in Nepal (Paudel, 2077).
After 2007 BS, an environment was created for public libraries to open freely throughout the country, and many libraries opened during that period. Before that, it is seen that even the Ranas, the palace, and some close to them kept private libraries for personal interest and purposes. In 2013 BS, the books of Rajguru Hemraj Pandey’s private library, Bharati Bhavan, were bought by the Nepal government and placed at Sikri Dhoka in Singha Darbar, and this library was named ‘Nepal National Library’. Another notable library in the history of establishing private libraries is the Madan Puraskar Library located at Patan Dhoka in Lalitpur. Established in 2013 BS, this library was started under the name Madan Puraskar Library, operated by Madan Puraskar Guthi, from the personal collection of education servant Kamalmani Dixit (ibid.).
Around 2016 BS, with the help of the Nepal government and USAID, a modern library called ‘Central Library’ was established in Kathmandu. After the establishment of Tribhuvan University in 2016 BS, the Tribhuvan University Library was established soon after. In 2019 BS, both libraries were merged into the National Library. In the work of establishing private libraries, the name of then-Field Marshal Kaiser Shamsher is also notable. The Kaiser Library, which he had been developing as his personal collection, was handed over to the then-Nepal government by his wife Krishna Chandra Devi a few years after his death in 2026 BS (Baitha, 2065).
Looking at the establishment of libraries in Nepal and the state of access to them, from the beginning until the change in 2007 BS and the political change in 2046 BS, sources of knowledge and access to libraries were limited to priests of monasteries, viharas, mathas, temples, and only the Ranas, palace, royal priests, and some families close to them. Similarly, it can be assumed that limited so-called high-caste men who went to India from Nepal for Gurukul education also had access to such sources of knowledge and libraries.
Background of Dalit Library
In Nepal, in Samvat 1963 (around 1906-1907 AD), Jay Prithvi Bahadur Singh opened ‘Satyawadi Primary School’ in Kathmandu, Naxal. There is history that Dalits also studied in that school. In the Darbar School established in 1910 BS, evidence is found that Newar Dalits got admission to Darbar High School for the first time after about 82 years of its establishment. From the latter part of the Rana period (especially after 2002 BS), schools for reading and writing began to open gradually in various parts of the country at state and community levels. After 2004 BS, efforts were made to open separate schools for Dalit students at the community level. As Dalit reading and teaching activities intensified in various areas, the government, through the Ministry of Education, published on Ashwin 15, 2008, and opened public education for all Dalits for the first time (Upreti and Gnyawali, 2079).
From the arrival of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in Nepal in 2013 BS, Dalit leaders in Nepal began to show more interest in the importance of education for Dalit liberation. They started relations with Indian Dalit leaders. Around 2017 BS, a Dalit delegation from Nepal met then-Indian President Rajendra Prasad, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Dalit leader and then-Railway Minister Jagjivan Ram. After that visit, arrangements were made for Nepali Dalit students to study free of cost at ‘Ishwar Sharan Ashram’ in Allahabad, India, including food, accommodation, and education. This not only played a big role in the development of education in the then-community and in preparing educated generations for the Dalit community, but also in the beginning of organized efforts for it. However, until 2020 BS, the first generation from the Dalit community going to school not only faced intense caste discrimination in schools but also incidents of conflict throughout the country between those who taught Dalits and those who did not (ibid.).
There is a long history of struggle by the Dalit community, which was prohibited by the state machinery even from going to school, to access classrooms. In such a situation, the Dalit community itself was not in a position to open libraries. According to a conversation with Padam Sundas on Baisakh 9, 2081, from the 2030s BS, some leaders of the Dalit movement also established personal libraries at a private level. T.R. Bishwakarma and Jawahar Rokaya collected hundreds of books on politics, society, and philosophy published in India and Nepal, though not as libraries. Among those establishing personal libraries through private efforts, the name of Dalit movement pioneer Padam Sundas comes first. By the 2040s BS, he had collected more than 400 books published in Nepal and India through his personal efforts. However, this library was not accessible to the general public.
After the change in 2046 BS, non-governmental organizations were established significantly in Nepal. These organizations, though not in the form of libraries, worked on preserving and producing books and magazines published on Dalit issues. An environment was created for collecting and preserving materials published on Dalit issues, even in one room of their own organization. Nepal Dalit Literature and Culture Foundation has played an important role in the organized efforts of Dalit knowledge production in Nepal’s Dalit movement. In 2049 BS, with the chief guestship of writer Jawahar Rokaya and Chairman of Dalit Literature Academy Dr. Sohanpal Sumana, this institution was started under the name Nepal Dalit Literature Academy (Barali, 2074). By 2074 BS, this institution had published 28 books on Dalit literature, history, culture, and politics. Similarly, through Ratnamaya Dalit Literature Foundation established by Padam Sundas in 2049 BS, he had published more than 21 books by 2070 (Sundas, 2071).
Among non-governmental organizations, Janutthan Foundation established in 2052 BS has made significant contributions to book publishing and preservation. This organization had announced the establishment of Sahid Setu Bik Public Library in Banke district in 2068 BS. However, it could not move forward effectively. Similarly, the Network Against Racial Discrimination (EN CARD) established in 2058 BS had established a class with more than 400 books and source materials on social justice, social movements, etc. Likewise, Jagaran Media Center established in 2058 BS had also established a Dalit Resource Center with more than 400 books. By 2064 BS, Jagaran Media Center’s Dalit Resource Center was known as the place with the largest collection of books and publications on Dalit subjects. But these resource centers established by non-governmental organizations could not reach the general public. So far, the source materials collected by these organizations have reached more into the book cabinets of the executive committees affiliated with the organizations, their relatives, and employees.
Among Dalit non-governmental organizations, Samata Foundation, established in 2008 AD as a non-profit but non-distributing nature, has probably become the institution with the largest collection of books and magazines on Dalit subjects in Nepal so far. Founder Chairman Padam Sundas himself transferred the books he had collected and all the books and publications from his personal library to Samata Foundation. However, since Samata Foundation itself is established by a profit-making institution, it has not been able to legally address the spirit of a public library. As a result, the Nepali Dalit movement has been feeling the absence of a public library owned by the Dalit community itself even today. This shows a lack of effective interest in the movement’s knowledge production and its sustainable use.
Need for Dalit Study Library
Discourse that shapes narratives and forms of knowledge groups is important for any community. Produced knowledge emphasizes important issues. It raises debates. And it maps the demands and claims of communities like Dalits who have been excluded by the state and society. However, in the context of Nepal, due to the alliance between knowledge, property, and power, and the dominance of certain communities in it, the socialization of Nepali knowledge has not been possible. As a result, so far, the knowledge production done by the dominant community has not been able to play an effective role in ending caste system, patriarchal and hierarchical inequalities to establish inclusive democracy and social justice.
In a society based on caste system like Nepal, the power construction of a single caste, class, and gender did not happen by itself. Such power would not have been possible without creating knowledge that keeps power in the minds of the general public and propagating it. Even from the existing Nepali state structure, no special initiative has been taken for Dalit studies, knowledge, and its promotion. As a result, even in the present time, Dalit community, especially Dalit youth, have not been able to have effective access and presence in the sources of education, technology, and knowledge. There are various factors that create this situation.
First, in Nepal, Dalit issues have not been accepted as the main focus of academic research in social sciences. Politically and culturally excluded Dalit issues have also been boycotted in intellectual debates by Nepali scholars. Second, compared to other political and discriminatory issues within the Dalit movement, subjects like knowledge production, reading culture, libraries, archives, etc., get less priority and are not accepted as an area of the movement. So far, due to the inability to collect and publish historical documents of the Dalit movement, there is negligible interest among the new generation about the history and dimensions of the movement. As a result, within the movement, understanding the movement as a development project, using words like ‘Silpi’ as an alternative to the word ‘Dalit’ established by the strength of the movement, and connecting Dalit liberation issues with Hinduism and the myths created by it in the name of Dalit knowledge and study have been gaining ground. This has influenced not only right-wing but also left-wing Dalit leaders. Similarly, in Nepal, there is also an increasing tendency to prohibit thinkers like Ambedkar of Dalit political economy and accuse him of seeking Dalit liberation only through ‘religious conversion’. The main reason for this is the weak access of the Dalit community, especially the younger generation, to libraries that are sources of knowledge against the caste system. Likewise, third, in a situation where Dalit youth have to struggle to survive, it is not easy for them to join organized efforts for knowledge creation. However, for giving definite shape to dissent and anger against the caste system, the first but essential necessity is a ‘Dalit Study Library’. If we cannot think like this, it is certain that within the Dalit movement, some intellectuals will be made ‘gods’ and there will be a drought of a group that looks at the movement critically.
To weaken the dominance of certain communities in knowledge production that supports hierarchical inequality and caste system, the establishment of a Dalit Study Library is necessary. Along with this, there is also a need for it as a common intellectual platform that can inspire and guide non-Dalit intellectual classes in knowledge production on Dalit issues. Now, the overall development and issues of Dalits need to be irrigated differently. For this, it is necessary to ensure easy access to knowledge to connect the struggles and knowledge of the grassroots level of the Dalit community with academic and theoretical analysis.
Referances:
उप्रेती, देवेन्द्र र ज्ञवाली, शिवहरि । २०७९ । हिन्दू समाजमा दलित शिक्षा (वि.सं. १९६३–२०२०) । नेपालमा विद्यालय शिक्षाः इतिहास, राजनीति र समाज । लोकरञ्जन पराजुली, प्रत्यूष वन्त, देवेन्द्र उप्रेती, सं., पृ. ७१११५ । मार्टिन चौतारी, काठमान्डौ ।
पौडेल, किशोर । वि.सं. २०७७ । नेपालमा पुस्तकालय ः इतिहास र वर्तमान । अनलाईनखबर डट कम https://www.onlinekhabar.com/2020/09/893191 २१ अप्रिल, २०२४ मा पहुँच गरिएको ।
बराली, रणेन्द्र । २०७५ । प्रतिष्ठान स्थापनाको परिवेश । दलित साहित्यिक स्मारिका, २०७५ । रणबहादुर रम्तेल र सरोजदिलु विश्वकर्मा, सं., पृ.१५ । नेपाल दलित साहित्य तथा संस्कृति प्रतिष्ठान, काठमाडौँ ।
सुन्दास, पदम । २०७१ । प्रकाशकीय । सङगीतमय जीवन ः सङ्गीत अन्ेवषक रामशरण दर्नालको जीवन र कर्म । राजेन्द्र महर्जन र पदम सुन्दास, सं. पृ. ९१२ ।
Adhikari, I. P. (2065). “Library and resource center: Management and operation”. Kathmandu: Limisec.
Baitha, Ganesh. (2065). Kaiser Library: New Section and its Services. In “Kaiser Library: a century (1908-2008)”. Kathmandu: Kaiser Library.
Gautam, Bishwa Raj. (2008). Library Day (Bhadra 15): Concept Paper (Tr.). In “Voice of Library” Vol.1, No.2. Kathmandu: Sagarmatha Public Library.
Karki, Madhusudan. (2002). “The Study of emergence and development of libraries, information centres and information professionalism in Nepal: An appraisal”. (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis).
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