Karnali Arts Centre, a community-based arts organisation in Nepal, and Equality Labs, a US-based Dalit civil rights organisation, have been selected for this year’s Darnal Award for Social Justice.

The award is a biennial international award that honours emerging change-makers working to end caste-based inequalities and indignities.

According to Sarita Pariyar, the founding convener of the award, the Darnal Award Selection Committee has decided to recognise the two Dalit-led organisations for their exceptional commitment, courage, and imagination toward ending caste-based inequities and indignities.

“The co-awardees will be presented with the award along with Rs 250,000 each at the third biennial international award ceremony in City Hall, Kathmandu, on June 8,” Pariyar told the Post.

According to Pariyar, along with the awardees, the Selection Committee has also decided to recognise two dynamic personalities from the Dalit community—writer and journalist Dhruba Satya Pariyar and anti-human trafficking activist Karuna Trikhatri—as the 2022 Darnal Award for Social Justice Honorees.

Besides the award, on June 7, the Darnal Award for Social Justice is also organising its corresponding biennial symposium entitled ‘Politics of Dignity and Equity: Dalits in Nepal’ in collaboration with the Central Department of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, The New School, New York and the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), New Delhi.

The award ceremony and the symposium are organised by the Sarita Pariyar Trust Fund in collaboration with Samata Foundation to commemorate the life and legacy of social justice leader Suvash Darnal.