On Saturday, December 23, the Caste Watch Network (CWN) was launched under my leadership, and we are now in the process of registering it with the government. To some extent, our aims and objectives match those of the Caste Watch UK—an influential activist organisation of overseas Indian Dalits in Britain. Just to be clear, though, we are not connected in any way.

Caste watch?

About 15 years ago, the Lawyers National Campaign for the Elimination of Caste Discrimination (LANCAU), a Nepali Dalit legal advocacy organisation run by some Dalit lawyers, announced a project for legal caste watch in Nepal. They intended to monitor the cases of caste discrimination in the country, perhaps similar to the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) monitoring and documenting cases of human rights abuse.

The back cover of one of their booklets contained a statement by the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who pledged to open a caste monitoring body at every town and village ward. During his first tenure as the country’s leader, many Dalits considered him their messiah. But sadly, his words didn’t materialise into action.

Despite the initial excitement, the LANCAU project did not go very far. According to some of those involved in it, it did initially show some promise, not least because it received some funding from international donors. Sadly, gone are the days when donors like the Department for International Development and the Danish International Development Assistance used to support many Dalit projects. For whatever reason, international funding for the Dalits NGOs has dwindled.

Non-partisan

The CWN will be registered as a non-profit organisation of Dalit activists and will also be affiliated with the Social Welfare Council (SWC). And, as indicated earlier, it will not be aligned with any political party, nor will it seek to transform itself into electoral politics. We will also seek financial support from international friends.

Our clear understanding is that the Dalits have been divided by two major factors: Party politics and religion. Once the parties completed their fight against the establishment and themselves became part of the state, they forgot Dalit issues. Meanwhile, the Dalits have been greatly divided into parties, coteries, and interest groups. Likewise, fear of the wrath of their gods keeps Dalit castes themselves divided; a Damai is kept out of the home of the Kami, for instance.

It is also well known that in the majority of the cases of caste violence and exclusion, influential members of the parties misuse their powers to set the criminals free. The only way to ensure justice for the victims of caste is through the creation of a neutral force of Dalits that cannot be easily swayed by parties and leaders.

Iron dome

Our vision is to create a powerful security umbrella for Dalit rights, just like Israel’s famous iron dome that protects itself from missiles and bombs fired by hostile countries and groups. We will not resort to taking the law into our own hands, but we will do everything possible to make the legal system punish the perpetrators of caste crimes.

Our goal is also to make this unprecedented Dalit movement effective and sustainable. Further, we aim to make it free from partisan influence and not dependent on foreign support.

For this purpose, we will run the CWN through extensive nationwide networks of largely non-partisan Dalits. Currently, we have set up a team of 11 independent Dalits as board members or the central committee. It will gradually open branches in all provinces and districts.

Unlike at the centre, provincial and district committees will also accept Dalit members connected to political parties. It will thus be a kind of a loose forum united by a common resolve. We will collect a small amount every month as a membership fee or levy.

Dalits only

The CWN will not have non-Dalit members. It is clear from experience that non-Dalit leaders, especially the so-called upper castes, eventually dilute our agenda and render our campaigns ineffectual when they become leaders of our organisations. Look at today’s Prime Minister Dahal and his Maoist Party, for example. It’s time Dalits themselves helmed their movement for freedom and equality.

This is not to despise non-Dalits, however. We will aim to coordinate with all castes, communities, religious groups and minorities, and with national and international media and human rights groups. Only through such an alliance and concerted effort can we achieve our objective of providing security and safety to the victims of the caste system, both in the hills and the plains.

How it works?

Like the Human Rights Watch internationally, and the INSEC nationally, the CWN will closely observe the situation of the Dalits through its national network. It will verify cases of caste violence and exclusion and spread awareness about them through the media, including social media.

We will also aim to peacefully intervene in caste-induced crimes. We will verify the cases and lobby with the Home Ministry and relevant government and police officials to make sure that the crime is properly investigated and justice delivered. We will also seek the support of national and international human rights groups to apply pressure on the state to act properly.

Moreover, we will dispatch our volunteers to the sites and protect the victims' families and other concerned people, including potential witnesses. Through these volunteers, we will make sure the police receive the reports and properly investigate the crime, as well as thwart any possible pressure from influential parties, groups or individuals to disrupt the legal process. Where possible, we will also hire good lawyers to provide effective advocacy.

Though a cadre-based organisation, the CWN will not take the law into its own hands. But it will make every possible effort to ensure that the law is applied to everybody, including Dalits. This campaign is obviously focused on Dalits, but it could also deal with cases of caste discrimination amongst non-Dalits, too. As we are aware, to some extent, there is discrimination and humiliation on almost every level of the caste hierarchy. And, interlinked is the issue of gender equality. Working with groups like the Feminist Dalit Organisation, we will seek to protect Dalit women, who are often worst affected.