Dalit rights groups decry Insec report
Various Dalit rights organisations in Kalikot have decried the report published by the Informal Sector Service Center (Insec) on the death of Manbir Sunar.
Seven Dalit rights organisations jointly issued a statement on Sunday claiming that the Insec misinterpreted the incident in its report by concluding that Sunar’s death was not the result of caste discrimination alone.
Sunar, a native of Jubitha VDC-4, was attacked on December 10 by two men belonging to the so-called upper caste for allegedly touching an outdoor fireplace of a local eatery and spoiling its sanctity. He died a day after the attack.
The incident triggered furore among the Dalits in different parts of the country.
The Insec regional office in Nepalgunj had mobilised its representatives to Jubitha VDC to find out truth behind theincident.
The report published by the organisation on Friday stated that Sunar was a local member of the UCPN (Maoist), and that he was injured in a drunken brawl with his own party comrades identified as Min Bahadur Shahi and Dip Bahadur Shahi.
It was found that Sunar had a good camaraderie with Min Bahadur and Dip Bahadur and the trio had no such history suggesting any kind of racial tension, said Bhajan Chaudhary of Insec.
“They visited each other’s houses and occasionally dined together. Given the relationship among the trio, there was no basis to suspect that Sunar’s death was a result of caste discrimination.”
The Dalit rights organisations, however, insisted that Sunar’s death was indeed caused as a result of him belonging to a Dalit community and claimed that the Insec was trying to cover up the truth.
“It (Insec) is conspiring to bend the truth behind the incident and protect the guilty,” said Birsha Singh Bishwokarma, chairman of the Kalikot chapter of the Nepal Rastriya Dalit Kalyan Sangh.
Along with the Insec representatives, members from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also visited Jubitha VDC to investigate the case. The NHRC is yet to publish the report.
Posted on: 2012-01-02 09:22
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Abin
Shit! The note is lost. I had better avoid extemporising. ...have been told not to blab.
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