Visit MS-Denmark

It was really a great experience

Ekraj Chaudhari

I had always seen a plane flying like a bird but had never got a chance to get on board. The very idea of going to Denmark and Switzerland had enthralled me from the very first day because it was the first experience in my life. Our journey began on June 10 from Kathmandu. As the plane reached certain height the whole silver-white mountain range could be seen and the mountains made me recall that Nepal has the highest peak on earth, which made me boast of my beautiful country. The scene below was just fascinating for me; it was description.

The main objective of our visit was to participate in the conference on the "Status of Slavery around the World" organised by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Ram Das Chaudhary and I were there to present working papers on the current status of the Kamaiya. At the conference we mainly stressed the need to provide land to the tillers, enact Labour Act and urged the Nepalese government to launch special programmes for raising the status of the Tharus as the Kamaiya has their roots in Tharus community. The Kamaiya episode was new to many participants and they listened to our presentation with utmost interest. Though they were thankful to the government for freeing the Kamaiya from debt bondage, they expressed serious concern over the lackadaisical attitude of the government towards rehabilitating them despite knowing that Kamaiya have been living in a pathetic state for so long. The High Level Committee of the United Nations also promised us to put our demands before the Nepalese government with due importance.

It was indeed a very great experience for us to represent the voices of the Kamaiya, who have been robbed of their basic rights for so many years, in the World Forum. The visit was very useful to learn of the similar cases from around the world and share experiences. Now that we know a lot about slavery in different forms, we have gained a lot of self-confidence. We are hopeful that our participation will encourage the international sector to extend both moral and physical support to the Kamaiya.

Our trip to Denmark was equally interesting and fruitful. We were in Denmark to see the progress in the country and to learn about good governance. We found that the Danes are really hardworking and are very conscious about proper use of their time. How the Danes pay a hefty chunk of their earning in tax and receive all kinds of services and benefits from the state was something unbelievable for us. The high sense of responsibility among the people, equal status of men and women and the remarkable advancement achieved in the field of agriculture were what impressed us very much. We also observed that the Danes don't like to vote very rich people living in luxury into power. Unlike in Nepal, corruption is something that is most hated by the people. And we feel that the Nepalese people should emulate the Danes in this regard.

Thanks to the cooperation of BASE, MS, Danida and all others that our Denmark visit taught us a common yet uncommon lesson that honesty, determination and dedication of the people and the government are the key to progress and prosperity, something like in Denmark. 

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