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Slavery and Freedom in Nepal
Land in Nepal
is scarce. And, when it comes to fertile agricultural land, it is
far scarcer. Scarcity breeds competition; and competition in turn
opens up possibilities for deceit and the use of unfair means.
These phenomenon pervade the history of land ownership in Nepal.
Scarcity, competition and inequality characterize land
distribution in the country today.
The Kamaiya system that was prevalent in the five
districts of western Nepal—before being finally banned by the
government on July 17, 2000—was one of the unpleasant by-products
of Nepal’s checkered history of land ownership. The Tharus are
indigenous to the Terai. They were the natural owners of these
vast tracts of fertile land. They lived in peace and plenty before
the hill settlers—pushed by population pressure in the
hills—descended in their territory. The new settlers managed to
gradually nibble a t
the land and gain the legal rights, eventually evicting the Tharus
from their own land. Without land and no other alternative forms
of subsistence, the Tharus were forced to work for the newly
turned landed gentry, many of them as bonded labourers.
 After
many long hellish years of bondage the Kamaiya freedom movement
emerged in the midst of the gloom and frustration pervading the
ten-year anniversary of democracy. The movement was supported by a
coalition of social and human rights organizations, working
together with the bonded labourers themselves, the media and
international aid organizations and networks. In a sustained three
months of campaigning the movement managed to force the government
to cancel generation-deep debts of the Kamaiya.
Even after
about two years of legal freedom from bondage, for thousands of
Kamaiyas real freedom still remains distant and elusive. Efforts
for their rehabilitation by providing them alternative jobs in
already saturated market have proven not only insufficient but
also increasingly frustrating to a majority of the freed Kamaiya.
Without land of their own, thousands of Kamaiya have taken refuge
in various public places. Disease, hunger and frustration are
taking a heavy toll. The euphoria and expectations generated by
the historic Kamaiya movement evaporates with each new day.
 The
struggle is still far from over. The challenge for the freed
Kamaiya now is claiming the social prerogatives they were denied
in slavery—reasonable plots of land, voices to speak in public and
schooling for their children. “Many Kamaiyas remain to be freed
in Bardiya, Kailali and Banke. The next challenge is to free them.
The other challenge is effective rehabilitation. This newly
acquired freedom is usually only skin deep. It takes a long time
for the Kamaiyas to change their mental attitude. If support for
rehabilitation is not strong they will fall into the same old
vicious trap of bondage again. When the Kamaiyas get land they
will also need houses and training in new agricultural
techniques,” says BASE president and K amaiya
movement leader Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari.
 It
is against this backdrop that the
“Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom in Nepal” has been written. This
is the first full-color social documentary publication of
its kind printed in Nepal using four color printing process,
according to publisher Madhab Maharajan of Mandala Book Point. It
chronicles the turbulent story of the on-going kamaiya movement in
Nepal through the words of the kamaiyas themselves and a narrative
sequence of documentary photographs and formal portraits made in
their huts on landlord’s properties, refugee camps and on the open
road, along with the stories of other protagonists such
as landlord and former minister Shiva Raj Pant, and an
introduction and afterword in Nepali and English.
In doing so
Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom challenges the usual
postcard image of ethnic groups in Nepal and the ease with which
issues involving the lives of thousands of underprivileged people
so easily slip off the public agenda.
During the
tumultuous days after the government abolished the kamaiya system,
documentary photographer Peter Lowe came to Nepal with a large
format camera and the support of MS Nepal and Backward Society
Education (BASE) to document the efforts of the kamaiyas
themselves to turn government promises of a better life into
reality.
“We should use whatever skills and
opportunities we acquire to help create a more just world. The
kamaiyas should have adequate land, housing and education, which
they are still struggling for almost two years after the
government’s historic decision to abolish the kamaiya system. We
made this book together. Whether it helps to create a more just
world for the kamaiyas or not depends on you,”
Peter Lowe says.
Kamaiya:
Slavery and Freedom
presents the story of the kamaiyas in both Nepali text edited by
Vinaya Kasajoo and English. Photographs and book design are by
Peter Lowe. Keshav Gautam translated interviews. Tim Whyte who
worked as an MS Nepal advisor for BASE in western Nepal penned
introduction and afterword. Earlier, he had studied the history of
slavery in Nepal under the University of Wisconsin Nepal programme.
The book has
been priced at Rs. 750 and is available at:
Mandala Book
Point
P.O. Box: 528, Kantipath
Kathmandu, Nepal
Ph: 245570/227711
and
MS Nepal
P.O.Box 4010
Dillibazar, Kathmandu
Nepal
Tel: 434040, 433742
Email: info@msnepal.org
Web: www.msnepal.org
For
more information contact Binay Dhital at MS Nepal.
Email: binay@msnepal.org.np
Here are some
of the photos from the book. Click to view the enlarged picture
with caption.
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