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Land
rights on the agenda
by
Jannie Aasted
The need for partners and MS Nepal to increase focus on human
rights and to network were emphasized at the Annual Meeting 2004.
In Kapilvastu district, MS’ partner Kalika Self-reliant Social
Centre (KSSC) has decided to put words into action by helping
people to claim their right to land.
As an NGO devoted to create a self-reliant society the reasons for
KSSC to involve in the discussion of land rights are many. A
sharing by the development worker Thomas Skov-Hansen on human
rights issues caught the interest of the organisation. And when
KSSC came to know about a governmental decision on giving back
land to poor people of the three Terai districts Kapilvastu,
Nawalparasi and Rupandehi there was no hesitation. They
immediately felt obliged to act in order to help the victims of
‘Ukhada’ who are situated within KSSC’s working area.
‘Ukhada’
The background of ‘Ukhada’ is complicated and even Rudra Parajuli
from KSSC, who among others took up the initiative, is confused
when it comes to the legal facts and history of the cases
affecting around 300 families in the three districts mentioned
above.
Ukhada workshop
In 2021 B.S.(1965) a court named ‘Ukhada’ was established in order
to distribute land more evenly and ensure land to farmers working
for land lords. After paying tax to the government the farmers
were supposed to be the legal owners of the land they were
cultivating. But the land lords cheated the farmers by taking some
of the money and still keeping the property they were no longer
the legal holders of. The farmers paid taxes but never got proof
of their land. And when the court closed in 2042 B.S. (1986) the
situation seemed at a deadlock.
But almost 20 years later the government under former Prime
Minister Thapa decided to reopen the cases of the ‘Ukhada’ victims
in 2060 B.S. (2003). The government’s objective was to fulfill the
process of receiving applications and provide land for the victims
within a period of eight months. After about four months the
‘Ukhada’ committee decided that the last date for handing in
applications along with proof was 15 days later. The people who
were not able to make their application in time would lose their
right to the land forever. But to many people in the rural areas
this information was unknown. And obstacles were still to come.
Immediate action
According to Rudra Parajuli, many of the victims would never have
heard of the option if they had not been notified by KSSC through
the network of local NGO’s, which they are supporting: “We heard
about the possibility for reapplication four months after the
court was initiated. That left us very little time but by joint
effort and the support of MS Nepal we succeeded to act quickly
within the 15 days decided by the committee.”
A workshop with the victims and related persons from the
government offices were held. Information was shared and steps of
action were pointed out. But one condition came as a surprise to
KSSC, the network of local NGO´s and the farmers themselves: Only
victims being Nepali citizens have the right to land.
Rudra Parajuli
Many of the ‘Ukhada’ victims do not have Nepalese citizenship but
only a ‘green card’ that allows them to vote but not to own land.
The victims’ need for help was now even more outspoken and KSSC
decided together with the farmers to make their influence at
policy level.
A delegation was sent to the ‘District Administration Office’ and
the outcome was positive: “The deadline for delivering
applications was postponed and we had more time to discuss what to
do with ‘CSRC’, (Community Self Reliance Center) which is an
organization having expertise on land rights. Furthermore the 105
concerned people in our area do not have to go to Bhairahawa with
their applications. We have now opened a local office here at KSSC
in Taulihawa.”
Lessons learned
By supporting the ‘Ukhada’ people KSSC has learned many lessons.
First of all KSSC realized their responsibility as an NGO to act
as a mediator between government authorities and beneficiaries on
rights issues. They also benefited from linking with another
organisation with specific knowledge on the issue of land rights.
Last but not least KSSC proved to be capable of doing advocacy on
human rights issues with a very concrete output. The cooperation
with CSRC is likely to continue as KSSC would like to expand their
activities in order to help other victimized groups having equally
problems obtaining land and citizenship.
Jannie, who has arrived in Nepal as spouse of Thomas(DW at KSSC),
is now an information DW in the western region, and is currently
collecting stories of changes at community level in the region.
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