French riots and Nepal’s ‘respectable’ casteism
By Mitra Pariyar, The Kathmandu Post, 2023, July 4
Everyone
pretends that Dalits have been afforded unprecedented amounts of rights and
privileges.
The violent
unrest in France over the past few days, following the murder of a 17-year old
Algerian-descent man, Nahel M, by a Parisian policeman on June 27, has shaken
the country. There have been deadly clashes with the enforcement officials on
the streets of Paris, Marseillie and many other cities and towns. Hundreds of
protestors have been arrested and many shops and businesses vandalised or
looted. A Parisian mayor’s family home was attacked and his family injured.
Similar to
the 2020 uprising in the United States of America after the killing of George
Floyd in police custody, in the city of Minneapolis, the French uprising has
drawn global attention. Not many people would support this level of violence,
but the spontaneous outpouring of rage by the underprivileged youth and their
supporters deeply resonates with the feelings of many oppressed peoples in
Europe and around the globe, including, of course, Nepali Dalits.
The United
Nations has alluded that the French riots are a reaction to a deep culture of
racial hatred and violence in society, including police brutality. It issued a
statement urging France to recognise this reality and address its “deep issues”
of racial hatred.
Indeed, many
activists, scholars and journalists have also commented that the nation-wide
disturbance is much more than an issue of law and order, although the
government would be inclined to represent it as such. The flaring of the street
violence is a form of fightback against persistent racial discrimination and
police brutality mainly targeted at the immigrants and their descendants
originally from North Africa.
On June 30,
the French author, film director and activist Rokhaya Diallo wrote an angry
commentary in The Guardian, where she held the state responsible for the
destructive rioting on the streets. She observed, “France has ignored racist
police violence for decades. This uprising is the price of that denial.”
Many
published research papers and books demonstrate the endemic problem of racial
profiling and violence in France. Above all, I found Jim Wolfrey’s 2017 book
Republic of Islamophobia: The rise of respectable racism in France interesting
and useful. An academic at the University College London, Wolfrey specialises
in French history. In this remarkable book, he unveils how the French political
class has systematically whitewashed racism in recent decades. I was
particularly struck by Wolfrey’s novel concept of “respectable racism”. I
believe this can be a useful lens to understand the dynamics of racism and
similar issues in almost any country.
The author
argues that racist policies have become widely accepted and “respectable” in
French society in the past decades under the veneer of secularism and gender
equality. The 2011 ban on full-face cover, for example, has been described as a
step towards promoting female freedom amongst Muslim minorities. On the
contrary, the policy has been a powerful tool to demonise and suppress minority
religions and cultures, thereby promoting Islamophobia.
Through
Wolfrey’s perspective, one can discern that Nepal, too, has been promoting what
might be called “respectable casteism” over the past decades. The problem has
become further entrenched, particularly since the fall of the Hindu monarchy in
2008.
Paradoxically,
the end of the royal regime has led to the bolstering of Brahmanism. Whereas in
the past, Brahmins were in charge of religious/moral authority and Chhetris of
political authority, now Brahmins control both. Even the second tier of the
social structure now feels alienated and disempowered. Forget about those at
the bottom of the ladder.
Strengthened
Brahmanism has inevitably led to further Hinduisation of politics (actively
promoted by the BJP government across the border). So much so that Prime
Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who destroyed Hindu temples and slaughtered cows
to feed Brahmins during the so-called People’s War, recently performed an
elaborate six-hour puja at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, India. That too
in a saffron suit, in Narendra Modi’s fashion.
This means
greater intolerance towards minority religions (Christians, Muslims) and
suppressed groups—particularly Janajatis and Dalits. The latter are religiously
and culturally perceived as impure, inauspicious and polluted.
Much of the
national federal and provincial budget is now spent on building or decorating
Hindu temples and religious sites. But not a rupee is spent on steps necessary
to enforce the new laws in favour of Dalit freedom. Everyone seems content with
the false belief that Dalits have become free and equal under the veneer of
constitutionalism, liberal democracy and secularism.
In the past,
when autocratic Shah kings and Rana families ruled the land, caste
discrimination was a clearly stated policy. The 1854 Muluki Ain introduced by
Jung Bahadur Rana was so casteist that even penal laws were different for
different castes, and the Dalits were officially treated worse than slaves. In
contrast, the 2015 constitution of republican Nepal has guaranteed full civic
and human rights to every cater, including Dalits. Caste discrimination has
become a punishable crime.
These are
great achievements, of course, which potentially open the gates of Dalit
liberty. Of equality and humanity. But these letters in the law books seem
toothless in the face of traditional Hindu laws or the code of Manu.
Violence
against Dalits has gone up in recent years. Dalits attempt to exercise their
rights as stated in the constitution, which becomes unacceptable for the
so-called upper caste. The latter refuse to give up caste discrimination not
only to preserve the traditional power structure, but also to avoid the
potential wrath of their lineage and other deities.
All the
parties and their leaderships understand too well that casteism has remained
strong even today mainly due to the mismatch or contradiction between modern
secular laws and the traditional Hindu laws. As Nepal is a Hindu majority
country where most people are religious—or firmly spiritual—this becomes an
intractable problem.
But, instead
of dealing with this caste conundrum, governments and parties, and society in
general, have chosen to deny the very existence of the problem. Everyone
pretends that society is changing rapidly in a new republican setup and Dalits
have been afforded unprecedented amounts of rights and privileges. With this
culture of denial—the supposition that Nepal has moved to a post-caste
society—comes the harassment of anyone trying to speak up for caste equality.
This is seen in social media discourse, mainly on Facebook and TikTok.
The
following are some of the false but popular understandings about Dalits: i)
Contemporary Dalits enjoy too much freedom and privilege from the state,
especially through the quota system; ii) If they want to enjoy state benefits
as low castes, they should naturally expect to be treated as such; iii) State
laws are squarely on Dalit’s side, at the expense of sacred laws and cultural
traditions; iv) Dalits also exclude other castes from their homes and ritual
performances; so why blame only the higher castes for bigotry and intolerance.
In other
words, casteism has now become much more accepted and respectable in Nepali
society. Unlike in the past, when fighting against the state, political parties
don’t attack caste discrimination. The media and civil society aren’t bothered
either. And, always led and indoctrinated by the upper castes, many Dalit
activists themselves are confused; they lack the guts to speak up.
Mitra
Pariyar: A graduate of Oxford University, Pariyar is a Dalit rights activist
who has worked in universities in Australia and England.
