KATHMANDU: While Nepali-American designer Prabal Gurung has been supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in America, he has called out caste-based violence that has had everyone talking back home in Nepal.

“While I have been completely overwhelmed by the unrest and insurmountable loss of lives and faith in my new home here in America, I have been reading about caste-based violence back home in Nepal. Such atrocities are systemic and the perpetrators have been able to continue to do so because caste is political…” he posted on a June 6 Instagram post alongside an illustration of the issue.

He also quotes Sarita Pariyar from one of her articles published on digital platform as saying: “As long as the criminalization of the ‘untouchables’ remains in place, the prosperity of the ‘touchables’ is guaranteed.”

Gurung regrets not talking about the issue sooner while thanking a few people in educating him for which he shares he is “grateful”.

“I realise as a privileged non-Dalit person, I do come from a place of not knowing, still learning and with the awareness that I need to educate myself more…” he posts adding, “I sincerely and deeply regret not coming to this sooner but I am committed to learn & do more. I would love for all of us to come together for now is the time for difficult conversations, to challenge ourselves, to ask hard questions, and consistently put in the work to be actively anti casteism not only in our messaging, but in our action too.”

Gurung also points out that “privileges enjoyed by the majority of society at the cost of another (Dalits) is not a privilege, it’s a mirage and a delusion”. “It’s OPPRESSION,” he writes. “So, it’s time for a true solidartiy because the lives of Dalits matter."

Read his post, here.