Kathmandu, April 2:

Stringent steps ought to be taken to bring to book those guilty of caste discrimination, according to experts and activists.

“There is an urgent need for clear-cut directives to take action against the guilty in this regard,” said Raj Kumar Trikhartri, Eastern Regional Executive Head of Action Aid Nepal, while addressing a discussion on Untouchability Crime Watch Centre (UCWC), organised by the Lawyers National Campaign Against Untouchability (LANCAU), here today.

He also said special benches at the courts and special courts are required to hear cases related to caste discrimination.

The problem remains on the backburner because the authorities concerned are not sensitive enough to the suffering of victims.

Citing various examples of caste discrimination, former Member of Parliament Man Bahadur Biswokarma said a secretary at the Home Ministry once declared the issue of “gross violation of human rights” a petty problem.

He said innumerable Dalit youths of Kavre remain deprived of citizenship certificates, adding that many of the teachers across the nation were discriminating against Dalit children in schools.

Even judges in the district courts are unaware that the government has already decided to prosecute in cases related to caste discrimination, he said.