The backward and indigenous communities, who constitute a substantial chunk of the population, are increasingly feeling isolated and discriminated in the country. The members of the long-oppressed Dalit community have once again raised their voice against the state’s inability to guarantee their fundamental rights, especially in the context of the armed conflict. Coming to their rescue, the representative of the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Ian Martin, said in the capital the other day that long-running violence has further placed the democratic rights of the Dalits under threat. Quoting a US-based report, he

said, “The victimisation of Dalits...by the state and insurgents, is linked to the perpetuation of the conflict,” as it is “both a root cause and an insidious consequence of the conflict.”

Doubtless, that the insurgency has brought added miseries to the lives of the already oppressed communities, who have been victims of the prejudiced caste system for just too long. It is the duty of the state to help them come out of the psychology of constant fear and economic deprivation. The impoverished mid-western region, from where the Maoists emerged, is home to a large indigenous population, which is said to comprise a huge fraction of rebel forces today. The Maoist leaders successfully played upon this group’s hardships to bring them to the rebel camp, and thus gave the ‘people’s war’ the language of liberation for tribal people, along with freedom for women and Dalits. It would thus be foolish on the part of the state to deal with their cause lightly. As it is, the issue of rights of marginalised groups of Nepal is already gaining international attention. The upcoming meeting of the freshly constituted UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is to deliberate on the alarming rights situation in Nepal with especial consideration of rights violations against indigenous people, could soon put the country under tremendous international pressure over this issue.