By TON Research Section

Nepal, landlocked Himalayan nation is multi-ethnic and diverse country with many indigenous communities. According to 2011 Census, the country is homeland to 125 ethnic groups, has 123 languages and 10 religious groups and out of which only 59 ethnic groups are listed as indigenous nationalities (Adivasi Janajati) by the National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) Act, 2002. Total population of Nepal is 29.8 million and out of these 8.5 million, comprising 35.8 percent of the population is of indigenous people (IPs), estimated in 2011 census. However, Indigenous people organizations claim that the actual population is close to 50 percent and a number of IPs and minorities are not officially recognized.

A significant proportion of the Nepal’s population constitutes of IPs but they have faced discrimination, exploitation, racial supremacy, forced assimilation, hegemony and have been marginalized and subjugated by dominant cast throughout Nepal’s history. Moreover, the laws, plans and policies, all exclude and discriminate the IPs. These communities are deprived of basic freedom, full-fledged human rights and even does not have the right to self-determination in their own ancestral lands. IPs in Nepal have long been struggling to reclaim control over their lands and territories. Due to restructuring and other developmental initiatives by the government, lands, territories and resources of IPs remained under threat. The restructuring of the state is done without the consent of IPs.

A report “Violations in the name of conservation” published by Amnesty International and the Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) says that, “Nepal’s Indigenous peoples have suffered a litany of human rights violations over the past five decades as a result of abusive conservation policies.” The report documents that the establishment of National Parks and other “protected areas” has resulted in tens of thousands of Indigenous peoples being forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands and denied access to areas they depend on for subsistence. According to the report, “National parks and other “protected areas” cover almost one fourth of Nepal. The country has 12 national parks, one wildlife reserve, one hunting reserve, six conservation areas and 13 buffer zones (areas designated by law to provide local people with facilities to use forest resources on a regular and beneficial basis). Almost all of these protected areas have been created in the ancestral homelands of Nepal’s Indigenous peoples.”

The development projects by Nepal government such as parks, protected areas, hydropower projects and other infrastructure projects which include road expansion and business complexes are threat to the lands and territories of IPs and mostly these projects are under construction without the prior and informed consent of IPs. According to the Article 5 of the constitution of Nepal “Special, Protected or Autonomous Region can be set by the Federal law” but the government does not stick to this provision, which is intended to enhance social, cultural protection or economic development of the IPs and other minorities. In other words the collective way of life of IPs have been destroyed and no fair compensation and rehabilitations have been provided to the displaced IPs from their lands and territories.

In 2011, Nepal government initiated a 999km road expansion project in Kathmandu valley to address traffic congestion, which displaced an estimated over 150,000 IPs from their lands. Authorities bulldozed houses of IPs, sacred places, and heritage sites however, in the battle of over seven years for justice against an illegal road expansion Newar Indigenous Peoples in Kathmandu achieved a victory in their legal fight against the government in June 2018, when the Supreme Court of Nepal issued a judgement directing the government to compensate the concerned landowners and conduct road widening only with the consent of the local people impacted. Moreover, the Budhi Gandaki hydropower project (1200MW) will alone displace 50,000 people from their lands and territories. The development projects at various stages of planning and execution are in the lands and territories of IPs are causing adverse impacts to their livelihood, resources, scared sites, and their houses.

IPs who have been living in these areas from time immemorial are forcefully evicted and as a result they lost their livelihoods and food security. The lands and territories of IPs are militarized in the name of security and development. Despite the protests by the concerned IPs, the government has deployed army at various places. Nepal is a signatory to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169, which states that "the rights of ownership and possession of the peoples concerned over the lands which they traditionally occupy shall be recognized." Moreover, it also ratified the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which states that, "Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters…" These international laws protect indigenous people rights but despite being signatory the government of Nepal is not complying with the provisions.

Amnesty International the CSRC joint report, which unpacked the failures of the Government of Nepal to uphold the rights of these Indigenous peoples documented human rights violations such as forced evictions, unjustified restrictions on access to the forests and natural resources on which they traditionally rely, arbitrary arrests, unlawful killings, detention and torture or other ill-treatment by the Nepal Army and National Park personnel. Nepal government should stop development aggression in the indigenous sacred sites, cultural heritages, lands and territories of IPs. Moreover, government needs to recognize IPs right over their lands and territories and should ensure the protection of IPs. Government should not ignore the demands of IPs and should guarantee free, prior and informed consent of IPs prior to development projects in their lands and territories.