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Movement for Timely Constitution Writing and Land Reform

The context

Landlessness and insecure land ownership are the major causes of poverty, social injustice and food insecurity. In order to address these problems through land reform, movements have been launched since 1951. But as there was no land reform in favour of the poor tillers, the number of land rights-deprived families dependent on farming has been increasing. Independence, justice and prosperity are yet to be realised due to injustices, discriminations and exploitations resultant of unjust land management.

Political parties have not built consensus on land reform despite the fact that land reform is one of the main parts of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim Constitution of Nepal. If the problems of land reform are not addressed constitutionally, there shall be no positive change in the lives of the people who live on the fringes of the society.

A Land Commission was established thanks to the two-week long sit-in staged by the National Land Rights Forum (NLRF) at the open air theatre in Kathmandu in November 2008. But the government has not enforced the report submitted by the commission. The Landless Problem Solving Commission, constituted to identify the real landless people and to provide land to them, has distributed land ownership certificates to non-landless people, contrary to its spirit. Landless people have been forcefully evicted and tillers have been dismissed. Deprived of the main source of livelihood, women and poor farmers have lost their right to dignified life.

Against such a backdrop, the movement spearheaded by the NLRF in the capital from 15th to 22nd March 2011 has been concluded successfully. The main objectives of the movement were to draw the attention of the government, and the political parties towards writing the new constitution by 28 May 2011, to ensure women’s right to land, and to implement the recommendations submitted by the High Level Scientific Land Reform Commission. More than 1,000 poor women and more than 100 men – farmers – from 50 districts encompassing all development and ecological regions took part in the movement.

The agitating land rights activists (landless poor and tillers) had managed their daily necessities themselves. The leaders had carried rice, flour, dehydrated vegetables, mats, homespun cotton wraps, water bottles, leaf plates and agricultural implements along with them. The leaders themselves, the village, and district chapters of the NLRF had managed the transportation cost to and fro Kathmandu. The participants were highly motivated by the struggle for their rights.

Right honourable Purna Kumari Subedi, Vice-chair of the Constituent Assembly (CA), initiated the movement at the open air theatre in Kathmandu on 15 March 2011. A rally taken out from the open air theatre passed through the major thoroughfares and converged into a mass meeting in front of the CA building at New Baneshwar, Kathmandu. Honourable Shanta Chaudhary, Chair of Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resource and Means, Nain Kala Thapa, Chair of National Women’s Commission, and Usha Kala Rai, Chair of CA Women Caucus had addressed the mass meeting. The land rights activists had staged a two-hour sit-in in front of the CA building.

The next day (on 2 March) a sit-in was organised in the premises of the party headquarters of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN) Maoist. Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Politburo Member of the UCPN Maoist and Minister for Physical Planning and Works had addressed the gathering of the agitating land rights activists.

On 3 March, the activists performed similar sit-in in front of the central office of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML). Right honourable Prime Minister and Chairman of the CPN-UML Jhala Nath Khanal and vice chair of the CPN-UML Bam Dev Gautam had addressed the assembly of the activists. The landless farmers presented a plough, an agricultural tool, to the prime minister on the occasion.

The same evening, another sit-in was carried out in front of the CA building, demanding the CA members to write the new constitution within 28 May 2011.

On 18 March, the landless poor gathered in the central office of the Nepali Congress (NC) party and held a sit-in. Shushil Koirala, President of the NC, spoke to the demonstrators. The sit-inners gave a plough and a portrait of late BP Koirala to the president after his address.

On 19 March, there was an orientation to the participants. The farmers sat-down in front of the Singha Durbar, the government secretariat, and chanted slogans the following day. The agitating poor peasants organised sit-ins in front of the central offices of the Terai-Madhesh Democratic Party and Madheshi People’s Rights Forum on 21 March.

The same day, the protesting farmers held talks with right honourable Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Land Reforms and honourable Ganga Lal Tuladhar, Minister for Education separately. On 21 March, the land rights activists gheraoed land revenue offices, staged sit-ins, took out rallies and organised mass meetings all over Nepal.

Prior to the movement, the activists had held talks with UCPN Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, and the NC president Shushil Koirala. Members of the CA, leaders of various political parties and the civil society had expressed their solidarity with the movement.

Achievements

Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Land Reforms and Management and Ganga Lal Tuladhar, Minister for Education came to Bhrikuti Mandap and addressed the congregation. DPM Mahara said that a 7-member committee headed by Minister for Land Reform and Management had been constituted in order to fulfill the demands of the land-poor people. Members include representatives from the NLRF Jagat Deuja, Lyam Bahadur Darji, and Saraswati Subba; Haribol Gajurel from the UCPN Maoist; Hari Parajuli from CPN-UML and Keshav Bhattarai as member-secretary from the Ministry of Land Reform and Management.

The council of ministers had formed the task force immediately after the announcement of the DPM the same day. The DPM also informed that the task force would immediately study the recommendation of the High Level Scientific Land Reform Commission and the demands put forth by the NLRF and suggest work plan. This is a signature achievement of the movement.

It has been agreed that both the husband and wife would have ownership of the land to be provided by the state, and the assurance to simplify the procedure for transferring the ownership of land from the husband to the wife have paved the way for ensuring women’s right to land.

The land-deprived people have considered the agreement on not removing them from their settlement until a reliable alternative is available, not to snatch tilling rights and to immediately issue directives from the office of the prime minister to the district administration offices and district development committees to this effect as a temporary relief for them.

The land-deprived people had chanted slogans, organised meetings and staged sit-ins at the central offices of the major political parties to press the leaders to devise clear provisions for reforming the land in favour of the labourers working on land, women and tillers. This is one of the important achievements of the movement as the working women themselves alerted the political parties on their problems. It is a historic event.

Unfortunately, Janak Kumari Tharu, chair of Marghatti Land Rights Forum ‘B’ from ward no.8 and Lal Maya Khamchamagar, member of Jharniya Land Rights Forum from ward no.6 of Magaragadi VDC in Bardiya district died in a road accident while coming to Kathmandu from Bardiya to participate in the movement.

Tulasi Sunar from Magaragadi 4, Binita Tharu, Maina Pokhari 6, Parbati Subedi, Kalika 4, and Dongli Tharu, Padnaha 3 were seriously injured in the accident and are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bharatpur, Chitwan. The government has committed to provide relief to their families, support to educate their children, and treatment to the injured.

The future of the movement

This is a part of an ongoing struggle. It has become inevitable to constantly push the government to implement the agreement it has made and to render the movement for land rights better-managed and further organised. We should respect the spontaneous hopes and commitments of the land rights-deprived people by supporting them to realise their needs, may they be immediate ones.

Commitment from the leaders

The government is committed to fulfill the demands of the land rights-deprived people. Constitution will also be written. Land will also be reformed.