Chhalphal Discussion Series

Where words matter!

Title:            Federalism, Right to Self-Determination and Autonomy in Nepal: Do These Invite or Stop Violence and Secession?

Speaker:      Dr. Krishna B Bhattachan, Ph.D                   

Date:            August 22, 2009; Saturday

Time:           11 AM

Location:      Littauer 130, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

 (Across the street from Tanjore Restaurant, Room 130 is directly above where the guard sits.)

Synopsis:                 

Indigenous peoples, Madhesis, Dalits and other excluded groups support federalism, ethnic, linguistic and regional autonomy with right to self-determination but others are against it. The Constituent Assembly is at the cross roads and it has to make a decision soon one way or another. The key question for Nepal is: Which way leads to dead end, violence and secession and which way leads to communal harmony, positive peace and prosperity? Lessons from around the world and from Nepal's own experience is that denial of true autonomy and right to self-determination indeed invites communal violence and secession. What will the Nepalese people choose? Is the communal violence inevitable?

About the speaker:

Dr. Krishna B. Bhattachan (Ph.D. in Sociology, U.C. Berkeley, 1993) has taught at the Central Department of Sociology and Anthropology in Tribhuvan University for the last 27 years. He cofounded the department in 1981 was Head of the Department from 1985-1986. He was a Fulbright-Hays Scholar from 1987-1993 and Senior Chevening Fellow in 2006. He attended Stanford University (1987) and University of York, UK (2006). Dr. Bhattachan’s working model is RATOS, i.e. Research, Advocacy, Teaching/Training, Organization building and Social Mobilization. He uses this model to secure the rights of indigenous peoples, Dalits, Madhesis, women, linguistic and religious minorities, and the excluded communities of Karnali and other remote areas. He has authored and co-atuhored many books and articles in these subjects. 

He has worked as a consultant for UNDP, DANIDA, ILO, GTZ, the World Bank, Action Aid Nepal and SNV Nepal. Dr. Bhattachan is an advisor to the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and National Network for Indigenous Women. He has advised Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) and Sancharika Samuha, Nepal (SAS/N), and Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON). Dalit NGO Federation (DNF) and the Nepal Federation of Nationalities (NEFEN) recognized Dr. Bhattachan for his contribution to the Dalit and Indigenous Peoples’ movements in 2005 and 2002 respectively.

Note:

·       Bring your picture ID (Driving license, student ID or passport).

·       The front gate (JFK Street) will be closed on Saturday. Come via courtyard side (Eliot Street) across the street from Tanjore Restaurant. Walk next to volleyball court to the Littauer Building.

·       Please contact the following people if you have any questions:

o   Bipin Bhattachanbhattachanb@yahoo.com,

o   Bibek Pandeybibek_pandey@hks10.harvard.edu,

o   Shailesh Gongalshaileshgongal@gmail.com,

o   Mabi Singhmabi.singh@gmail.com