Born in 1965, in Jhorahat VDC, Morang district
Coming from an uneducated, low-income group, and a culturally and socially downtrodden community herself, Kabita Bantar Sardar's mission is to make space for women in politics who come without family or other support.
Sardar was born in a low-caste fisherman's family on 16 January, 1965. Her family belongs to a community of fisherman of the southern plains who never imagined a better life. Sardar's father, Padam Kumar Sardar, was literate and became a government officer during the Panchayat period, but resigned from his post to enter politics. He later became a member of the Panchayat district but died in 1989, a year before the Panchayat system collapsed.
In Sardar's society, education was not considered a priority, particularly for girls. Yet it was her grandfather, Dhaniram Sardar Jahawar, who personally decided to educate her and her sister four decades ago, and enrolled both in a nearby school. At the same time, her father was transferred to Terhathum district.
The economic condition of Sardar's family was good in comparison with most in her village, the family owning 12 bighas of land. But when her father plunged into politics, he gave up all their parental property.
Sardar began her schooling at Jhorahat village's Saraswati High School, passing her School Leaving Certificate examinations in 1990. But as there was no higher education facility nearby she started teaching in a local school in Motipur from 1993 as a primary level teacher to help her family make ends meet. She was later transferred to Sunder Lower Secondary School Bhaudaha.
The total population of Bantars is said to be around 225,000 nationwide. Sardar belonged to a community so backward there must be less than a dozen Bantar women who have passed the SLC examination in Morang. It was relatively easy for men to go to the bazaar and school, but women had little chance. Sardar was one of few women teachers from her community and proudly stands as a role model for all.
Two years later, following her teacher's guidance she went to Birpur in India to complete her intermediate level studies as a private student. She stayed for one month, had tuition, sat the examination and returned. She wished to do her bachelor's degree as well, but it was not possible for her to leave her family and career as a teacher. Sardar still dreams of getting her bachelor's degree and recently asked her family to register her name at a new college in her village as she is currently in the capital.
Sardar married Keshar Kumar Sardar in 1983. Her husband was from a neighboring village and they had known each other as classmates but not developed a deep relationship until after their union. Their families arranged the marriage after his husband's family approached hers. Sardar's father did not even ask her how she felt about marrying Keshar. "Actually, my father loved to drink. One day, he was invited to my husband's house. He, all of a sudden, made a decision to make me marry and I came to know about it when I heard my parent's conversation. It was the tradition of my village," she said.
Both were students when they married. Keshar is now headmaster of a local primary school in their village. Sardar's married life has been relatively easy and she is happy to have an educated and intelligent husband. "I would not have been in this position without my husband's help and support," she said, adding that he neither expected to take her earnings, nor stopped her from doing anything she wanted to do. Thankfully her mother-in-law, Jhaulidevi Sardar, was aware of women's rights as she was a member of the women's organization during the Panchayat period.
The People's Movement of 1990 drew Sardar into politics. Earlier, in 1979, when the country was in the grips of referendum fever, she would stand among rows of people supporting a multi-party democracy. Sardar's grandfather was a devotee of Mahatma Gandhi and supported Nepali Congress (NC) leader B.P. Koirala, so she naturally chose to join the NC, believing only democracy could save the country.
After 1990, the NC distributed ordinary membership to those in Sardar's village. In 1991, she was appointed chairperson of the women organization in Jhoharat. Her efforts lead to her being granted active party membership in 1994. Several years later she was elected an NC district committee member. She continued her work for women's rights and is now an 'invited member' of the Nepal Women's Organization.
She says finding a proper seat in the party for women is hard, and even more difficult for those belonging to an oppressed caste. All major leaders are male and belong to upper castes which give no importance to women. "And they cannot even hear when we, the downtrodden ones, shout in their ears."
Sardar was engaged in teaching and never asked her party for a ticket for the parliamentary election, remaining a grass-roots activist for almost two decades. When preparations for the election of the Constituent Assembly (CA) were taking place, she, along with other women activists, demanded tickets for 33 percent of women in the party elections. She actively participated in programs when party president Girija Prasad Koirala came to Biratnagar. They proposed to allocate six tickets to men and three to women in Morang district. Koirala verbally consented, but when tickets were distributed none went to women. "I felt very bad. I was not asking for myself but wanted to set a rule for women. The party did not give tickets to any women from the whole district," she said.
The Election Commission had asked parties to bring members of all ethnic group, sex, caste and region in the lists for Proportional Representation candidates. She recalled, "I was dying for a seat in the CA, to represent my sex, my caste, and my community there, but all leaders left me disheartened. I knew that all top leaders were from high caste Bahun-Chettri communities. I would not have won this seat if the Election Commission had not had the provision of including women and other oppressed groups. I strongly put my voice in my party. During the CA elections we worked hard to make our candidate Mahesh Acharya win from our constituency, but the storm could not save him despite the fact that our area had the stronghold of the NC."
Sardar's biggest struggle was to secure her seat in the CA as a Proportional Representation candidate. Leaving her job and her family, she came to the dazzling capital. However, much to her surprise and disappointment, none of the big leaders were available to see her, and it was as if all had refused to recognize her. She failed to enter the prime minister's official residence in Baluwatar to approach Girija Prasad Koirala, even after all her hard work. She managed to get some time with Mahesh Acharya and Shekhar Koirala, advising them of her resignation from her profession as a teacher and that there was no other way for her but to join the CA. They assured her she would get a seat, but she had grave doubts and had many sleepless nights. Villagers passed comments that this was a good lesson for her that leaving a good job in search for a better position had left her empty-handed. But finally she found her name in the list of CA members for PR.
Sardar was a victim of social exclusion, demoralized by members of her own party. There was no visible discrimination, but she remembers many experiences of misbehavior by fellow party members which indicate their beliefs she does not belong to society. "We have to fight against this discrimination and raise our voices for equal rights. First, the fight should start from the family and it should be expanded to locality, region and then to the party, and ultimately the nation," she said.
In the party, her 20-year career as an activist was somehow not supportive enough to grant her central committee membership. Party statute has it that one has to be in the Mahasamiti to contest a central committee member. She has never been included in the Mahasamiti. "How can we go? There is a big tug-of-war in the constituency to become a member of the Mahasamiti. There was no quota for women and only those who had reserved their seats in the Mahasamiti could fight there. I have nothing to do but watch all those things," she said.
Is it because she belongs to a low caste? "I cannot tell you what the actual problem is. I was stopped from contesting in even the Village Unit elections. Everybody used to pass comment - 'Why should you move ahead? You have a good job at the school and you had better concentrate on your job.' Nobody wanted me to make progress in the party."
Now Sardar is busy realizing her dream of making an egalitarian constitution for Nepal. She says the rights of all communities, groups, castes and races should be guaranteed in the new constitution, and that there must be a provision of 50 percent compulsory inclusion of women in all government and other sectors.
She believes Nepal should be a federal state, as it is only with federalism that people from all sectors and regions have a space to claim their rights. But she is not convinced ethnicity should provide the basis for making a federal state.
Sardar concludes, "The most important facility the downtrodden groups need is education. There should be free education up to the 12th grade and the state should guarantee employment for all. There should be health and sanitation services as well."
Written by Razen Manandhar
http://web.archive.org/web/20141011002305/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/profile_kabita_bantar.html
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