Introduction Badi of Nepal

1.1 Introduction

BADI is a caste of the Dalit community residing mostly in the mid-western hills of Nepal. hey were conceived to be the lowest of hill Dalits under the national civil code Muluki Ain of 1854. heir status in the code has not changed even today. Badis have been discriminated against by non-Dalits, and hill Dalits as well. heir discrimination occurs on the basis of caste, but they are also excluded in political, economic, educational, social, cultural activities and from employment opportunities in state and non-state sectors. he Badi community represents 38,603 0.145 of national population of Nepal. he male population is approximately 18,298 and female is 20,305, with the population of female higher by 2,007 persons than the recorded male population CBS: 2011. Badi settlements are dense in districts of the Mid-Western Region. In addition, they can be found in rural and urban areas of all ecological belts in all development regions, albeit in smaller numbers. CHAPTER I Introduction 3 2014 Map 1: Populaion Size Table 1: Demography and Location More than 98 percent of Badis speak Nepali as a native language at home and in schools. Besides Nepali, they also speak a kind of code language palsi. Most of the Badis 85.83 follow Hinduism, while, 12.5 percent were found to believe in Christianity see Table 1. he trend of conversion into Christianity is quite high among the Badis in comparison to other hill Dalit groups. hey are attracted to convert into Christianity because of its professed equality and non-discriminatory behavior, rather than religious understanding. Discrimination is the primary reason for Badis conversion to Christianity. Badis interviewed for this proile say that it is better to belong to a religion in which there is no discrimination. A Badi youth says that the feeling that there is no discrimination in Christianity and all humans are treated equally, is growing in the community. He says that it gives dignity to people. Similarly, a converted Badi woman says Christianity teaches that children should be educated. She says that nowadays there is equal relation not only among Badi Christians, but also non-Badi people who have begun to behave respectfully toward them. “After we learned from the church, and after we changed our behavior and habits, others have changed their perspectives toward us.” It has also been observed that some people converted to Christianity due to superstition and disbelief, when they were told that praying to god would cure illness. Some have also converted after they learned about the principles of Christianity. In addition to Christianity, some women converted to Islam at the time of marriage. 5 4 2014 2014 Demography Total 38,603 of 0.145 Male 18,298 Female 20,305 and Locaion Populaion Populaion Age Group 5 Years 13.80 5-19 Years 40.33 20-59 Years 41.93 60+ Years 3.94 Marital status Unmarried 44.21 Married 47.26 Separated 1.22 Widow 4.57 Language Speak naive 98.68 Speak naive 98.68 who can speak 92.77 language in family language in school naive language Speak naive language 97.37 Nepali Speaking proiciency 98.68 in govt. oice Religion Hinduism 85.53 Chrisianity 12.50 Buddhism 0.00 Source: NSIS 2012

1.2 Methodology