http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=16932
Court verdict recognises Haliya's rights [ 2007-4-19 ] KATHMANDU, Apr. 18: The Supreme Court has handed down a historic verdict in connection with the Haliya system which had been pending for four years. The apex court, on April 16, gave its verdict in favour of the Haliyas in response to a case related to the abolishment of the Haliya system filed in 2003. The government and related bodies were made the defendants in the case. National President of Nepal National Dalit Society Association, Bhakta Bishwakarma gave out this information at a programme the Association organised here Wednesday to disseminate the Supreme Court verdict in favour of the Haliya rights. The Haliya system is a vestige of the base form of slavery among the many social practices existing in the nine districts of the Far Western Development Region of Nepal. Under this system, the people from the Dalit community have to work for many generations as the ploughman for a small amount of credit taken from the lender without getting any wages. Similarly, the children and women members of the people from the Dalit community working as Haliya have to work for the lender without any wages. This system has been in existence since 105 years. This verdict of the Supreme Court has freed the Haliyas from the bondage to their lenders as the Kamaiyas. The Association has urged the government and the concerned bodies for fully implementing the verdict which it said is a historic success of the oppressed and the downtrodden Haliyas.
