Kathmandu, 9 Feb
Two non-governmental organizations have submitted an urgent
communication to UN rights experts alleging that a Nepali private company
has unlawfully acquired the communal trust lands of indigenous Pradhan
Newar community of Kathmandu to construct a mega business complex. As a result,
the religious and cultural customs and traditions of Pradhan Newars
based on the pond and its embankment lands have been devastated and thus
their cultural rights and rights to cultural rights and rights to lands
and resources violated, the communication reads.
Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous
Peoples and National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination jointly submitted
the communication to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and in the field of cultural rights on Monday. They have urged the
Special Rapporteurs to correspond with the Government of Nepal about the
need to take immediate action to defend, protect and promote the rights of the
indigenous Pradhan Newars to their land, resources, sacred places and culture.
