Fellow Fridays Featuring Pradip Pariyar
Activism, advocacy and systemic change with Pradip Pariyar

Karno Dasgupta, Consultant - Arts and Culture at Asia Society India Centre sat down with Pradip Pariyar, a distinguished advocate for marginalized communities and an influential youth leader in Nepal. Heading the Dalit Lives Matter Global Alliance, Pariyar has dedicated his career to policy research and activism aimed at ending caste-based discrimination. His leadership extends beyond advocacy—he has played a crucial role in shaping Nepal’s youth policies, training thousands in leadership and peacebuilding, and fostering platforms for young voices to drive systemic change.
In this conversation, we explore Pariyar’s journey as a changemaker, his vision for inclusive leadership, and the challenges and opportunities in empowering marginalized communities.
Could you please introduce yourself and your work a little bit, sharing a bit about your journey from your childhood in Sindhuli to how you've come to have an impact nationally and internationally?
Thank you very much for this opportunity. I'm very excited to share my journey with a larger Asia Society circle.This is a privilege for me, to share, as an Asia 21 young leader. It's a great opportunity.
Interestingly, you asked about my childhood. My name is Pradip Pariyar. Currently, I'm heading the Dalit Lives Matter Global Alliance. It's a Global Alliance, especially focusing on caste issues. And we are working for the justice of Dalit and other marginalized communities.
So let me talk about my personal journey, and then I'll talk about the organization’s journey. So I was born and raised in one of the villages in Sindhuli, in eastern Nepal. From Kathmandu, it's not very far, but it's far in terms of accessibility. When I was young, for example, I only got a chance to see a road with a bus or car when I was 15 or 16. So that’s the kind of remote area I'm from.
Being born as a Dalit, historically considered as untouchable, one of the biggest disadvantages is getting an education. When I was young, we had a school but it was very difficult to get an education. We got a lot of discrimination.
I'll give one example. I was taking a class from one of my teachers in his home—extra tuition classes. One day, there was heavy rainfall. Usually, I stayed outside of the house, while my fellow friends stayed inside the house. And that day, it was truly a massive [storm]. In fact, it was a heavy rainfall. I was outside. And nobody asked me to come inside. That was one of the turning points in my life. I felt really, really discriminated against. I felt that I was not human. Because even a dog or cat— any animal—could go inside. But I couldn't, even in my teacher's house. A teacher is the person who can pass the light to their students. But I got discrimination from my teachers.
That day, I realized I needed to do something. My inner voice said that I should do something for my community and for the cause. So I evolved as a journalist. I traveled the length and breadth of Nepal. I met so many Dalit families and I brought the stories of more than 9000 Dalits around the country to light. This gave me bigger horizons. I came to Kathmandu.
Having traveled Nepal, I had realized that young people can make more of an impact. So I involved myself in the youth movement. I founded—with my friends—an organization called Nepal Youth Forum. Then, I became the president of one of the largest youth networks of the country, Association of Youth Organizations in Nepal. I also contributed to making national youth policy, the National Youth Vision 2025. Later on, I led a foundation and its research work, especially related to facts and data. These days, data and facts are important for policy advocacy.
Back in 2020, there was an incident in far west of Nepal. Six young Dalit and non-Dalit people were killed in the name of inter-caste marriage. It was the time that the George Floyd case happened in the US. Here in Nepal, six young people were killed—not only Dalits, there were two non-Dalits also—because they were friends. They had gone to bring the love of one of their lives. But the villagers killed them.
That day reminded me that we should do more to focus on Dalits. Even though I had engaged young people to dismantle caste and other discrimination. In 2020, during the lockdown when that incident happened, we started the Dalit Lives Matter movement. Later on, we did campaigns like ‘Paint the Revolution’.

Then we started the Dalit Lives Matter Global Alliance, working in and outside of Nepal, in and outside of South Asia. This is because South Asians travel outside of South Asia and bring their caste identity wherever they go. Now, there's caste discrimination in the US, the UK and Australia, and in other parts of the world. We are trying to create an alliance between those who are working on caste issues and other marginalization issues, especially through DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion]. And we are trying to reach out globally because 260 million people suffer from caste-based discrimination. It should be a global agenda. So that's how we are working right now.
There are so many multi-dimensional ways in which caste discrimination occurs, and opportunity gets denied to people from minorities, especially in Dalit groups—but also as you've written about women and the intersections, especially. There's governmental under-representation, a lack of entrepreneurial support. I'm wondering, what are some places where you feel—one or two places where you think—that caste justice is more urgent? And as you work in those main areas, what are some of the challenges you've faced?
Yeah, that's a very important question. First is justice. So this is a historical injustice. We need to understand the historical injustice. If we understand correctly, then we can think about justice.
We have a very diverse community in Nepal. Diverse geography, diverse backgrounds of people. But our diversity is not reflected in our state mechanisms. That's one of the biggest issues right now. So because our people are not in the state mechanism, for example, in the bureaucracy, police, or anywhere, when we are seeking justice, we are not getting it. Because our representation is not there.
Second, our people don’t have the knowledge or information required to ask or to challenge the groups in power.
The third important issue right now is the law. There’s a law prohibiting caste-based discrimination. But there are new forms of such discrimination today. This is a digital era. We are getting harassed in digital space, in indirect and informal ways. It's invisible. So when caste-based discrimination is invisible, the police don’t take it seriously. Especially the government attorneys are not taking it seriously. The justice system is outside our reach. Justice is very expensive.
For example, there was a young guy, he was under 18, in the far west of Nepal. His name was Sundar Harijan. He belonged to the Dalit community. He was charged by the police for having stolen some phone. Just a smartphone. And then, he was kept in jail for a few years. There was a so-called high caste group, influential people, in the jail as well. And they did something like match fixing. They swiped a person, another person. And in his place, this one young Dalit guy spent five years in jail for just taking one phone. It's not proven!
So after that, what happened? The jailer came to know that this guy was not actually the person who should be in jail. And because it was going to come out as big news, they killed him in police custody and they made a fake report: "he hanged himself".
These kinds of incidents are still happening here, in police custody or in jail. So in such a context, justice is one of the important things. But families can't afford the justice system. They can't hire lawyers. So, how can this marginalized community get justice? There is no justice in terms of representation, in terms of access to education, in terms of access to government loans or anything.
It's very difficult, Dalit life is very difficult. I can't answer in one line or one thing. But this is an intersectional issue. And we need to see it in a multidimensional way. Otherwise we can't solve such complex issues.
Are there places where you've seen some progress or things that you are hopeful about?
Yes, I'm very hopeful, especially about the young generation. So this last week, until yesterday, I was making a television show called “Caste Conversation”. And we interacted with 84 young people on different issues: caste and climate, caste and health, caste and education, caste and representation, caste and institutional discrimination, caste and justice. What we've found is that young people are ready for change and they want to contribute to change.

Second, I'm hopeful about the laws and policies in the Constitution. So our Constitution clearly mentions Dalit rights in its Fundamental Rights. We also have the CBDU Act, the Caste-based Discrimination and Untouchability Act. It’s not implemented properly but we do have the laws and policies. And we have a Constitutional Dalit Commission. In terms of change, policy frameworks have changed. So, I’m hopeful.
The problem with all of these things is implementation. By implementation I mean: who are the people in the implementation body? Mostly the so-called high caste people. We are under-represented. That's the one of the biggest issues.
I want to mention one hopeful example. We have 6,500 Dalit women represented in local bodies. That's a positive change. And in our parliament there's a quota system. Proportional representation. And people are there.
It's always like a gradual accumulation of change, but the fact that there seems to be a movement. It's always too slow, but it is happening. Now, we'll move more to the questions around leadership. So what, according to you and in your experience, makes a good leader?
For me, leadership is understanding my community, their aspirations, and creating their aspirations as hope. How can I create hope in the difficult spaces, in the darkest spaces?
What I'm doing, it's in a very difficult, dark, challenging place. Every day I'm getting threats. There are also a lot of issues that I simply cannot address every day. There are huge challenges and I have limited resources, limited information, limited knowledge.
Let me put in one phrase: If I'm trying to make tea, putting teabag in the sea is kind of impossible, right? Our issue is people's minds, hearts and their practices from the last 3000 years.
As a political leader, as a social leader, community is the main thing, then, creating change in the community. So those who are creating this change, I feel they are the leaders.

So considering that there are so many intricacies in South Asian culture and experience, there's a gap in the available conventional wisdom about conversations around leadership and problem solving. And it can be a challenge to adopt conventional ideas to work through situations that need culture specific solutions. As a leader, what has been your experience in this aspect where there's no one size fits all, especially in a place like South Asia, even each country is so diverse as well. So how have you approached that?
It's a very interesting question. So how we address these challenges is by working with the 60-40 approach. Whatever programme we do: 60% Dalits and 40% non-Dalits. The conventional approach is to do things with the Dalit community only. So, whatever we achieve goes to the Dalit community as our primary community. But now we have changed this approach.
Our strategy is 60-40, and we focus 40% on other marginalized communities. Dalits are marginalized. At the same time, women are marginalized, LGBTQI are marginalized, and people with disabilities are also marginalized. In India, Adivasis also, the SC category.
So, there are lots of kinds of discrimination. We are trying to make coalitions between this 40%, the marginalized communities, and the 60%, the Dalits. We are trying to create a bigger voice. That's our approach. In my knowledge, it's a very effective way to do it.
For example, I recently talked in a Caste Conversation. We didn't only invite Dalits, we invited other caste groups, even Brahmins, Chhetris and so-called high caste people. Mixed groups, from LGBTQIA+ to people with disabilities.
Engaging these diverse peoples on one platform is one of the crucial things for us, right now. We see a lot of positive change through this approach and by engaging different people in one platform.
Since mentorship is such a significant part of the Asia 21 fellowship, how do you think that mentorship contributed to your development as an emerging leader? And how do you feel about mentoring now that it's been a few years? How do you think about mentoring young aspiring leaders yourself?
I would like to thank Asia Society for creating the Asia 21 Young Leaders (Asia 21 Next Generation) program. It's an amazing program. It’s helped me a lot in terms of networking. When I traveled to the Philippines, I met the young leaders, saw what they do and learnt from them. I recently visited Singapore. There, too, I met the Asia 21 fellows. There's a connection and bonding among the Asia 21— sharing of expertise, whatever those are. It's like a kind of family. It's a great mentorship program.
Meeting the same value-caring people is important in life. And now, if something happens, I'll just call some friends and ask for support. Other times, people ask me for support. It's a support system and support mechanism. And mentorship always helps.

Are you mentoring aspiring leaders now in your community?
One of the major things, right now, that I'm working on is to create 1500 dignity defenders in the community. We have 753 municipality local units in Nepal. These dignity defenders monitor caste-based discrimination related cases and provide relevant support, including fact findings, about what happened on the ground, coordination with relevant authorities, civil society, journalists, and other actors.
We train them, mentor them. And we are trying to bring them from diverse backgrounds. So, mentoring, coaching, is one of the main things I'm doing. It's very important. Young people who are in the community, they are the primary source for knowledge, information, on what's happening on the ground.
So, that's why we are trying to create the 1500 dignity defenders through the Dalit Lives Matter Global Alliance. Right now, we have already successfully done the pilot initiative in two districts. Now we are reaching the next 75 districts. That's how we are working. And these 1500 dignity defenders are not only from the Dalit community. 60% are from Dalit community and 40% are from other marginalized communities.
Who are some Asia 21 fellows, either from your cohort or work you've seen over the years, whose leadership and work consistently inspires you?
Every day, I find inspiration in ordinary people. There are quite a few actually. On the political spectrum, there's one person from Australia. When I reflect on my connection with Fellow Asia 21, I’m particularly inspired by Tim Watts, the Federal Member for Gellibrand. Since 2022, he has served as the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Albanese Government. Similarly, I’m also deeply moved by Xyza Cruz Bacani, a Filipino photographer and storyteller whose work focuses on human rights, migration, and the stories of marginalized communities. Xyza’s powerful photography has been showcased internationally, and her dedication to documenting social issues continues to inspire many.
And friends from China, her name is Cherry [Cherry Zhu, Class of 2018]. She's doing amazing things. She's in my cohort.
They're all doing amazing work. And there's always other fellows. Sometimes we don’t get a chance to talk for many months or years. But there's digital platforms. We are learning. Sometimes we can’t acknowledge that I learned from you or from that perspective. But we are continuously learning from each other.
