Kathmandu, 27th June 2014: PDRC held a graduation ceremony to honor 17 graduates of its Academic and Intellectual Discourse (AID) Event at the Bakery Café at Sundhara, Kathmandu. The graduates attended a month-long PDRC sponsored course which is based on the academic and intellectual discourse on Dalit issues.

The ceremony, chaired by PDRC President Kamala Hemchuri and dignified with the presence of Prof. Lok Raj Baral as chief guest, included the participation of representatives of civil society organizations and intellectuals.

Rup Sunar, the Master of Ceremony for the event kicked off the ceremony with greetings and then introduced Dr. Uddhab Pyakure, who gave a speech on the background of the AI Discourse. Afterward, the participants were feted with Khada/Tika and awarded with the course completion certificates.

Next, three graduates of the program shared their experience with the course where they talked about the change they assimilated through the course and the insight they gained on Dalit issues in Nepal. They believe that this would assist in their future academic career. Hira Bishwokarma, an intellect and one of the resource persons of this course, urged the graduates to contribute to the Dalit movement through the intellectual and academic dialogue. Mr. Gajadhar Sunar, the president of the Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), followed and talked about the current situation of Dalit and stressed the impact of political exercise in the upliftment of Dalits.

The keynote speaker Professor Lok Raj Baral presented an analysis of the socio-economic and political of Dalit community in Nepal. He urged the non-Dalit intellectuals to consider focusing on Dalit issues as well.

The program was concluded with the remarks and vote of thanks to the graduates and honored speakers from Kamala Hemchuri, PDRC president. Mrs. Hemchuri emphasized the importance of non – Dalits’ perspective on Dalit issues.

It was clear that AI Discourse was invaluable to the graduates and PDRC is planning to continue this program with the next session scheduled in May 2015.