Jagat Basnet is the director of CSRC,, a Nepalese social movement organization that works for land rights and researches social mobilization so that land rights movements will be established at a national level.  A strong and passionate defender of the most disadvantaged populations, Jagat tells us his personal background.

Jagat, will you tell us a few words about your personal experience? 

I was born in Sindhupalchock, an isolated village in the region of Katmandu, in Nepal.  I come from a poor background, my parents were farmers.  Until I was twelve, I stayed at home to take care of my little brothers, but one day one of my older brothers, who was a teacher, suggested that my parents send me to school.  I was very happy to be able to study, so I went to elementary school and then middle school even though I had to walk very far every day.  This was a difficult period for me, because I was also responsible for my household chores.  However, I still managed to earn my SLC [1].

Did you continue your studies after middle school? 

I couldn’t continue due to financial reasons, so I began to look for work.  From then on I worked for an NGO called Actionaid Nepal and also as a literacy teacher for women from my village, and it was at this time that I started to become aware of different types of discrimination, in particular discrimination related to caste, gender and social class.  I started then to devote a lot of time to the village, and put together grassroots educational programs regarding rights for women, children, and the poor.  After several years of working against discrimination from within my village, I created in 1993 CRSC, which is an organization that fights for land rights and reform.

	Despite his relax appearance, Jagat Basnet leads a tiresome struggle / © CSRC

You are engaged in a very important fight: the right to land.  What motivates you to work with this issue?

Poverty is a threat against peace and justice in my country.  A lot of farmers are illiterate and have their land ransacked and exploited by the large landowners. These people don’t have a single means of subsistence; they cultivate land yet they have nothing to eat and rights in land.  Their children hang around the streets and their daughters are sold in India.  This is why I got involved; I truly believe that land reform is the solution to all these injustices.

What are your best weapons to fight injustice? 

Since its creation, the CSRC has already helped 15,000 farmers acquire land.  For me, this represents a really powerful motivation, and thus a kind of weapon.  Additionally, the strength of the organization comes from the fact that decisions are made democratically, with transparency and flexibility, in a participatory approach that integrates men and women alike.

How is your relationship with the Nepalese authorities? 

The majority of the Nepalese authorities are representative of the middle and upper classes; they do not act in favor of the disadvantaged.  5% of large landowners posses 37% of the total amount of land cultivated, which 47% of farm workers own only 15% of it.  The big landowners are closely connected to the government and the redistribution of land is difficult to negotiate because it only ever works in favor of the rich.  There still exists a strong opposition to reforming the system of land ownership.  

As an activist for land rights, what are your fears, your wishes, your hopes? 

My fears?  The current political parties and government, who aren’t concerned with the farmers and don’t believe in the necessity for land reform for the development of our country.  My wishes?  To guarantee the basic rights of each individual and help them organize to reclaim these rights.  As for my hopes?  Obviously, a society without injustice and poverty or suffering…

Notes :

[1]  School Learning Certificate