Former Ambassador to India Dr. Lokraj Baral is now 83 years old. He had an inter-caste marriage. Recalling that he got married even when his family refused at that time, he said that even today, there is caste discrimination in society.
Releasing a novel titled 'Paru', written by former administrator Dhan Bikram Singh, he said that writers should write against caste discrimination. Violence against women is especially mentioned in novelist Singh's novel.
The Paru novel mentions violence against women in the eastern hilly region of Nepal under the then Panchayat system. In Nepal, in the past, it was customary for a wife to sit on her husband's pyre if he died before she did, which was truly a sad, superstitious, and painful death for a widow. Although there is no such thing today, Paru has written a novel about the persistence of violence against women. The novel deals with the dominance of superstitious society such as child violence and witchcraft.
In Nepal, the practice of giving dowry to a daughter after marriage is still prevalent. Similarly, in the far western region of Nepal, women are still forced to stay in the cowshed during menstruation. Due to this, the lives of many teenagers are being lost. In the novel, protagonist Paru runs a campaign in the rural areas against the practice of marrying and sending off uneducated daughters. The novelist Singh has informed that he has published his second work with the aim of social transformation.
Dr. Chudamani Bandhu, a senior linguist, said that the novel has succeeded in providing accurate information about the geographical conditions of the eastern hills.
Literary writer Dr Tulasi Bhattarai, former member secretary of Nepal Pragya Pratisthan, said that the subject matter was raised in a simple way like the famous novelists of Nepal.
At that time, various speakers expressed the belief that the inclusion of such works in the textbooks would help in social transformation.
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