and Rana Tharus have been settled in the western

Nepal is a landlocked mountainous country with immense diversity of caste/ethnicity and cultures. It consists of a multilingual multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. Among the 103 caste/ethnic groups, the Tharu of the Hindu caste is considered an indigenous community which is still socially, economically and educationally deprived and marginalized. It is evident that the Tharus have been surviving on agricultural labour for centuries. They have occupied only 6.75 percent share in the total population of Nepal (CBS, 2001) These Tharus of the Tarai region have been working as the bonded labourers (kamaiyas) in the house of landlords. The overwhelming majority of the bonded labours are from the Tharu ethnic group (Awasthi, 2005, Ojha, 1982). The Tharu bonded labourers are mainly concentrated in the Tarai region of Nepal and they constitute more than 98 percent of the total Kamaiyas (INSEC 1990). The vast majority of labourers are from the native community of the mid and far western Tarai religions of Nepal. This native group used to transmit bondage from one generation to another (Subedi 1999). The Tharus had emigrated from India during the Muslim invasion in the twelfth century. They are identifi ed as tw