International labour migration from Nepal and changes in inter-caste relations

Over the past decade international labour migration from Nepal to the Middle East and to Malaysia has increased exponentially. The number of Dalit migrants is also rising rapidly. There is a growing body of research on international labour migration from Nepal. So far, however, research has not looked in sufficient depth at inter-caste relations, and in particular at old institutions of patron-client (balighare) relations, or at how economic and socio-cultural relations may be changing as a result of labour migration. Based on household and individual surveys, combined with ethnography, conducted in a cluster of six villages located to the west of Pokhara in Kaski and their migration destinations, particularly Pokhara and Chitwan, this paper seeks to explore some of these issues, particularly the following question: does mobility from one place to another, particularly international migration, help change people’s behaviour in terms of everyday caste relations? The preliminary results from the study show that most patron-client balighare relationships (what in India are usually referred to as jajmani relationships) have either been abandoned or substantially transformed. Some old caste-based taboos have been broken and roles redefined. While some traditional non-cash-based occupations have been completely abandoned or are practised on a much-reduced scale, others have largely adapted to the new cash- and market-based economy. Due to insufficient labour, farming is in decline. With respect to commensality, 70 per cent of international labour migrant respondents have had Dalit (or non-Dalit, in the case of Dalits themselves) work- or house-mates in the country where they have gone for work. With rare exceptions, caste was no barrier to commensality. However, up to 60 per cent of these same respondents say that they would not be able to continue the same level of relations with Dalits in the private domain once they are back in Nepal. This illustrates the shifting and contextual nature of caste relations; it also highlights the importance of distinguishing public and private domains.