Janakraj Sapkota’s new novel brings Madhesh’s caste oppression to the fore

‘Magani Marik’ is a novel by journalist and writer Janakraj Sapkota. It follows a character named Magani Marik and explores the hardship faced by people at the bottom of Nepal’s caste hierarchy. The book matters because it gives literary attention to experiences often overlooked by political leaders and the media.

The novel focuses on the Dom community in Madhesh. Its themes include caste discrimination, poverty, poor health and education, foreign employment, human trafficking and bureaucratic insensitivity. Sapkota drew on two decades of reporting and on stories he recorded in his diary after they did not fit into news reports.

The novel was launched at Nepal Academy in Kathmandu. Its unveiling included Anju Kumari Marik, Dr Ramji Ram and Sapkota. The book asks whether Nepal’s republic has truly dismantled caste hierarchy, while showing that oppression remains part of everyday life.

Madhesh is a region of Nepal and the setting for ‘Magani Marik’. The article presents it as a place where caste discrimination, poverty, and weak health and education conditions shape daily life. It matters because the novel connects personal suffering to wider questions about Nepal’s political system and social order.

Sapkota spent two decades reporting in Madhesh. He kept stories in his diary when they could not be included in news reports. He later visited people in their homes and observed their lives closely. This helped him write about their experiences, language, emotions and hardships rather than treating them as distant statistics.

The article says Madhesh is only 150 to 200 kilometres from Kathmandu, yet its voices take a long time to reach the capital. The novel therefore helps bring neglected experiences into public discussion and challenges leaders, media and institutions to confront continuing caste inequality.

Anju Kumari Marik’s educational achievement is unusually rare according to her own account at the book launch. She said she was the only girl from the Dom community across 12 districts studying in Grade 12 on a scholarship. That figure shows how limited educational access remains for girls from her community.

Her achievement was not presented as an individual success alone. Anju said her father played a major role in helping her continue her education. She also described a society that denies Dom people equal educational access and the dignity they deserve. Her experience links schooling to family support and resistance to caste discrimination.

Anju hopes to become an example for other girls from her community. She wants girls to be recognised for their education and abilities, not their caste. Her appearance at the launch also gave a young Dom student a platform to describe these barriers directly and publicly.

The article describes caste discrimination as a contradiction that affects ordinary dignity and essential services. Dom people are denied equal access to education, and some are refused drinking water because of their caste. They are also treated as untouchable, which marks them as socially impure and limits their participation in everyday community life.

Anju gave a striking example. People accept the blessings and water touched by Dom community members at births and weddings, but call the same water impure in daily life. The community is also expected to light a deceased person’s funeral pyre, or perform mukhagni, even while being treated as untouchable. These opposing practices show how caste rules can be selective and deeply rooted.

The effects reach beyond ceremonies. They shape schooling, access to water, public respect and life chances. The novel and Anju’s testimony expose these patterns so that Dom people can be recognised for their abilities rather than judged by inherited caste.

Caste-based exclusion can turn basic needs into privileges controlled by social status. If people cannot access drinking water, education, healthcare or public dignity, they face barriers that affect health, learning, income and confidence. Communities may remain poor and unheard because institutions and public attention do not reach them equally.

The article gives concrete examples from Madhesh. People are reportedly denied drinking water because of caste, while Anju described unequal educational access for Dom people. Sapkota also identifies poor health and education conditions as alarming. The mechanism is repeated exclusion: discrimination in daily services limits opportunities, and limited opportunities make marginalised communities easier to ignore.

The consequences are personal and political. Young people may struggle to study, families may face continuing hardship, and public systems may fail to serve everyone fairly. The novel brings these realities forward and asks whether Nepal’s republic has dismantled caste hierarchy. Anju’s educational example points toward change through recognition and access.

A republic changes the formal political system, but it may not dismantle older social power. Caste-based authority can continue through everyday customs, unequal institutions and assumptions about who deserves services or respect. Political change matters only when it reaches the structures and beliefs that reproduce hierarchy.

Dr Ramji Ram described this contradiction at the launch. Nepal has a republic, he said, but caste rule persists. He suggested that people who overthrew the monarchy may have kept its old mindset and operating system. The article also notes that people are still denied drinking water because of caste, while politicians and cameras remain in controlled spaces.

This means constitutional or governmental change alone is insufficient. Public institutions must confront discrimination in real communities, not only in official language. ‘Magani Marik’ raises the question of whether the republic has truly dismantled caste hierarchy. Its focus on overlooked lives keeps attention on the difference between political reform and lived equality.

A caste hierarchy is an inherited system that ranks social groups and assigns them unequal status. Because membership is linked to birth, individuals can be judged before their abilities or actions are considered. The article places the Dom community near the bottom of Nepal’s caste hierarchy and shows why that ranking matters in everyday life.

The mechanism is social discrimination reinforced through institutions and custom. Dom people may face unequal access to education and drinking water. Anju also described people accepting their blessings and touched water at births and weddings, while treating that same water as impure in ordinary life. Such contradictions keep inherited ideas of purity and impurity active.

The result is restricted opportunity and reduced public dignity. A young person’s schooling, health and recognition can be shaped by caste rather than ability. ‘Magani Marik’ questions whether Nepal’s republic has dismantled this hierarchy. Anju’s hope is that future girls from her community will be known for education and abilities, not caste.