Nain Ram Bhul, now a resident of Badilek in Baitadi district in far-west Nepal, spent 20 long years of his life working as a Haliya (one type of bonded labourer) for landlord, Mahananda Bhatta.

Bhul, who has a family of six including his wife, one son and three daughters, saw no changes in his living conditions during his 20 years of work as a Haliya. "In fact, I had a tough time feeding my family," he says.

Bhul's 20 years of labour as Haliya was his obligation to repay Rs 6,000 [US$ 95] he had borrowed from Bhatta. Even his years of labour could not repay the capital sum, and Bhul was neither entitled to daily wages nor any supply of essentials.

"I found the injustice and oppression intolerable," Bhul says. However, he thought it was useless to ask his master to give him daily wages as that would not help him feed his family in any case. In the meantime, his health condition deteriorated.

A day came when he did what he had been contemplating for years. He told his master that he could not continue working as a Haliya.

"The master said I had to pay back the debt if I wanted freedom," Bhul recalls.

He took up the matter with Bhatta several times, and the verbal exchange gradually turned hostile. "A man works for 20 years for free for a person and he has still not paid back a debt of Rs 6,000! Think of the degree of injustice and exploitation!" he says.

Finally, in 2005, he discovered the Haliya liberation movement initiated by Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare Organisation (NNDSWO), an implementing partner of LWF Nepal in Kailali. He became a member of a Dalit group and started saving money for the group's fund.

In the same year, with LWF Nepal support, NNDSWO granted a seed fund of Rs 5,000 to the group. This allowed the group to improve its economic status steadily and its members to become more confident.

Group membership injected in Bhul the drive to fight for his liberation. He came to know that many individuals like him had liberated themselves from this burden of virtual slavery and that many organizations were now working against it. Thus he filed a complaint against Mahananda Bhatta at the District Administration Office (DAO) and stopped working for him.

In August 2006, DAO's facilitator interrogated Mahananda Bhatt in connection with the complaint. Bhatta denied that Bhul had worked for him as a Haliya. He also denied having provided a loan of Rs 6,000 to Bhul.

"It's been two years since I filed the complaint and started living a free man's life," Bhul says with a grin. He works at bee-keeping these days, which generates enough income to support his family.

Bhul's family is happy with his new-found freedom. His wife Heera Devi, who had to lend a helping hand to Bhul at their master's house, says that, nowadays she does jobs that make her feel comfortable.

(LWF Nepal Feature Service)