Representing the Khawas

Bhotani Devi Khawas is the only member representing the Khawas community in the CA. Bhotani Devi came from a politically and socially aware family. Her uncle was a deputy Pradhan Pancha during the Panchayat and her father-in-law, who was also affi liated with the Panchayat, once gave shelter to the landless on public land. He joined the Nepali Congress in 1980 and was jailed for seven days with Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.


In 1980, Bhotani Devi had an opportunity to listen to Bishweshwor Prasad Koirala''s speech. She was very much infl uenced by his philosophies on socialism, women’s rights and poverty alleviation. After that, it was not diffi cult for her to join politics since her family too was politically aware. She worked as the Morang district Joint Secretary of the Nepal Women''s Association in 1991 and was its Vice Chairperson from 1993-1997. She became Central Member of the association in 1996 and continues to hold the position to date, in addition to serving as a Central Committee Member of the Nepali Congress.


During her political career, Bhotani Devi faced much physical and psychological violence at the hands of the security forces and the cadres of other political parties. She spent 24 hours in police custody during the 2006 People’s Movement. While she was going through the highs and lows of political life, she never thought about becoming a CA member. She believes that the party recommended her name to the PR list after evaluating her contribution. She is a member of the Capacity Building and Resource Mobilization Committee in the CA and the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee in the Legislature Parliament. During the course of her public viewcollection, Bhotani Devi visited Parbat and Baglung, where she interacted with people and learned of their aspirations for the new constitution.

In the committees that she is a part of, Bhotani Devi focused on issues like women''s capacity enhancement, employees'' skill development and legal measures for inclusive and proportional representation of Janajatis, Dalits and Madhesis and employment opportunity for youth. She has demanded that the rights of the diff erently-abled, Muslims and ethnic minorities be guaranteed and their representation in state mechanisms be ensured. ‘There should be equal access for men and women in education, health and politics,’ she says. ‘Inclusive and proportional representation for women should be ensured in the decision-making processes and both sons and daughters need to have equal rights to parental property. There should be a provision for granting citizenship in mother’s name and providing special rights for women in the constitution itself.’

Diff erent committees have already submitted their reports along with their concept papers for constitution writing. Although these reports are positive from a gender perspective, they fail to fully ensure inclusive and proportional representation. She complains that there are diff erences between Janajati from the Terai and those from hills in terms of their access to opportunities. Proportional means relative representation of all classes and communities at all levels. For this, the constitution itself should guarantee inclusive and proportional representation based on population. She says that this requires not only support from male members but unity and coordination among women members as well.

Bhotani Devi feels that there is the lack of a proper environment for women to put forth their views openly. There is a general perception that women need to think twice before they do or speak anything while male members are free to speak their mind. Men and women are often treated diff erently. Even the media gives preference to male members while they mostly disregard women members. ‘Women do not get as much veneration as men,’ she complains. ‘Since men outnumber women in the CA, the latter do not get as much time as men. Moreover, since leaders tend to speak more, who again are mostly men, very little time is allocated for women. To top it all, women members are ignorant about many issues. This is the reason that they have a tendency to back out.’

She feels bad when some women CA members talk highly of themselves because of their good education. ‘It is important for all to realize that everyone in the CA is equal,’ she urges. ‘Learned ones should be willing to share their knowledge with the less educated ones, while the latter should be willing to learn. Only this will help in building cooperation and understanding among women members.’
Even after becoming a CA member, she has faced several challenges for being a woman. It was difficult for her to fi nd an apartment by herself. Moreover, she had to spend a night outside her house due to problems with her landlord. Since politics is a full-time profession, there are many personal joys that she misses. ‘I could not give enough time to my family members because of my involvement in politics,’ she says. ‘One of my sons is handicapped because of the lack of proper treatment. I could not provide him with a good education either.’

Bhotani Devi believes that in order to get women’s issues addressed, women CA members should have enough time to put forward their views in the CA. In order to raise the issues of women in a united manner, an infl uential Women’s Alliance is required. The Women’s Caucus has been established with that same purpose.

Bhotani Devi is of the opinion that the CA has completed most of its works including preparing the outline of the constitution. ‘Th e disputes between the political parties should be resolved to complete the remaining tasks,’ she says. ‘For this, all the parties should unite and formulate a common program.’

Bhotani Devi thinks that one can achieve success amid challenges. At the moment, all people want is peace and the constitution. She is worried about the logical conclusion of the peace process and constitution writing. Before becoming a CA member, she had volunteered for several nongovernmentalorganizations. She wants to continue with them in the future as well. After drafting the constitution, she wants to commit to social service and other inspirational works in addition to her political involvement.
Read in NePali
Fullname: Hon Bhotani Devi Khawas
Personal Information:
Address Permanent : Baijanathpur-2, Jhapa Tole,
Morang, Koshi
Temporary : Balkumari, Kathmandu-35
Contact details : 9842046779 (M)
Date of birth : 29 April 1967
Place of birth : Haraicha-8, Pacham Tole, Morang
Mother''s name : Maliya Devi Khawas
Father''s name : Govinda Khawas
Husband''s name : Sher Bahadur Khawas
Education : Secondary Level
Political party : Nepali Congress
System of election : Proportional Representation