This Country is Yours is an ongoing long-term body of work started in 2012. The work focuses on activists of six social and political movements of Nepal, which represent the following groups: women, indigenous nationalities, Dalits (“untouchable” groups), Madhesis (regional minorities from the areas adjoining the Indian plains), the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community, and religious minorities. Along with making portraits of the activists, I am also photographing on the streets, squatter settlements, newly built housing developments, offices of political parties and other locations reflective of the social and political vernacular of Nepal.

Within the context of the representational deficit faced by minority groups, during the important and historic process of the creation of Nepal’s new constitution, I am interested in creating a narrative of social and political transformation from the perspective of these six minority groups of Nepal. The work pays homage to those courageous activists who are fighting to make Nepal a more inclusive and just society. The work strays from the didactic, and incorporates a personal visual language of discovery and acknowledgment. This Country is Yours is about Nepal’s political struggles, the imminent liberation of the marginalized groups, and transformation.