Dr. Bhattachan is a sociologist and an indigenous activist belonging to Thakali indigenous peoples of Nepal whose ancestral land is in trans-Himalayan region, Thasang in Maitang (Mustang), Nepal. His area of specializations are sociology of development and issues of indigenous peoples, Dalit, women and other marginalized groups.
He holds a Ph.D. degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, USA. He is one of the founding faculty members and former Head of the Central Department of Sociology and Anthropology, founded in 1981, at the Tribhvuan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. After retirement from Tribhuvan University in 2015, he has been associated with the Lawyer's Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) as an indigenous expert/advisor.
He was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University in 1987 and at the U.C.-Berkeley from 1987 to 1992, and a senior Chevening Fellow at the Postwar Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the University of York in 2006. He was advisor of many organizations, including the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN). He has provided consultancy-research service to many international organizations, including UNDP, ILO, Danida, SNV, Action Aid, Care Nepal, IIDS, IWGIA, and AIPP.
His publications include a monograph titled Minorities & Indigenous Peoples (2008), co-authored books include Indigenous Peoples, Poverty Reduction and Conflict in Nepal (2005),and edited books include Gender and Democracy (2001). He has published articles in both national and international journals. He has presented papers in national and international seminars.
He can be reached at bhattachan.k@gmail.com