Abstract
In the post-2006 period of the peace process, Nepalese society has experienced a systemic drive coupled with concepts like ethnic identity , self-government by the indigenous peoples, inclusion , right to self-determination , federalism, and ethnic federalism , among others. Being deeply associated with the form of polity and modality of governance, these concepts have steered the Nepalese society into a phase of indispensable transformation. In this discourse, five major perspectives have emerged, defining the nature of ethnic federalism in Nepal: orthodox, pragmatist, illiberal, separatist, and liberal schools of thought.
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Notes
- 1.
See Giri, Pradep (Ed.) (2009). Political Documents of Mr. Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala. Kathmandu: Student Book Store, p. 27.
- 2.
See Article 1 of the ILO Convention 169 , which reads, “Peoples in independent countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonization or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions.”
- 3.
Id., Article 2.
- 4.
Article 2 of the Foundation for Uplifting Aadibasi/Janjati Act, 2002, of Nepal provides, “Aadibasi/Janjati means a tribe or community as mentioned in the Schedule having its own mother language and traditional rites and customs, distinct cultural identity, distinct social structure and written or unwritten history.”
- 5.
In fact, Huntington rightly observes that the illusion of harmony at the end of the Cold War was soon dissipated by the multiplication of ethnic conflicts. He further observes, “In this new world the most pervasive, important, and dangerous conflicts will not be between social classes, rich and poor, or other economically defined groups, but between peoples belonging to different cultural entities. Tribal wars and ethnic conflicts will occur within civilizations.” See Huntington, Samuel P. (2011). The Clash of Civilizations. New York: Simon & Schuster, Kindle Edition. Kindle Location 322, 412.
- 6.
Id., Kindle Location 299. Huntington states that “In the post-Cold War world, the most important distinctions among peoples are not ideological , political, economic. They are cultural. Peoples and nations are attempting to answer the most basic question humans can face: Who are we? And they are answering that question in the traditional way human beings have answered it, by reference to the things that mean most to them. People define themselves in terms of ancestry, religion, language, history, values, customs, and institutions. They identify with cultural groups: tribes, ethnic groups, religious communities, nations, and, at the broadest level, civilizations. People use politics not just to advance their interests but also to define their identity.”
- 7.
See Webster, Sarah & Om Gurung, Om (2005). ILO Convention 169 and Peace Building in Nepal. http://www.ilo.org/indigenous/Resources/Publications/WCMS_100657/lang--en/index.htm. Accessed 21 March 2013.
- 8.
Alan Duncan, a minister of the United Kingdom, while visiting Nepal told the press on June 25, 2012, that he defended the financial support of DFID to some ethnic organizations in Nepal. “There have been accusations that we have been stirring ethnic conflict through our support. I have seen for myself the work that the UK has funded through DFID and I am proud of our work, which is helping to implement the Government of Nepal’s own commitment to inclusion ,” he said. “I think it is untenable and unacceptable that any society can have a second class of citizen and I have no doubt that lasting peace will only be achieved when Nepal has a truly inclusive society.” Quoted in The Kathmandu Post (2012, June 27). http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/06/27/top-story/duncan-stands-behind-aid-for-ethnic-groups/236513.html. Accessed 23 March 2013. See also My Republica (2012, February 23). Interview with Dominic O’Neil. http://archives.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=41918. Accessed 23 March 2013.
- 9.
Id., The Kathmandu Post writes, “The statement comes after increasing allegations against Western donors and diplomats, including those from the UK, of stirring inter-ethnic tension through covert support for ethnic groups. Last month, protesters from the dominant groups shouted slogans against the DFID, United Nations and other donors, accusing them of instigating marginalized groups to stand in favor of ethnicity-based federalism.”
- 10.
See 12-Point Agreement between the Seven Political Parties and the Maoist signed on November 22, 2005.
- 11.
See Decision of the Meeting of the High Level Leaders of the Seven Parties and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) signed on November 8, 2006. Interestingly, the Seven Political Parties and the Maoist had agreed to give continuity to the institution of monarchy with no powers to be vested upon the king. However, Article 3.3 of the Comprehensive Peace Accord of November 21, 2006, clearly provided that whether the institution of monarchy should give continuity or not shall be decided by the simple majority of the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly . Article 10 of the Decision incorporated three main ideas: to end the unitary structure of the state, the formation of a high level state restructuring commission, and the final decision on the restructuring of the state by the CA .
- 12.
See Comprehensive Peace Accord Concluded Between the GoN and CPN (Maoist) (November 21, 2006) [hereinafter, Peace Agreement]. Article 3.5 of the Peace Agreement provides, “In order to end discriminations based on class, ethnicity, language, gender, culture, religion and region and to address the problems of women, Dalit, indigenous people, ethnic minorities (Janjatis), Tarai communities (Madhesis), oppressed, neglected and minority communities and the backward areas by deconstructing the current centralized and unitary structure, the state shall be restructured in an inclusive, democratic and forward looking manner.”
- 13.
See Preamble of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007, which states that “Declaring Nepal as a federal, democratic republican state upon duly abolishing the monarchy.” Article 4(1) of the Interim Constitution provides, “Nepal is an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive and federal, democratic republican state.” Article 138(1) of the Interim Constitution provides, “There shall be made progressive restructuring of the State with inclusive, democratic federal system of governance, by doing away with the centralized and unitary structure of the State so as to end discriminations based on class, caste, language, gender, culture, religion and region.” Article 138(1a) provides, “Recognizing the desire of the indigenous peoples and of the people of backward and other area including Madhesi people towards autonomous provinces Nepal shall be federal democratic republican state. Provinces shall be autonomous and vested with full authority . The boundaries, number, names and structures, as well as full details of the lists, of autonomous provinces and the center and allocation of means, resources and powers shall be determined by the Constituent Assembly , while maintaining the sovereignty , unity and integrity of Nepal.” Further Article 138 (3) provides, “The final settlement on the matters relating to the restructuring of the State and the form of federal system of governance shall be as determined by the Constituent Assembly.”
- 14.
See Article 4 of the Agreement between the GoN and Nepal Adivasi Janjati Mahasangha and Adivasi Janjati Samyukta (August 07, 2007). Article 4 provides that “A State Restructuring Commission shall immediately be formed to present to the forthcoming Constituent Assembly recommendations regarding a federal structure for the state based on ethnicity, language, geographical region, economic status and cultural characteristics while keeping national unity, integrity and sovereignty of Nepal above all. The Commission shall be composed of eminent experts from various classes, regions and communities, including indigenous nationalities, Madheshis, Dalits and women.”
- 15.
See Nepalnews.com (2012, May 15). Parties Agree on 11 States Federal Model. http://www.nepalnews.com/home/index.php/news/1/18819-leaders-agree-on-11-state-model-directly-elected-presidential-system-constitution-within-sight.html. Accessed 23 March 2013. The Nepal News writes, “The three major political parties , UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and UML together with the Madhesi Front, Tuesday reached a breakthrough on the new constitution as they agreed on 11-province federal structure along with mixed governance system. As per the agreement reached during talks held at the Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai ’s official residence in Baluwatar, elected state assemblies themselves would determine the names of the provinces. The federal states would be carved out on the basis of ethnicity, geography and language.”
- 16.
See generally Murray, D. L. (2009). Pragmatism. Bibliobazar; see also Webb, James L. (2007). Pragmatism: Classical Pragmatism and Some Implications for Empirical Inquiry. Journal of Economic Issues. XLI, 1063–1086, Menand, Louis (1995). Pragmatism: A Reader. Vintage; James, Williams (1995). Pragmatism. Dover Publication.
- 17.
See generally Lawoti , Mahendra (2012). Ethnic Politics and Building of an Inclusive State . In Sebastian E., Malone D, & Pradhan S. (Ed.), Nepal in Transition. Cambridge University Press, Kindle Edition; see also Bhattachan , Krishan B., infra note.
- 18.
See Grissom, James (2011). Nepal—A Brief History. Kindle Edition. Kindle Location 359. Grissom observes, “One of the major themes in the history of Nepal has been the transmission of influences from both the north and the south into an original culture. During its entire history, Nepal has been able to continue this process while remaining independent.”
- 19.
See Whelpton, John (2005). A History of Nepal. Cambridge University Press, p. 2.
- 20.
See Grissom, supra note, Kindle Location 367.
- 21.
See Cornell, Stephen & Hartmann, Douglas (1998). Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, pp. 5–6.
- 22.
Id., p. 6.
- 23.
See Hutchinson, John & Smith, Anthony D. (1996). Concepts of Ethnicity. In John Hutchinson & Anthony D. Smith (Ed.), Ethnicity. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 12.
- 24.
Id., Eriksen, Thomas H. (1996). Ethnicity, Race, Class, and Nation, p. 29.
- 25.
See Mill, John Stuart (2004/1862). Considerations on Representative Government. New York: Harper & Brothers, Kindle Edition, p. 310.
- 26.
Id., pp. 313–314, Mill writes, “Experience proves that it is possible for one nationality to merge and be absorbed in another; and when it was originally an inferior and more backward portion of the human race, the absorption is greatly to its advantage … than revolving in his own mental orbit without participation or interest in the general movement of the world … Whatever really tends to the admixture of nationalities, and the blending of their attributes and peculiarities in a common union, is a benefit to the human race.”
- 27.
See Sambad.com (2012, August 14). Declaration of Social Democratic Plural National Party of Nepal, http://www.samabad.com/show.php?sn=814&atsn=33. Accessed 21 August 2012.
- 28.
See Geertz , Cliford (1996). Primordial Ties. In Hutchinson & Smith, supra note, p. 41.
- 29.
See Weber , Max (1996). The Origins of Ethnic Groups. In Hutchinson & Smith, supra note, p. 40.
- 30.
Interview with the author of this book in January 2013.
- 31.
See Hutchinson & Smith, supra note, pp. 3–14.
- 32.
Id., p. 4.
- 33.
Id., p. 7. Hutchinson and Smith observe, “The phenomena of ethnicity are not only empirically very varied, they are characterized by paradox. On the one hand, we encounter highly durable ethnies, some of them indeed tracing their origins over several centuries, even millennia. On the other hand, we observe the rise of new ethnics and the dissolution of older ones, as well as the many transformations of culture that existing ethnies have undergone. Moreover, as we come closer to the object of investigation, we discern the many fissures in ethnies and shifts in ethnic identification; the literature is full of multiple identity, which include not only the many different affiliations of individuals with other kinds of grouping such as gender, region, class, religion, and the like, but also the many shifting identifications between different ethnies or ethnic categories.”
- 34.
See generally Kuklys, Wiebke (2005). Amartya Sen ’s Capability Approach. Germany: Springer.
- 35.
See Fearm, James D. (2003). Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country. Journal of Economic Growth. 8, 195–222, p. 198.
- 36.
Supra note, Hutchinson & Smith, p. 10.
- 37.
Id., pp. 8–9. See also Brass, Paul (1991). Ethnicity and Nationalism. New Delhi: Sage Publications; Banton, Michael (1994). Modeling Ethnic and National Relations. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 17.
- 38.
See Bhattachan, Krishna Bahadur (2011, November 23). Bahun-Cherrti Turned Us Into Refugees by Looting Our Water, Jungle and Land. http://www.samabad.com/show.php?atsn=35&sn=817. Accessed 21 August 2012.
- 39.
See generally Marx, Karl (1903) . A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co.
- 40.
See Winternitz, J. (1946). Marxism and Nationality. London: Lawrence & Wshart Ltd., p. 7.
- 41.
Id., p. 8.
- 42.
Id., p. 9.
- 43.
See Marx, Karl & Engels, Frederick (1908). Manifesto of the Communist Party. York: New York Labor News Co. Kindle Edition. Kindle Location 58. The Manifesto reads, “The workingmen have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is, so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.”
- 44.
See Cornell, supra note, p. 8.
- 45.
See Weber , Max (1968). Economy and Society. New York: Bedminster Press, p. 387.
- 46.
Id., p. 387. Weber observes that “The question of whether conspicuous racial differences are based on biological heredity or on tradition is usually of no importance as far as their effect on mutual attraction or repulsion is concerned. … The more or less easy emergence of social circles in the broadest sense of the word may be linked to the most superficial features of historical accidental habits just as much as to inherited racial characteristics. That the different custom is not understood in its subjective meaning since the cultural key to it is lacking, is almost as decisive as the peculiarity of the custom as such. … The original motives or reasons for the inception of different habits of life are forgotten and the contrasts are then perpetuated as conventions.”
- 47.
Id., p. 389. Weber observes that “We shall call ethnic groups those human groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of customs or both, … This artificial origin of the belief in common ethnicity follows the pattern of rational association turning into personal relationships. If rationally regulated action is not widespread, almost any association, even the most rational one, creates an overarching communal consciousness; ….”
- 48.
See Bell, Daniel A. (2006). Beyond Liberal Democracy : Political Thinking for an East Asian Context. Princeton University Press, Kindle Edition, p. 186.
- 49.
Quoted in id., p. 186.
- 50.
Quoted in Stone, John (1995). Race, Ethnicity, and the Weberian Legacy. American Behavioral Scientist. 38, p. 391.
- 51.
See Cornell, supra note, p. 8.
- 52.
See Weber . The Theory of Social, p. 33.
- 53.
Id., Parson, Talcott. The Modern Western Institutional System, p. 82.
- 54.
See Park, Robert E. and Thomas, W. I. (1927). Participation and Social Assimilation. In Kimball Young (Ed.), Source Book For Social Psychology. New York: A.A. Knopf, pp. 47–53.
- 55.
See Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (1998). Common Denominators: Ethnicity, Nation-Building and Compromise in Mauritius. Bloomsbury Academic, p. 15.
- 56.
Id., p. 15.
- 57.
See Weber . Economy and Society, supra note, p. 388.
- 58.
Id., pp. 390–91.
- 59.
Article 27 of the ICCPR provides that “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.”
- 60.
See Jagan Kirat v. Election Commission, Writ Petition No. 2054 of 1993, the Supreme Court of Nepal. For detailed discussion, see Surendra Bhandari, Court-Constitution & Global Public Policy: A Study on the Nepalese Perspective (DDL, 1999).
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Bhandari, S. (2014). Epistemology of Ethnic Federalism. In: Self-Determination & Constitution Making in Nepal. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-005-6_4
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