- Why did you write the 1990 constitution the way you did, with all its deficiencies? If they were out of deference to then power of the monarch, why did you not seek to amend the document in the following years? The Congress and the UML between them had the needed 2/3rd numbers. Why did you not get together and seek amendments? There was never any attempt at amendments.
- Why did Girija Koirala dissolve the parliament the first time around? He had a mandate for five years. That started the era of instability. The democratic process is that you have to work things out through dialogue. You can not take a my way or highway attitude.
- Why did the Congress never tackle corruption? Why did the Congress become the new Panchayat? Why did it harass workers of smaller parties like that of the Sadbhavana? Implicating them in false cases at local levels?
- Why did the political parties not make inroads for democracy within the parties? There still is no attempt in that direction.
- Why was Manmohan Adhikari not allowed to dissolve the parliament? Chandrashekhar in India was a minority Prime Minister, and he did that. Why did the judiciary intervene in this matter of the legislative? Why was the division of powers violated?
- Why were the notorious Congress names seething with corruption never punished? Why was campaign finance not regulated?
- Why is there Bahun hegemony all over the place? Will the Bahuns look into this?
- Why was there no major work done on the citizenship issue for the Madhesis?
- Why no recognition for Hindi? Even though all politicians who address rallies in the Terai use that language.
- Why were not creative political solutions sought to tackle the Maoist issue?
- Why were the moderate Maoists humiliated during the peace talks?
- Why will Deuba not take responsibility for the Pajero culture and the jumbo cabinets? Why did Deuba dissolve all the local bodies for the simple reason that they were UML-majority?
- Why was federalism not looked into?
- Why did not all political parties rally around the idea of a Constituent Assembly when it was obvious that was the only way out? Are they still there yet?
- What's up with Girija's insistent stand on reviving the parliament? Why has not there been debate and discussion on that topic? Why have other smaller parties followed him blindly on that one? Why will you not go back to the drawing board when you know that stand is not working? Is Girija the dictator of the democrats? Jo Girija kahta hai, wahi hota hai. Where is the dialogue?
- Did all parties give in writing to the king that they think dissolving the parliament was the best option? If yes, why did they protest the dissolution in the aftermath? And why do they now want the term-expired parliament revived?
- Do the political parties think an all-party government is the need of the hour now? If yes, why did they not shape such an all-party government after the parliament was dissolved, Deuba sacked, and the king made exactly that suggestion? I think all of you should be jailed for a few months for not taking upon the offer back then and putting the country through all the turmoil.
- When they agitated against the Thapa government, why did the Congressias bring the house down by back-stabbing Madhav Nepal at the last moment? What was so wrong with the idea of Madhav Nepal as Prime Minister?
- Why were parties like Congress (D) excluded from that agitation?
- Where is the public dialogue now that could shape up a possible Common Minimum Program?
This criticims are not meant to say the king and the army are in the right, they are not. But it is time these politicos did some self-reflection.
In The News - Nepal: Rights Must be Restored Reuters AlertNet, UK...... the lifting of the state of emergency occurred almost simultaneously with the publication of an order by the Kathmandu District Authority against public gatherings, meetings or any kind of protest programs in public spaces and roads. Since the lifting of the state of emergency, local officials have also reportedly been given the authority to intervene in any “political program” that involves more than two people...... the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO), with its draconian provision allowing up to one-year incommunicado detention, still remains in effect. ..... is the press free, will those continuing to be held arbitrarily be released, can human rights defenders work without harassment? ...... is the press free, will those continuing to be held arbitrarily be released, can human rights defenders work without harassment? ....National Human Rights Commission continues to be denied access to military barracks and is only permitted access to police stations with advance notice...... A key test for the king is whether he will now allow journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders to operate freely...... New U.S. military assistance could be delivered as soon as late May...... lifting of the state of emergency might be a tactical ploy by the King to convince India to resume military aid
- Nepal media rallies for freedom BBC News Reporters without Borders attacked the media's treatment in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka...... Police watched Tuesday's rally by journalists but did not intervene, despite a ban on demonstrations in several parts of Kathmandu..... Islamabad, police briefly detained more than 20 journalists who marched on the prime minister's office as part of protests demanding greater press freedom ...... Bangladesh was the country with the largest number of journalists physically attacked or threatened with death....... In Sri Lanka, violence by Tamil factions most threatened journalists' safety and freedom of expression..... Last week, a pro-Tamil Tiger journalist was abducted and killed in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.......Bangladesh was among the five most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide.
- Madam Deuba Speaks United We Blog ..... he is not interested in making money. He is not interested to know how the family is run, how we pay the bills, fees. He is not a family minded man at all.... He left house [in Dadheldhura, far west Nepal] when he was 15 years old. He spent most of his life outside the family structure, in party politics. He got married when he was nearly 50. (I was 32 when we got married in 1994.) His lacks orientation toward a family....... When I married him at that age, after a year or two I realized, you know, this man is not going to change himself for me. I tried to change him, once forcefully..... When I married him, I was earning more than 40 thousand per month...... I think my father-in-law gave me the best piece of advice when he called me within a week my marriage to his son: “Do not even think that your husband will do everything for you. Whatever you have to do, do it yourself. My son is like a jogi (fakir).” .... my parents told me that I could go back to them if I did not like him after marrying. With that assurance, I married him..... in politics, I learned, there is never a dull moment..... My husband is not interested in money making business. But now they are trying to frame him up in corruption charges. He is deeply sad. I am ready to face jail sentence for other any other reasons, he says, but not in corruption...... When I went to Dadheldhura for the first time, after marrying him, I found the place very much undeveloped. Very few girls went to school, no electricity, and no road. Now you can see a sea of change. Many girls going to school. That’s all because of democracy and my husband....... I know the Kathmandu elite very well. They are just talking nonsense as if people in village don’t know a bit. That’s very wrong...... Kathmandu is the richest place in Nepal. You know why communists win elections here. Because those rich folks never go to voting booth to cast their vote. So, they don’t care about democratic process. These are the ones who take bribe and make money........ the Kathamndu elite is never comfortable with anyone who comes here form outside Kathmandu and reaches at top position ...... They have Kathmandu-centric mentality. They think Kathmandu is the whole Nepal....... They are more interested going to Bangkok, New York, Hong Kong and identifying themselves with people of New York and London and think that people in remote parts in Nepal are uncivilized and uneducated...... However fluent English you speak, you won’t be a New Yorker ...... Poor command in English language is one setback for our political parties. Not many of the political leaders speak good English...... for many of them there is simply no time to entertain those foreigners because they don’t have enough money for their own family and children ...... I had warned him since the arrest of Prakash Man Singh about possible arrest of his father...... Last time when Maoists tried to assassin his father, he was staying in Mamaghar. I was in Kusma, Parbat for a project. He heard the news on TV and his father and mother were not there before him...... My husband used to say, we should view Maoist as untamed family member. ....... Army does not function as per the wishes of civilian government. Everyone knew about the [the King’s] ambition...... people never though the bluff would be called ...... He told the king, form a government with the leadership of any leader like Madhav Nepal or anyone else...... The crux of democracy is that if you aspire to go back to your constituency to face an election, you are forced to listen to people even if you are unwilling to do so.
- Madhav Nepal Press Conference United We Blog Some of us have been released but in reality, democracy is in jail...... We told the PM Deuba that he should take some bold and courageous step. “You come forward with a historical move,” we told him, “Don’t live like ‘parsiyeko boko’ (billy ready for sacrifice) uncertain about the possible death.” I don’t know what Deuba ji was thinking. The cards could be: going for new constitution or going for constituent assembly, or revival of house etc. We told him that lets not give king opportunity to go for move like Feb 1..... democrats should not be blamed for the demise of democracy and introduction of autocracy in the country .... [Nepal spend approximately 15 days studying different books.]
- Mobile Phones Start Ringing United We Blog My 80 year old great grand father who was on bed with a headache promptly wake up to survey the happiness that surrounded the room. My brother was in hilarious mood. Sister was smiling. Mom came from outside the house. That was quite a ceremony.
- Seminar: The Problem .... a decade in a vicious cycle of violence and counter-violence ..... different political parties hopelessly divided .... no progress in the negotiations with the Maoists ...... Gyanendra ... had never hidden his ambition for a more assertive monarchy ..... insufficient progress in improving development indicators ..... the exclusionary, and thus non-representative, character of the Nepali system, with a few hill-based, upper caste Hindu groups hegemonising positions and resources in all domains – legislative, executive, judicial – in the process marginalizing a vast majority of citizens ...... limited attempts at decentralization have failed to break the centrality of the Kathmandu valley in national affairs ...... (84%) strongly disapproved of the dismissal of popular government (October 2002) and felt that the situation of the country had worsened after that...... the role of Indian capital in Nepal’s economy and India’s continual insistence on a special status has added to a feeling that Nepal enjoys little autonomy in deciding its own affairs ..... many Nepalis depend on work in India and that a vast majority of its political class was socialized here...... Left-wing forces, including the Maoists, have often seen a ‘foreign-funded’ civil society sector as a Trojan horse, weakening the nationalist impulse and struggle...... they have consolidated their hold in the countryside, in particular amongst marginalized groups and communities and their call for local autonomy and self-determination is extremely popular ..... unless the Maoists and democratic political forces forge an understanding and collaborate to redesign state and society, Nepal may well slip into an endemic civil war, another example of a failed state .....
- Pak has no plans to supply arms to Nepal Hindustan Times, India ....as dealing with insurgency is an "internal affair" of the kingdom....... "Pakistan is also a sufferer of terrorism and we are in favour of international coalition against terrorism ... But regarding the Maoists problem facing Nepal, we don't interfere in internal affairs of other countries."
- 'Pak has no plans to supply arms to Nepal to fight Maoists' Zee News
- US calls for restoration of democracy in Nepal Sify, India .....welcomed the lifting of a state of emergency in Nepal but said the government must also release all political detainees and restore democracy.
- Clarity Amid Extremism by Manjushree Thapa ....claiming that he is taking absolute control in the interest of rescuing democracy from itself...... his actions are irredeemably fascist .... R.K. Mainali, a Naxalite-royalist..... state security forces (those who aren't busy suppressing democratic dissidents) are now being set loose on the countryside with no checks and balances, no accountability, and no fear of punishment for the atrocities and war crimes that they might commit ..... the village defence committee scheme ..had been introduced in 2002 upon the advice of a USAID consultant who had previously worked in Peru studying the Shining Path. Mimicking a scheme implemented in Guatemala in the 1970s and '80s – with deadly, disastrous results – the VDC amounts to arming local thugs, extremists and bandits, and granting them free reign...... the state has always fought a dirty war against the Maoists, and it is only going to get dirtier now....... state has been responsible for a full three-fourths of the killings ..... fake encounters (wherein unarmed suspected Maoists are killed, then reported to have been armed Maoists), unlawful detention (detention in army barracks or other government offices without due process), disappearances, rape, and extortion....... In some places in East Nepal, they have even dressed as Maoists (with red bandanas, or with hammer-and-sickle signs on their clothing) and greeted people with ‘red salute' signs, only to take them out and shoot them if they return in kind..... 50 per cent of the people killed by the security forces are civilians..... Atrocities and abuse are so widespread and systematic in the state security forces, they appear to form the core of the counter-insurgency: cast a wide net, and surely some Maoists will be caught...... by international law he has been, since February 2005, responsible for all the systematic atrocities and war crimes committed....... The international community is almost more powerful than the Nepalis in Nepal. .... the royal palace's budget increased by 600%. ..... a king we never chose, a king we do not like and do not want. ...... We seem frankly incapable of envisioning ourselves as a liberal democratic republic ..... The Maoist insurgency is the first nationwide mass movement; the countryside is striking back at Kathmandu for the first time. .... the monarchy must retreat to a strictly ceremonial position, or go ...... a new constitution via a constituent assembly that is to be elected by an all-party interim government ......
- Will The Monarchy Survive by BC Upreti It is not only the prevailing socioeconomic conditions or the weak party system which have been responsible for the political assertion of monarchy, but equally the political ambitions of the king..... After the departure of the UML government Nepal slipped into an era of unstable governments ...... Each of the coalition partners tried to place its own men in different organizations following a sort of a spoils system..... The outlook of political parties was confined to short term personal gains and were insufficiently concerned about long term and national issues. None seemed concerned about the process of institutionalization of democracy...... Koirala won 69 votes against Deuba's 43 ...... the Maoists did not agree to accept anything less than the formation of a constituent assembly, a republican state and a new constitution for Nepal, while the government was not prepared to accept any of these demands...... there was no agreement on basic issues with none of the parties prepared to compromise...... all the major political parties have been characterized by internal fragmentation, groupism, leadership clashes, weak social base, decline of ideology and intra-party disputes..... the NDP deciding, at the beginning of 2004, to expel Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa from the party..... February 2004 .... The days of the monarchy being seen but not heard are gone. .... the king moved in a systematic and calculated manner ..... historically the bureaucracy has displayed shifting loyalty.... the lingering fight with the Maoists has demoralized the force...... the royal army cannot fight with the Maoist insurgents on its own resources...... forging an understanding among various political parties and subsequently the Maoists joining the parties to launch a civil movement for the restoration of democracy......
- Neighbourly Concerns by SD Muni Since 2001, when it was first pushed into anti-Maoist operations, the RNA has not enhanced its reputation for efficiency and effectiveness. Even after the February coup, the RNA failed to break the Maoists blockade of Kathmandu. Despite the heavy security cover all it could manage was to let a fraction of the usual vehicular traffic move between the capital and rest of the country. Therefore, to blame the political parties for their inefficiency in dealing with the Maoists is not credible...... palace-centred machinations to divide and corrupt political parties and their leaders. .... His coup was really driven by his own political ambitions and the RNA's lure for unfettered authority without any accountability..... Under pressure to show results against the Maoists, the RNA has indulged in ruthless violence in the countryside, often killing innocent people and showing them as Maoists...... Pakistan too needs to be cautioned that its access to Nepal, even by air, is only through India..... A greater part of the royal regime's efforts are directed towards distancing the US from the Indian position. It is important to note that the US priority in Nepal is the fight against terrorism, over and above the restoration of democracy...... India's Nepal policy has in the past shown a notorious tendency to compromise with the king under domestic political pressures and external strategic concerns. New Delhi has to demonstrate in deeds that the phase is now passé...... India's favourite two pillar theory, of its Nepal policy being based on constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy, stands shattered in the wake of the February coup..... Nearly 80 per cent of Nepal's youth have ideologically shifted closer to the Maoists' position of a ‘multiparty republic' in Nepal...... The king is likely to play around with the groups of pliable political leaders and pseudo democrats to diffuse the international pressure...... In India's policy-making and security establishments, there is an exaggerated and irrational demonizing of and paranoia about the Nepali Maoists..... they politically represent the legitimate aspirations of Nepal's long neglected and suppressed rural poor. That is why they are willing to work with the political parties within a multiparty political structure if there is a complete and genuine transfer of power from the king to the people ..... engage the Maoists politically and facilitate the soft-landing of their movement into mainstream democratic politics.....
- The Word And The World by Anil Bhattarai Gandhi's village republic, mixed with ancient Hindu practices of elite male village council, found its expression in the partyless panchayat democracy with, of course, many permutations..... Nepal has over 100 officially recognized languages and none of them have directly translatable words for democracy. ...... Democracy does not mean the same thing for both the dalits and brahmins, for example; nor to men and women...... Prajatantra in common parlance also communicates a nuanced feeling of frustration and failure. ..... instances of transformative action made possible by the opening up of democratic space after the political change of 1990 ..... the ideals of a functioning system as well as frustration with its non-materialization...... The cacophony of voices that the post-1990 political changes gave rise to are seen as a threat to social order....... The general strikes, organized demands and demonstrations challenging the status quo to them appear undesirable and disorderly....... Civil society in the initial years was conceptualized as the very foundation of democracy, as a moral force for rectifying the authoritarian tendencies of the state and rapacity of the market..... inclusive institutions, procedural fairness and substantive involvement of the civil society ..... democracy is not something ‘finished', but is in-the-making, constantly transforming...... a wide gap between accepting democracy as a positive value and defending it in the face of threats. ...... democracy is preferred because it allows for the flowering of innate potential of individuals in society... the justifications are largely based on ideals imagined, not reality lived.... formal and alienating procedural rituals ..... For some groups the increasing assertion of historically marginalized people has become a cause of concern. ... dependence on foreign aid implies that state policies have increasingly to conform to the dictates of international agencies ...... while people do not accept autocratic rule by the king, no voices are raised against autocracy within political parties and other institutions of society ...... others who might oppose military rule are willing to accept rule by experts as necessary. They may be called the developmentalist democrats, who have internalized the notion of expert-led development...... campaigns for the elimination of untouchability in society – led mainly by dalit activists ..... For people who formed the Gorkha Parishad, democracy meant an overthrow of the autocratic Rana regime. They, however, failed to sufficiently think through alternative arrangements.......
- elves with certain political parties for protecting their self-interest.... The Working Of Democracy by Mukta Singh Lama ..... disguising the exclusion and further marginalization of indigenous peoples, dalits, women and other minorities ..... a one-party state was not considered undemocratic; rather it was presented as rejecting the ‘foreign ideology' of political parties and replacing it by substantive democracy through a guided mechanism...... the concept of democracy is even extended to justify anti-democratic tendencies, including corruption and abuse of authority for fulfilling self-interest and the use of violent means for oppression..... those who hold power to define and implement democracy programmes continue to be drawn from the same social backgrounds – namely Bahun, Chhetri, Thakuri and Newars...... Such imbalanced representation is directly reflected in state institutions as well as in the civil society sector. The exclusion of marginalized groups has become institutionalized across the various sectors as networks established by the dominant group expand and function in the country....... arrival of democracy in Nepal after 1990 enabled innovative mobilization of social groups for resisting the abuse of state power and demanding alternative forms of democracy...... formal democratic institutions have failed to effectively address the profound structural problems of inequality and injustice..... Thar-Ghar in which members of six elite families belonging to the Aryal, Pandey, Khanal, Pant, Thapa and Basnet clans supported the Saha kings as military generals, advisors and administrators...... the loss of land which was the base of subsistence livelihood of the indigenous peoples contributed to loss of their history, culture and identity ...... 1963 .... setting up of 75 districts ...... The essence of the partyless system was an absence of popular participation and centrality of the king, who skilfully managed to combine two sources of legitimacy – traditional Hindu kingly authority and the modern notion of representative democracy....... The number of government offices increased from 2,419 in 1960 to 9,430 in 1990 and the number of civil servants reached 100,638 in 1990 from 27,272 in 1960.....The Panchayat Constitution of Nepal 1963, had for the first time declared Nepal as a ‘Hindu Kingdom', pushing the agenda of ‘national integration' through the process of homogenisation and assimilation of cultural diversity...... policies for ‘ one language, one dress ' were officially promoted..... debate and action pertaining to ethnicity and culture other than ‘national' culture was discouraged as ‘communal' and ‘anti-national' and, therefore, met strong official opposition..... The power to define the reigning ideology of nationalism, democracy and development gained through access to politics, bureaucracy and education, including western education, during the panchayat era substantially augmented a section of the society which would eventually become even more powerful and prosperous during the democratic period....... 1991.... The first articulated ‘the people as the source of sovereign authority'; second, the king was designated as a ‘constitutional monarch'; third, Article 3 officially recognised the country as ‘multi-ethnic and multi-lingual' and last, it guaranteed freedom to political parties, associations and expression...... Article 4 privileges the Nepali language as the ‘language of the nation' and to be used as the official language. Similarly, contrary to the fundamental rights granted by the constitution, Article 112(3) prohibits formation of any political organization or party on the basis of religion, community, caste, tribe or religion...... The composition of the governing elites of Nepal in terms of caste, ethnicity, and gender between 1854 and 1999 remained more or less the same...... the dynastic element remained dominant at the higher level of all party structures..... members from Bahun and Chhetri caste groups, who constitute 28.5% of the total population of the country, continued to occupy about 60% of the positions as legislators, while janajatis or indigenous nationalities, though 37.2% of the total population accounted for less than 15% of the MPs in 1999...... dalits (12.2%) are virtually nonexistent in the legislature..... Municipalities in which 116 mayors and deputy mayors were elected in 1997, the Bahun Chhetri captured 42% of the positions..... 54.42% of the VDC chairpersons were from the Bahun/Chhetri community..... debate in parliament largely focused on removing the party in power or defending it. Only about one-fifth of the parliamentarians took an active part in debates...... The relationship between the cabinet and the bureaucracy can be characterized as a love-hate affair. Each new minister, equipped with discretionary power to control and manipulate the civil administration, clashes with the established bureaucracy. In the absence of appropriate plans and mechanisms to translate party policies into programmes, ministers often recruit hundreds of party workers as government ‘civil servants', modify budget allocations to fund pet projects and influence the decisions on tenders and contracts for personal benefit...... Nepalese bureaucracy basically chooses two methods. The first is to share the benefits of corruption with the incumbent minister and second, ally themselves with certain political parties for protecting their self-interest...... indigenous nationalities, dalits, women and other minorities in the Nepalese civil service have faced consistent erosion in the last few years...... strong elite resistance towards affirmative action ..... During the panchayat era, the expanded bureaucracy served as an effective mechanism to extend control over local communities, undermine their autonomy and dispossess them of natural and biological resources...... The bureaucracy in Nepal is an interesting example of the ‘elite capture' of state institutions. It successfully asserts its interests through influencing both policy decisions, thought to be the domain of the legislature, and policy outcomes by controlling the implementation mechanism. ...... The legal code of 1854, Muluki Ain , for example, classified the diverse population of Nepal, including non-Hindu indigenous nationalities, into a caste hierarchy and formalized punishment for failing to observe the caste principles...... In the process of state formation, the courts were perhaps the first institutions to assert state power in public life...... Like all other state institutions, the courts too are dominated by members of the minority population belonging to high caste groups, with 90% drawn from Bahun, Chhetri and Newar communities, while there is no representation from the dalits. Of the 242 judges in the 92 courts, only four are women. ...... major decisions revolve more around the personality of the chief justice than the court as an institution..... some questioning the provision of the ‘contempt of court' clause itself as a breach of the right to freedom of expression...... because of lengthy procedures, expense, corruption and inability to enforce decisions, the district courts have virtually become redundant..... A case filed in the lower level court, for example, can take up to 12 years for a decision, which too perhaps would never be implemented. ...... ever since the Maoists started to operate their own ‘people's court' in the villages, the number of cases filed in the government district court has dropped from approximately 1000 to 50 per annum ...... The Local Administration Act 1971 empowers the Chief District Officers (CDO) to command the police force in their districts...... Besides controlling street demonstrations in urban areas, especially the capital, the police together with the CDO play the role of a quasi-judicial body in large parts of the rural areas. Many cases, before being reported to the court, are settled by the police themselves. This work provides the police an opportunity to extract money from the local population in the form of bribes........ Police atrocities during the early stage of Maoist insurgency significantly contributed to fuelling the violent conflict. ....... the Bahun-Chhetri comprise 73% of the officers, Newars 12% and the janajatis, including the Tharu, have 13% ...... 66% were killed by the security forces. .. more than 40% of those killed remain unidentified, the caste and ethnic pattern of fatalities suggests that state victims are concentrated among indigenous janajatis while Maoist victims are concentrated among the higher caste Chhetris, Brahmins, and Thakurs....... Most political parties are organized around a particular ideology or personality....... Party fragmentation continued to be a characteristic of the political processes....... By the end of the 1999 general election, along with Nepali Congress and Nepal Communist Party (UML), nine others emerged as viable political parties....... the tendency to use state-owned mass media in favour of the ruling party....... the abuse of civil administration and security by the ruling party for winning votes....... the continual flouting by political parties of stipulated rules in the Election Code of Conduct prohibiting vote buying and limits on expenditure by candidates...... there exists a remarkable gap between the popular vote and the seats a party has in parliament. ..... The existing first-past-the-post election system is not only responsible for incompatibility between the popular vote and actual seats in the representative bodies, but also for systemic exclusion of historically marginalized ethnic groups and other minorities. ..... Politics in Nepal has largely been characterized by dynasty, a personality cult and kinship network...... social composition of political parties demonstrates the capture of power by certain caste groups ........ The high caste domination in the leadership of the CPN (Maoist), which is currently involved in violent insurgency with the aim of establishing a republic with ethnic autonomy, shows that even a radical left party is unable to ensure equitable representation. ..... Single caste domination is a paradox for parties which claim to represent the people as a whole or a class of proletariat and workers...... without changing the composition of the party leadership, democratization in a larger context is impossible....... a ‘democratic veil', which enables the dominant groups to keep the exclusion invisible....... different regimes employed political power to extract resources and surplus from the peasants to better the economic status of elite groups....... In the absence of measures for protection and inclusion, the disadvantaged groups only fell further behind in the free competition demanded by liberal policies...... those falling in the lower hierarchy of caste structure and ethnic groups also suffer from higher levels of poverty..... The absence of elected local bodies and incapacity of civil servants to move beyond the district headquarters and its periphery has resulted in heavy under-expenditure of the development budget during the last year, even as security expenditure increased to about 25% of total GDP....... caste hierarchy and subsequent economic exploitation and marginalization...... social movements in Nepal represent hope for a more vibrant and inclusive democracy......
