Kosmos Biswokarma in Republica
Elite finds it difficult to let go uni-culturalism: Report
Bahun/Chhetri elites .... “Many are still most at home with majoritarian and highly centralised forms of governance and they find it difficult to leave behind the notion of the homogenous nation-state and the belief that ´national unity´ requires the assimilation of diversity,” the report says. “This is where their push back against the on-going restructuring process has been most openly expressed.” ...... The report titled “Forging Equal Citizenship in a Multicultural Nepal” which was completed in September last year still remains a ´draft´ due to the pressure from ´hill elites´. The UK Department of International Development (DfID) ..... report basically unravels how Bahuns and Chhetris have dominated in the state affairs creating a uni-cultural society and explains in detail the present status of five excluded groups - women, Dalit, Janajati, Madhesi and Muslim. ...... there has not been enough open discussion about what underlies the Madhesi and Janajati demand for federalism and why certain proposals for federal units based on various ´rational´ economic and geographic characteristics and organised north to south (much like the old development zones) are unacceptable to the Madhesis and Janajatis ........ “For these long-sidelined groups, federalism is about identity assertion and some degree of self-determination,” it is stated in the report. “It is a demand for a multicultural rather than a uni-cultural state.” .... two of the excluded groups - women and Dalits who have faced the deepest discrimination - just want the protection of their basic freedoms and the guarantee of equal human rights in the new state structure along with proportionate representation and affirmative action, the report highlights that for other groups like Madhesi, Janajati and Muslims, a constitution that guarantees substantive equality is not enough even as a starting point. ....... Janajatis, Madhesis and Muslims all want space to express and realize their own worldviews and values that differ from those of the long dominant Bahuns and Chhetris ...... “For Muslims - or at least some part of Nepal´s Muslim community, including many women - autonomy means primarily the right to follow Sharia personal law. ......... “For Janajatis and Madhesis “autonomy” refers to local self-rule or “self-determination” under a federal system. Both want to be able to use their own language in local schools and in the provincial/state level governments - and for Janajatis especially there is the idea that the institutions of local government should reflect their own traditional forms of governance and that they should have greater control over the use and protection of natural resources in their areas. ....... “The challenge for Nepal now is to find a way to accommodate the demands of those groups seeking some degree of self-determination and autonomy within the framework of an emerging multicultural Nepali state while also protecting the basic freedoms and human rights of all groups - including women, Dalits, as well as Muslims and smaller Janajati groups who will end up being “minorities within minorities” in provinces dominated by other groups.Pressure from 'hill elites' halts DfID exclusion report
due to the pressure from the traditional ´hill elites´. .... The report titled "Forging Equal Citizenship in a Multicultural Nepal" was completed in September last year, but still remains a ´draft´ because of DFID´s ´self-censorship´ under pressure. ...... highlights how Bahuns and Chhetris continue to prevail on all aspects of state affairs and how difficult it is to develop a just and inclusive Nepali society. ....... delegation of various high-caste organizations put pressure on the donors not to interfere in Nepal´s affairs by promoting the cause of the marginalized communities. ...... The delegation of the Joint Struggle Committee for National Sovereignty and Ethnic Harmony, a front comprising 11 different organizations of Brahmin, Chhetri and Dashnami, met with head of DFID Nepal Dominic O´Neill in May this year and told the latter not to interfere in Nepal´s internal affairs by providing funds to various NGOs, thereby promoting the cause of indigenous Janajatis. ........ International organizations, from multilaterals like World Bank to bi-laterals like DFID, have been bullied by the Bahun-Chhetri interest groups to the extent that they are toying with the idea of shifting from the term ´excluded´ to ´poor and vulnerable´. “ ....... The report has highlighted the domination of elite-caste hill Hindu which made it difficult to move the country beyond ´uni-culturalism´ in the 1990 constitution due to the retention of the Hindu monarchy and Hinduism as the state religion, terming it as "half-hearted effort at accommodating Nepal´s diversity.“ ...... "Bahun, and Chhetri, males remained overwhelmingly dominant in all branches of elected and administrative government - either unaware of or failing to take seriously, the resentment of other groups"
