NESAC 1998:145‑46。
3.3 Some Statistics
3。 3。l Caste/ethniclty
The 2001 census has shown the flly percent each of the lmtale and female populttion comprising ll,377,556 female and ll,369,378 1nale。 Ofthe total population,the 14.2 percent people live in the urban areaso According to the 2001 census,Nepal houses100 etlllicity/caste
groups, and 94 1inguistic conlmunities however it has been estimated more than those ● recorded numbers by the researchers and activists。
●
●
●
Table l:Region based ethnic/caste population distribution and their percentage
Rteglon Ethnic Population % Caste Population % Total %
Mountain
Hill
lnner Tarai Taral
5 190,107 2.3 20 6,038,530 72.9 7 251,117 3 12 1,787,538 21.6 1* 5.259 0
9 8,638,797 64。 1
44 4,4319681 32.8 1** 173。 401 3
190,107 0。8 14,677,327 64。5
251,117 1.1 6,219,219 27。3
178,660 0。 7 Sub‑lotal 45 8,2729551 100 54 13,243,879 100
Others Churaute
Bengali MIuslim Sikh
Unidentirled士
1 49893 1 99860 1 971,056 1 39054 1 231。 641
Sub‐ total 5 1,220,504 l.220.504 5。3
Total 2297369934 100
The table is based on the 2001 population census,national report page 73‐ 74,table 16.
・ Note:* denotes̀Indigenous Nationalities Category';,** denotes̀Unidentifled Dalit.91」 nidentifled*denotes̀Unidentified Caste/cthnic'.
Nepal is divided into maJor threc ecologlcal reglons:the Mountain,the Hill and the tarai (rttely the irmer tttai also used).ThOSe belts depict particular sociocultural authenticity and cultivate historical tradition and vogue55。 Of the total population, nearly two― third(64e5 percent)contributes by the hill people, like 27.3 percent constitutes by the taral origin
people; 1。 l percent by the inner―tarai origin and O.8 percent goes to the Mountain origin people.For the others Mus五 nl,Sildl,(Churatute and]BengaH have included;those groups are neither ethnic nor caste groupse Actually those are religious and linguistic groupso This category(other)COVers 4。 3 percento However,in telllls Of Settlement 48。 4 percent population resides in the tarai(ibid),WhiCh Comprises only 23 percent of the total lando The 21 percent hill and the rnountain origin people have rnigrated in the tttai region。
The indigenous nationalities and caste groups comprise 36。 3 percent and 59.3 percent respectively.In the caste group traditionally the Hindu groups have included including the
ex―lDalits,and so called high caste people.Nevertheless,religion is not central criteria of deflnition.From the native homeland those groups cme from the hill and the tarai regions。
But,indigenous nationalities groups cover all four geographical regions:the mountain,hill, inner tarai and tttai.But it does not lnean that they have separate clustering of residence。
According to the caste/ethnicity donlinance 21,10,7,7,6,5,and 5 districts are found single
maority by the Chhetti,Bahun,Tamang,Magar,Rai,YadⅣ
and Musalmm respectively.●
55 see Gaige(1975),Yadav(1997),Gupta(2004).
Like Thanち and Gurung predonlinate their flrst position in 4 each districts ttd Lilnbu,and Newar cover in 3 each districts respectively。
3。 3。2 Mother tongues
The recorded number of the mother tongues directly ttuctuates with the various political regimes(see research method)in Nepalo During the Pancha7yat period the number of mother tongues decreases butin the 1951 and 1991,袖 d2001 censuses its number has increased.For the flrst tilne in 1952/54 mother tongues were reported and 52 mother tonguc groups were enlisted,the number decreases with 36,17,and 18 in 1961,1971 and 1981 censuseso Like 32 recorded in 1991 census and discovered 92 1nother tongues in the 2001。
Table 2:Distribution of mother tongues
Percent status Cohort of mother tongues
●
Q
Nepali,Maithili
Bhapuri,Tharll(Dagaura/Rttla),Tamang
Newar,Magar,Awadhi,Bantawa,Gurllng,Limbu,Bttika
Urdu,RttbそmShi,Sherpa,Hindi,Chamling,Santhali,Chepang,Danuwar,Jhandar/Dhalgar, Sunuwar,Bangla,Marwari(Rttasthani),Matthi
Thami,Kulung,Dhimal,Angika,Yakkha,Thulung,Sangpang,Bhtte1/Khawas,Darai, Khaling,Kumal,Thakali,Chhantya1/Chhantel,Nepali Sign Language,Tibbet田 ,Dhumi, Jirel,Wambule/Umbule,Puma,Yholmo,Nachhiring
Dura,Meche,Pahari,Lepcha/Lepche,Bote,Bahing,Koi/Koyu,Rtti,Hayu,By〔mgshi, Yttphu/Yamphe,Ghale,Khariya,Chhiling,Lohorung,Puttabi
Chinese,English,Mewahang,Sanskrit,Kaike,Raute,Kisan,Churauti,]Baran1/Maramu, Tilung,Jero/Jerung,Dungmali,C)riya,Lingkhiln,Kusunda,Sindhi,Koche,Hariyanwi, Magahi,Sanl,Kurmali,Kagate,Dzonkha,Kuki,Chhintang,Mizo,Nagamese,Lhorrli, AssaΠ llse,Sadhanl
0。74 Unknown Lan
Total
In the 2001 census,Nepali language is the single largest number,it covers l19053,255(48。 6 percent)and the smallest the Shadhani mother tongue, its speaker recorded only 2(0。 00 percent)peOpleo From the second to ive lttgest percent mother tongues family groups tte Maithili,Bhapuri,Thttu(Dag〔 ЩrJR〔ma),and Tan〔mg,those groups share 12。 3,7。5,5。 8,5。1
percentages respectivelyo Newar,Magar,Awadhi,IBantawa,and Gumg found sixth to tenth
position with 3。6,3.3,2。4,1。6,and l。4 percentages respectively.
3。 3。 3 Religion
On 18 May 2006, a nine―point procl〔Ination of the reinstated House of iR.epresentatives declared Nepal̀a Religiously Secular State'。 Before thatit was govemed by thèHindu State
く10
<5
<1
<0。10
<0。02
<0。01 0
●
２ ３ ７ １３
２︲
Sourcc:Central Bureau of Statistics 2001,National Report,Table 19.
●
Ideology' consequently the Hindu religion had been securing between 87 to 89 percent in earlier censuses ttd however a■ er the introduction of the multip:rty democracy and pa〕 e of indigenous nationalities movement this percentage declined to 3。 6 in the 1991 census and
again 5。9 in the 2001 census compared to the inllnediate past censuso The NEFIN advocates and sends the circu12r to its members to wite own original religion other than Hindu, consequently lnany the indigenous nationalities groups retain their own language side by side C)hristianity is increasing rapidly.
Table 3:The religious make up ofNepal according to the decennial censuses
Religion 1952 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
●
HindulsIIl
Buddhism lslam Kirati Christianity Jalnlsm C)thers Unstated Total Religion Hinduls】m Buddhism lsiam Kirati Christianity Jalnlsm C)thers Unstated
7318392 8254403 707104 807991 208899 280597
458 831 684
5716
88.9 8.6
2。5
87.7 9.3 3
10330009 866411 351186
2541 5836
89.4
7。5 3
13445787 799081 399197 3891 9430 365445
1981 89.5
5。3
2。7
<。1
0.1
2.4
15996953 1439142 653218 318389 31280 7561 26416 18138
18330121 2442520 954023 818106 101976 4108 86095 8235079 9412996 11555983 15022831 18491097
1952 1961 1971
22736934 1991 2001
86.5 80.6
7。8 10。7
3。5 4。2
1。7 3.6
0。2 0。5
<。1 <。 1
0.1 0.4
0.1 0。 1
0.1
●
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source:H.Gurung(1998:95)plus data ttom 2001 census
(PerCentages do not always add up to 100 because ofrounding;the last digit ofthe total fbr 1981 has been corrected l辟 om
̀9'tò1';the total fOr 2001 is lei as reported in the 2001 census Table 18 even though itis 15 too few。 )
3。4】巨istoЦ/of activisnl in Nepal
On 12 August,1931,in the lniddle of night,four political activists56were Sent to the(Central Jail and one exiled57。n the indictment of the attempt to the follllation of the flrst political
56 Khandga Man Singh]Basnet,Maina Bahadur Khatri,Ranga Nath Sharma,and Khadga Man Singh gotlife with imprisonment,all physical properties conflscatedo They were not kined because they got a reprieve'om
3犠 計帯 締 蜘粗猟警
l:【訛 お 胤 he w… り
dκ闘К 。
org〔mizttion58 in Nepal,the Prachanda GorkhàResurgent Gorkha'(Sh〔
mma 1970,Shing 1975,Gaut枷
2000).]MOSt probably for the irst time in the Kathandu street,threc hand―written pttphlets appetted with three explicit conlmunication:flrst,fo.11lation of a political organization;second,threatening the lRanas for their autocratic rule;and third,an appeal to the people to overthrow the autocrttic Rtta regime,by the Praa ParisI週 p霞サ ̀PeOple's
Council P弯
'On 1940。 In the lSt September of the same year,Nepal faced flrst generalstrikes59。
Nonetheless,before then,since 1920s,from the co― oners(グタ″″α滅2だ)60 prOWess various activisms and movements had been staЁ ed against the esttblishent,through the cultural and social conduits both in clandestine follll and overtlyo Contending nobilities,King and his kin, educated youths, ex― IBritish―Gorkah aHny men, middle class people, businessmen, social refollllers,priests,even some]Rana's fractions were contributing to those activisms,inside Nepal〔md from lndia。
Albeit,the then ettlier,severally agglomertted members ofnobilities known as c力 α
"″r″αS6f, bttαr滅7rs62,
"た
乃′″αr63 families/factions used to compose coteries under the leadership of one senior noble― blood membero Those coteries unambiguously motivated to resist or seize the political powers,from competing̀family'through bloodshed or θttαλαrJ ofroyal fanlilies.
Those were thèpolitical others'or̀war pany64,. suCh collective actions incubated in the mttrices of royal palaces, cither by the King or qucens(flrSt Or second65)。 r arny rOyal members secking to personal opportunity space.
58 some Scholars claim that the irst political parw in Nepal was Prtta PariShad with a clear program,and membership commoners as well as for a declared of peoples movement(see Fisher 200),but Prachanda Gorkha lack these ottect市es and had violated means.One of its founders,Khadga Man Singh however,claimed it was the flrst political organization committed to parliamentary democracy under the king's leadership(see Singh
1975)。 An their members were arrested and sent to Jailo Two were died in the jail ald two got e対 led with conflscation ofpropeny。
59 see Singh(1975)for details。
60 Ranas rulers used the tem̀グ
"″夕αあ r'for commoners,not citizen,the terrn used atter the dawn of democracy in 1951。
61E)istant relatives ofthe King.
62 Noblemen.
63 The Second口
ranking Rana,head ofthe civilian adrrlinistration,also caned commander‐ in‐lChief Saheb.
64 The Pandey family fomled̀war parり 'against the Thapa in about(1872 VS/1715 AD)(sec Pandey
1986:145).Ramakant writes: the宙 ew of parades,battle practices and manufactures of guns were the common amusements of that warlike‐ race and the princes. Bhirnsen, being the Prirrle‐ Minister of a defeated martial nation tied always to keep the soldiers in good humor by maintaining a war atinosphere so as to secure his own position.It must not be forgotten that there always existed a perrnanent̀war parり 'in the Durbar''(ct ibid).
65̀Traditionany,the shah Kings always got hⅣ
o wives atthe same tilrle,presumably to ensure succession to the throne.One important side of effect this practice was a gradual corrosion of the royal powerso The Senior and Junior QucenS Were not merely competitors for the status of favorite wife;they were at times involved in bitter struggles with each other over the King's J7露 たγ″,and over the succession rights oftheir respective children.The
●
●
●
●
The internally genetically recruited units;which l say thèpolitical RInilies'were constituted on purelỳ食 Inily ideology'66.BeyOnd sociological RInily theories67,̀p01itical ttlnilies'were constituted in the ideals of thèlack of individuation'where the self used to locate in second position a■ ;er the nlnily68。 Thapa,Pandey and Basnet ttlnily killed,exiled and conflscated of properties among each―other。 On the 15 September, 1946 Junga lBahadur Kunwar69 and his seven brothers assassinated dozens of the Thapa, Pandey, εttα露′αr″αs eSpecially Kshetry nobilities and introduced̀tyrannical Rana rule'70 which had been stamped asノ α力α″Vosasα″
̀食Inily rule' in Nepali historyo For the creation of those coteries,the elements of ttlnily history and capital,members of young lnale used to be prerequisites,employing the method of εttαたαrJ7f of the king72 and qucenso However, those were only intrigues and counter―
intrigues,lacks required components of activism in theoretical rneasureso However,religious and social activislns exist since the antiquity.
̀Collect市e action consist tty goal‐ directed acti宙 ty engaged in jointly by two or more ind市 idualso lt entails the pursuit of a common ottect市 e through joint action that is,people working together in some fashion for a verity of reasons,o■ en including the beliefthat doing so enhances the prospect of achie宙 ng the ottect市es'(SnOw,Soule ttd Krisei(2005:6)).As noted earlier,post uniflcation,especially,some noble ttlnilies,Pandey,Basnet,Tha7pa,cme
Junior QucenS Were likely to resOrt to extreme tactics to counter the established convention under which the sons ofthe Senior Qucen had prior right ofsuccession to the throne(sce JOShi and Rose 2004).
66 The nlnily ideology,which endowed downwards into in thèsame‐
father's―sonS',Sometimes blood relatives members,too(see Rana 2002).
67 Functionalist social theory depict:three constitutive narratives of the ̀彙
1lnily',flrst relatively more unifled be●Ⅳeen home and work,public and private,sacred and secular,instrllrrlental and expressive,and work and play than typical FFlodern households;second,patriarchal in their ordering logic,with legal and customary authority residing in males and kinship organized through strong,oten econonlicaHy based,paternal ties;and ina‖ y, geocentric in the sense that activities remaining organized around the reproduction ofthe RInily,with women as signiflcant partners in the houschold work during the preindustrial societies in the West,(Han,Neitz and Batttti(2003)).
68 6JaSた
θ rttbαrしむた。Dα″bαr:One who holds sword willrule and Jasん αC乃力θrα しむたθD力α″ノαsんα BttαЙ〕Jしなんθ Bα″:who has sons the one will eam wealth who has buffalos and one owns the forest.Those rnaxiins renect ilrlportance ofpower the contemporary social order.
69Junga Bahadur and his lhmily eam Rana title on 5th May,1848 1inking their genealogy with̀Rttput'Of Chittaudgad,India,again,Jung]Bahadur coronate by Sri 3 on 6th August,1856 from the royal seal,which was to be supposed to transfer this status on his eldest son's lineage but Ranadip Shing,brother and the successor of Prilne Minister snatched the tilted with hiln and rearranged it with Prerniership automaticany。
70{connict between Jung(sons Of Jung]Bahadur Rana)and Sharimisher(sOns Of Junga's youngest brother lDhir Sharrlsher Rana)calme into assassination,exile and conflscationo The 17 brothers Shalmsher family killed and sweep outto Jung farrlily which is known as Bayalish Sal Parba in Nepali history.
71 A practice ofpaying respects to a superior.
72 The King had an sovereign power,for the first tilne,in the constitution ofthe 1990's kingdonl ofNepalo King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah,however,said:̀̀̀we are convinced thtt the source of sovereign authority ofthe independent and sovereign Nepal is inherent in the people".
●
●
into direct con■ict and confrontationso They had outstttding role to expand to the modem political unit,the Nepalo Those fanlilies were encircled through blood relation.
3。4。 1。 IIstablishment collective actions in traditional form
When kings appetted weak or inttllt or child,such situations'regent or royal lnembers and BIritish representatives mmipulated their role through the contending families to achieve multiple interestso Consequently,genetically recruited unit,which is thè食 Inily',grown up in the rolo of as political organization,which was tagged as̀Wtt Patty' as well as̀Pcace PIIり'in the contemporary time(sec Pandey(1986̀2041 VS')).Even though,since the very beginning of existence of the petty stttèmarriage'and̀ JたrJ'relation were employed as tactical political capital to plot or maintain faithful inter state relationshipo Prithvi Nttayan Shah had employed the sme strategy to launch the integration attempt。
Since the inter―食Inily bloodshed tradition introduced as resources to seize the political power by Thapa,Pandey and IBasnet amongst each other farnily emerged as active political unit。
Kai,Prime Minister Dmodar Pandey,his eldest son Lalit Bam Pandey and some his
supporter nobilities(Bhttdtts)eXecuted in 1804(1860 VS)by hiS Opposition family theThapa(Pandey 1986:117)in reVenge Damodar's third son Rana Jung Pttldey made an
enviroment to compelled to suicide to Bheshen Thapa as the result he commit suicide in July 29, 1839(Pandey(1986: 166))。 There was extreme connict betteeǹWar paJy ttd Peacc Pany'(see ibid)On the ideology of family cleavage,connict and revenge. In such circumstances Jang Bahadur Kunwar captured the power through thèKot Massacre'in 1846.Pro B)ritish Kuwar killed dozens of potential oppOnent nobilities and gradually becme onllipotent in the Nepali politics. The other Rana ttLInilies a■ empted to assassinate Jang Btthadur but all the times he escaped unhurt。
In the leadership of Jang's own brother, Badri Narshing,with one royal member,Upedra Shah, attempted to kill Jang in 1951, but they were not successiallo The grievances were constructed within personal ego and religious orthodoxy。 One ofthe team members of Jang Bahadur's Europe宙 sit tem,Karbir Khatri,who joined thtt group because Jttg Bttadur made physical relationship with European girls and disObey the Hindu traditional nolllls and
values(Rana 2004,Rana 2003,Gautam 1990).Latter famous event known as∠
」肋お 巡b′Pαrbtt Bcソα′:む乃SaJ Bαrbα occuH・ed on 1982,1986 respectively and killed lots ofthe rest lt should have come as no suttriSe that once the authoritarian and controlling hand of the both Rana and again introduced the Panchaytt regime by the king(Chapter One),Were
●
●
●
◆
removed that there would be an efaorescence of activismo Along with the political opening up, there has been considerable liberalization, not to say mttketization, in the flelds of education,health,transportation,electriflcation,and the lnedia。 73 Public media are reaching throughout the country in an unprecedented wayo Today,people tte participating as never before in many new local political institutions,civil clubs,non―
govemmental and community
organizations。
Nepal has had three constitutions and three governlnent acts so far,nttely,the Constitution ofthe Kingdom OfNepa1 1958,thc(Constitution of Nepal 1962,and the(Constitution of the
Kingdom of Nepa1 1990, and the Gove―
ent of Nepal Act 1948 and the lnterilnGovel―
ent of Nepal Act 1951 狙d the 2007。 For the flrst time the ethnic,linguistic,and cultural d市ersity of Nepal was acknowledged constitutionally in 1990 when Nepal was deflned as ̀̀a multiethnic, multilingual, democratic, independent, indivisible, sovereign, Hindu ttd iConstitutional Monttchical Kingdon19': the words ̀multicthnic', ̀Inultilingual'9̀democratic',狙 d̀Constitutional' were all new additions,when comptted to the previous constitution.
Consequently,atter the prOmulgation ofthe new constitution ofthe Kingdonl ofNepa1 1990, opened up avenues for the mobilization of all sorts of activisln in the country― both individual and collective levelo Patticul′ rly post‑1996,after the introduction of the Maoist insurgency,both printed and electronic media have been cultivating column and airing news on various levels, folHis, types, and natures of collective actions, protests, aё tivisms, movements, insurgencies, and counter insurgencies as well as their strategies andね ctical
repertoireso lt can be comptted with the Sydney Tarrow's phrases ttld conceptions(1998)
̀seething ullrest',袖d̀boiling cauldron'which he compares especially to European society in the 18 and early 19th centaury. From 1996 onwards, activisnl, movements, and collective actions becme a perennial and routine paЁ of Nepali life, especially in urban tteas (neVertheless the Maoist insurgency has emerged frolm rural areas).
73 PriVate television channels now available in Kathmandu include Kantipur,Nepal l,Image,Channel Nepal, Shangri‐La,EMetro,NTV Metroo According to K夕 ″′″
"″(14 January 2004),altOgether 56 private FM stttions have been registered in Nepal ofwhich 26 are in operation(nOt including those run by the Maoists)。 HOWever, the amy has urged the governmentto cancelthe thilty licenses on security grounds.Kι ritipur,KTM Metro, Radio Sagamatha,HBC,Image,KEC,Times are serving the Ktthmandu Valleyo Nepali daily newspapers include:Kb″ ′れ)z″9 αJayα ■ θs,Sα αε力α″Pα″rα,∠″″
̀写
)γ″″α Pοs′;in English there are 7物θスレ励 α″グ露 Pοs′,and ttθ 〃′ α′のノα″
「
j θs.There are also numerous weekly and fortnightly newspapers focused on as well as magazines speciflc issues,oog。 ,ethnic groups,women,Dalits,or reHgiono Before 1990 there were only 加 o governΠlent daiHes the Gο″た力ψ αけa and 2ワ,θRおing Nepα′in NepaH and English respectively,in addition to weeklies backed by different political factionso Sce Kharel(2000)and Onta(2002)for surveys ofthe media
since 1990。
し
●
Enollllous public discourses were initiated and organizations materialized; activists, acadenlics,and intellectuals began to engage in the expression and exchange of views in a way that had previously been banned。 3 As noted earlier,varied folllls of activism took place as political groups,cultural nationalists,Dalit,women,Madheshi,ctc.,asserted their ethnic and territorial autonomy,the right to self detellllination,linguistic revitalization,and so on.
Dalits,women,the disabled,and numerous social organizations and religious groups have since advocated their rights and identities as Weigert, Smith, and Teitge state, ̀̀social organization is the principle of sel」 卜organization, and both together explain social action"
(1986:5).Lesbian,gay,and sex worker movements started up.Maly ofthese seek links with lntemttional Non―
Govementa1 0rg〔 mizations(INGOs).Act市
ist organizttions have a key role in the ongoing transfollllation of Nepali societyo Since 1990 it is estilnated that inoreth〔
m30,000 Co―
unity―Based Org〔mizttions(CBOS)and Non― Govemmenta1 0rg〔 mizttions NGOs)haVe been registered in Nepal,focusing pmicularly on development,awtteness, advocacy, civic and human rights, the enviromnent, children, women, peace, and so on (Gellner and Kttki fo■hcoming).Those grown up activisms across ethnicities/castes,age groups,religions,regions,classes, and sexualitieso All those recruitments and mobilizations have been triggering social scientists to ask some serious questions:how have the collective actions,mass mobilizations (mOVements,revolution)come intO being?How do people join those mass mobilizttions?
How do people construct their meaning, knowledge, and image?How do some members assign in such actions ttd some remain neutra1/non‐ activist in the same s…Ounding and tinling under a family or a conlnunity?What are the lnotivating and networking pattems of activists?What are the recruitinent technologies and processes that are being deployed by
activists?
3。4。 2。 Constitutional inclusivisnl and the rise of activism
lt should have come as no sttrise that once the authoritarian and controlling hand of the Panchayat regilne was removed that there would be an efnorescence of activismo Along with the political opening up,there has been considerable liberaHzation,not to say marketization, in the flelds ofeducation,health,transportation,electriflcation,and the rnedia.74 Public lnedia
74 PriVate television channels now available in Kathmandu include Kantipur,Nepal l,Image,Channel Nepal, Shangrila,Emetro,NTV Metro.According to Kα ″′″γr(14 January 2004),altOgether 56 private FM stations have been registered in Nepal and of these 26 are in operation (nOt including those run by the Maoists).
However,the army has urged the govemment to cancel the remaining thitt licences on security grounds.
Kantipur,KTM Metro,Radio Sagarmttha,HBC,Irrlage,KEC,Tinles are serving the Kathmandu Valleyo Nepali
●
●
●
●
are reaching throughoutthe country in an unprecedented wayo Today,people are paЁ icipating as never before in many new local political institutions,civil clubs,non口
gove―
ental andco―
unity organizttions。Nepal has had four constitutions and two govemment acts so far,namely,the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1958,the(Constitution of Nepa1 1962,and the(Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepa1 1990,田 ld lnterim Constitution of Nepal,2006,鉗 ld the GovelⅧment of Nepal Act 1948 and the lnteriln GoveHInent ofNepal Act 1951。 For the flrst time the etlulic,
linguistic,and cultural diversity of Nepal was acknowledged constitutionally in 1990 when Nepal was deflned as ̀̀a multiethnic, multilingual, democratic, independent, indivisible, sovereign, Hindu and Constitutional Monarchical Kingdonl": the words ̀multiethnic',
̀multilingual',̀democratic',and̀Constitutional'were all new additions,when compared to
the previous constitution。
As a result ofthe April Movement 2006,the reinstated House of Representatives declared a
nine―point procl〔Ination ofthem one was̀a Religiously Secular State'on 18 May 2006.For the flrst time in Nepal's constitutional histo理 ん Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2006 proclaimed,all mother tongues speaking in Nepal arèNational Language',but Devanagari script will be the offlcial language however in the local institutions and offlces are a1lowed to use and recorded the local languages as offlcial languages。
3。5 Vectors of difference
One key word,which remained in the 1990(Constitution's deflnition of the kingdonl,to the dismay of ethnic and(non― Hindu)religious activists,was the word̀Hindu'.Although Hinduism was a key part ofthe legitilnation ofthe kingdonl ofNepal from the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah and before,Nepal was only actually offlcially labelled̀a Hindu kingdom'in Mahendra's constitution of 1963。 This was,ironically,just tt the time when most of the sttte's operation had in fact become almost wholly secul鉗 (G激)orie机11982),額ld thiS is even
more so todayo Since all discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, or etlllicity, is
outlawed,one co―
entator remarks that̀̀it would not be far from the truth to say that Nepaldaily newspapers include:メ Gα″′″
"r,Hittαttπノα甦瓶 θs,Sα αθttα″Pα″α,∠″″
̀ψ"″
α PοS′;in English there are ηりθ焔 滋 α″ι力Pοsr,刀りθH: αJayα″π θse There are also numerous weckly ttld fortnightly newspapers,as well as magazines oriented to speciflc issues,oog.ethnic groups,women,IDalits,or religion.Before 1990 there were essentially just the two govemment daily newspapers,the Gο ″た力
̀ψ
α″α and劉りθRおJ″g NepαJ in Nepali and English respectively, plus weckHes backed by different poHtical factions. See Kharel(2000)and Onta (2002)for suⅣ eyS ofthe media since 1990。
●
●