Excursion report

Nepal 30. August – 15. September 2013

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Edited by Isabelle Aebersold, Norman Backhaus, Annabelle Jaggi, Annina Michel, Anne Wegmann, Miriam Wenner

Photos by Norman Backhaus, Monika Haggen-macher, Urs Mändli, Ulrike Müller-Böker, Pranil Upadhayaya, Micha Reichert, Isabelle Thurnherr Anne Wegmann, Miriam Wenner

Layout: Anne Wegmann

Cover design: Martin Steinmann

Cover photo: Urs Mändli

Please cite as:Aebersold, I., Backhaus, N., Jaggi, A., Michel, A., Wegmann, A. & Wenner, M. (2014): Nepal – Excursion report 2013, Department of Geogra-phy, University of Zurich, Zurich.

Editorial & Acknowledgements 04Miriam Wenner, Norman Backhaus

The Route 07Map

01—Religion and Culture 10 Annabelle Jaggi, Anita von Däniken, Monika Haggenmacher

02—From Monarchy to Democracy. Nepal till 1990 20 Philip Boesch, Micha Reichert

03—Restoration of democracy? Nepal 1990-2013 30 Kathrin Honegger, Urs Mändli

04—Nepal in Transition 40 Lisa Honegger, Irene Schärer, Anne Wegmann

05—Food security and Livelihoods in Nepal 50 Jill Brütsch, Sarah Hartmann, Alexandra Meister, Pascal Senn

06—Tourism and Environmental Protection in Nepal 64 Isabelle Aebersold, Davide Anderegg, Annina Michel, Isabelle Thurnheer

07—Lwang 74 — Community Forestry in Lwang and the surrounding villages — Interview with the VDC-Secretary of Lwang — Mothers’ Group — The school in Lwang

Participants 82Who was there?

Literature 88

CONTENT

54

Nepal is a country that many people associate with beautiful landscapes, the highest mountains of the world, colorful culture and impressive temples, and the peaceful co-existence of different religious groups. Being situated between China in the North and India in the South, Nepal indeed lives up to many of these expectations. Histori-cal trade routes and migration movements fos-tered the development of manifold cultural and religious traditions against the background of the “abode of snow”, the Himalaya.

Less people however take a more critical look at this Shangri-La imagination. Behind the pictu-resque scenes, the Nepalese population struggles with multiple challenges in terms of human deve-lopment, human rights and political stability. Ne-pal ranks among the “least developed” countries, behind Bangladesh and Bhutan (UNDP 2013). According to the UNDP, about 44 percent of the population live in multi-dimensional poverty (ac-cording to health, education, and living standard indicators) in 2013. Inequality in terms of wealth and access to resources is identified as one of the major hindrances to a more equal and just de-velopment (United Nations Country Team Nepal2012, 5). On the other hand, the political trans-formation after the end of the decade long vio-lent conflict between the Maoists and the Royal Nepalese Army provides opportunities to address

these problems. In terms of gender equality and health Nepal seems to have made an impressive progress since 2006 (ibid.). But the end of the conflict – and the subsequent abolition of mon-archy – also brought to the fore many cleavages in the Nepalese society. Ethnic and caste groups, which had long been oppressed by the ruling co-alition and the monarchy, became more conscious about their rights, demanding greater access to resources and political participation at the centre in Kathmandu, posing new challenges to political stability and raising the question of what a Nepa-lese nation state should look like.

One aim of the excursion was to gain a better un-derstanding of this political and social transfor-mation. What happened in Nepal after the peace-agreement in 2006? What were the reasons and causes that led to the emergence of the violent Maoist movement? What does it mean to live in Nepal for different groups of people? How do people make a living and meet their ends?

A first step to address these questions was to explore the country’s political history from the rise of the Gorkha Kingdom over the Rana-rule and the panchayat system, to the processes that eventually led to the people’s movements in 1990 and 2006 and to the abolition of mo-narchy. We also take a look at the cultural and

EDITORIAL

The excursion participants in Lwang

religious context expressed in the two major reli-gions, Hinduism and Buddhism, to gain a better understanding of people’s world views and daily religious practice. Various temples and shrines such as Swayambhunath, Boudhanath or Durbar Squares are not only sites of daily religious practi-ce but testimonials of the century old history of the country and its cultural evolution. The end of the civil war, the abolition of monarchy and the rise of new political actors in form of caste and ethnic movements led to new challenges for the state and political stability. These include the continued violation of human rights, the lack of enforcement of law and order, and the effective participation of minority groups. The political in-stability in the country prior to the elections to a new Constitutional Assembly in November 2013 also caused several bandhs or general strikes, one of which we experienced during our stay in Ka-thmandu. Besides this political crisis, we address a more hidden crisis taking place mostly in the remote villages of the country: the crises of food and livelihood insecurity. We then take a closer look at one of Nepal’s economic mainstays, its natural heritage and tourism. Although offering potentials, we also show that questions of par-ticipation and governance must be addressed in order to fully explore the potential of nature con-servation and tourism for a more equal and just development. One promising example of a more

equal tourism and nature conservation is the Machhapuchre Model Trek, parts of which we explored during our excursion. Staying in Lwang we had the chance to directly interact with dif-ferent groups and persons of this “home-stay” village, including the Mothers’ group, the com-munity forestry group, the Village Development Committee president, and school teachers. Their first-hand comments and statements enabled us to get more personal and locally grounded impressi-ons of the joys and problems of village live.

Our tour through the country and the people we met reflects our aim of looking behind “Shangri-la”. Starting in the old town of Bhaktapur, where Nils Gutschow guided us through hidden lanes, we got a first glimpse into the daily practice of religion and its embodiment in the physical urban structure. During a brief visit to the Newar village of Sankhu in the Kathmandu valley, Ulrike Mül-ler-Böker and Siddhi Manandhar gave us an int-roduction into the village life, caste segregation, and agriculture. Leaving the Kathmandu valley to the West we stopped at the Manakamana temple where we got an impression of animal sacrifices and the strong monsoon rain. We later reached Sauraha, an entrance point to the Chitwan Nati-onal Park in the Terai region of the country. Du-ring our three day stay where we did not only get a glimpse of the Tharu-culture, the controversial

Miriam Wenner, Norman Backhaus

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Prayer wheels at Swayambhu temple

We want furthermore thank the following per-sons and institutions:

Prof. Dr. Nils Gutschow and his wife Vau for showing us Bhaktapur, the guides in Chitwan National Park, Sukhi Ram Chaudhary and Hari Chaudhary for bringing us close to wildlife and safely back, the Pokhara Tourism Council, Su-rya Bahadur Bhujel, Basant Dawadi, Tika Ram Sapkota, Chiranjibi Pokharel and Ramu Gautam for an inspiring discussion. Rajendra Gurung and the villagers from Lwang for their hospita-lity (VDC Secretary Kamala Pati; teachers Pra-kash Gurung, Badri Gurung, Mohan Ale and Jhapendra Adhikary; community forest users Dandapani Chapagai, Dandapani Bhusal and Lal kumari Gurung; translators Santosh Gurung and Krishana Lamichane, and guide Anil Gurung). Kurt Burja and Pushpa Shrestha from the World Food Programme for giving us insights into their work, Kamal Pathak from the Advocacy Forum for explaining the forum’s challenging cases, and Ramesh Khatiwada, who showed us Kathmandu from a different side. Last but not least we thank Siddhi Manandhar and Dr. Bishnu Upreti from the Nepal Centre of Contemporary Research for their diligent accounting.We would also like to express our special thanksto our experienced busdriver Suraj Shrestha andhis helper Shyam who ensured our safe journey.

history of the national park, or admire rhinos and elephants, but were also attacked by fierce bears. Due to the protection of our experienced wild-life guides however we were all able to travel on to Pokhara from where we began our trek to the home-stay village Lwang where we received a heartily welcome by the villagers and Rajendra Gurung of the Machhapuchre committee. Du-ring our stay we did not only learn about ACAP policies but also experience Gurung village life, and learned that one better should refrain from taking long walks through forests infested by my-riads of leeches. Our final journey led us back to Kathmandu where we visited the religious si-tes of Boudha, Swayambhu, and Pashupatinath. Ramesh Khatiwada led us to the Royal Palace, Durbar Square and Assan showing us places of protest and political resistance. Meetings with the Advocacy Forum and Kamal Pathak and the World Food Programme, and Kurt Burja and Pushpa Shrestha, completed our visit.

This excursion and the unique experiences would not have been possible without the help of many persons. Our special thanks go to Dr. Pranil Upa-dayaya who organized most of our trip in Nepal and took always good care of us, and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Müller-Böker, who led us through the first part of the excursion and provided us with many insights and valuable contacts.

Excursion route (modified map after HMG et al. 2002)

01—BhaktapurVisit of Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site with a guided tour by Prof. Dr. Niels Gut-schow.

02—SankhuSegregation patterns, village development and a misty mountain temple.

03—ManakamanaNepal’s only cable car leads to Manakamana, where at the important Hindu temple the faith-ful bring offerings.

04—ChitwanChitwan National Park is a sanctuary for the Indian Rhinoceros. Tharu culture is challenged.

05—PokharaPokhara is an important starting point for many treks and itself a tourist attraction.

06—LwangLwang as a part of the Machhapuchre Model Trek develops its community based tourism.

07— KathmanduDifferent sites of religious worship (Pashupa-tinath, Boudha, Swayambhu) and NGOs are visited.

TIBET

INDIA

Mountain

Mid-Hill

Terai

Mid WesternDev. Region

Far WesternDev. Region

WesternDev. Region

CentralDev. Region

EasternDev. Region

0 100 kmSource: HMG et al. 2002

THE ROUTE

Photo next page: Sadhu resting in front of a temple.

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The geographical location of Nepal, bordering Tibet in the North and India in the South made Nepal to a melting pot of various groups of peo-ple immigrating from India and Tibet (Majupu-ria & Kuman 2013: 16). The assimilation of tho-se different cultures and a blending with cultural aspects of Nepal is the source of today’s indi-genous Nepalese traditions (Majupuria & Ku-man 2013: 27). These various influences led to the emergence of 35 ethnic groups, which differ particularly in terms of dialect, religion, costu-me and locale (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 28). Hinduism and Buddhism are the main religions in Nepal. 89.5% of the Nepalese population follow Hinduism and 5.3% follow Buddhism. The remaining 5.2% consist of Muslims, Jains, Christians and others. Majupuria and Kuman (2013: 11) stress that there is great tolerance between the religions. The Nepali daily routine is shaped by religion and caste-affiliation (Cameron 1998). Therefore, the two main religions Hinduism and Buddhism will be explained subsequently. Further the eth-nic group of the Newars that inhabit the Kath-mandu Valley and consist of both Hindus and Vajrayana Buddhists, as well as the caste-system of Nepal will be looked at more closely.

HINDUISMThe vast majority of the Nepalese population follows Hinduism (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 11). There are no written documents about the origin of Hinduism but its beginning is presumed to have taken place over 2500 years ago in the re-gion of today’s Pakistan (Wilkinson 2009: 163). The oldest known sacred writings are the Vedas, that include hymns to deities, demons, ancestors and kings (Wilkinson 2009: 163-164). Hinduism was spread by Indian expatriates over Asia and thus also to Nepal (Rump et al. 2002: 21). But Hindus do not believe that Hinduism has a be-ginning or an end. It is not a religion introduced by one person but has instead developed through different ideas, beliefs and rituals (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 45).

The word hindu has only little value to the fol-lowers of Hinduism. Their religious association does more depend on the cult they follow, which is based on the duties of the pantheon (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 47).

Beliefs of HinduismHinduism is known as retaliation faith (Seeland 1984: 60). The infinite, ubiquitous and omnisci-ent brahman forms the basis. It is existence, con-sciousness and blessedness united in one (Rump et al. 2002: 22). Thus the brahman is a compre-

RELIGIONAND CULTUREIN NEPALAnnabelle Jaggi, Anita von Däniken, Monika Haggenmacher

Little shrine at the roadside in Bhaktapur

hensive, absolute concept without gender, not able to die and in no concrete way revealed. The creation, including mankind, is also part of the brahman. Hence, humans are connected to the brahman via the creation (Wilkinson 2009: 168). More precise, it is atman, the soul, which is affili-ated. It is called to be equivalent to the brahman. The atman is completely unaffected by joy and sorrow; it is complete (Rump et al. 2002: 23).

The constant reincarnation, called samsar, is one of the main aspects of Hinduism. Samsar is re-lated to moksha, the salvation of mamsar and karma, that determines the actual way of life which is influenced by the actions of the foregone life (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 66-67). Mok-sha indicates the reunion of the brahman and atman that leads to the liberation of the karma and therefore of the body, the death and with this the temporal binding (Wilkinson 2009: 168-169). Moksha can only be reached if one recognizes the cause of the cycle of rebirth, which is believed to be greed. This is only possible through the search of knowledge (Seeland 1984: 60). The main idea is that actions of the previous life, positive as well as negative, influence the soul of the body and determine the next life (Seeland 1984: 60). To get a good karma, it is important to have a virtuous conduct of life (Wilkinson 2009: 169), which is based on the dharma, the performance of one’s

duties determined by someone’s role in society (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 66-67). Those du-ties are based on caste and one’s role within the family as well as within the professional environ-ment (Seeland 1984: 60). The dharma changes during a human’s life. First, there is childhood, which is based on development, followed by the formation of a family, and finally becoming a grandparent. Latter ensues the retreat from the working world, which opens the opportunity to concentrate specifically on spiritual questions re-lated to the Brahman (Wilkinson 2009: 172).

Values in HinduismThe most important value in Hinduism is nonvi-olence (Dump et al. 2002: 32). This is based on the sanctity of life. Further, slaughter of animals – especially of cows which are regarded sacred – is highly disapproved. The woman holds the role of mother and housewife. Besides cleaning the house, she is also bound to adhere to the spiri-tual traditions (Wilkinson 2009: 173). Puja, the venation of an image of a deity is important. It needs to be carried out with extreme ritual purity, including taking a bath before the ritual (Wilkin-son 2009: 174).

DEITIES OF HINDUISMDeities are related to the brahman. God is the highest instance and thus considered as the high-

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Sadhus in Pashupatinath

very strict vaishnavas. Furthermore, the Nepalese Vaishnavism became influenced by shaivism and Buddhism. Shaivism is older than vaishnavism and is the most popular sect of Hinduism in Ne-pal (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 48-52).

BUDDHISMBuddhists form the second largest religious group in Nepal (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 11). Bud-dhism is closely connected to Hinduism and de-veloped as a reform movement in a hindu culture. In Nepal especially, Hinduism and Buddhism are strongly entangled (Seeland 1984: 69). The fol-lowing chapter provides anoverview of the Bud-dhist belief in general and of how it is practiced in Nepal.

The origin of BuddhismBuddhism is based on the teachings of Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, was born as a prince in 624 BC in Lumbini, which today belongs to Nepal (Gyatso 1995: 3). While growing up he started visiting the capital of his father’s kingdom. There he realized that all living things are to experience birth, aging, illness and death and that these sufferings repeat itself every lifetime (Gyatso 1995: 5). Siddhartha Gautama wanted to save all living creatures from this terri-ble cycle of suffering and realized that only a fully enlightened Buddha would be able to perform this

est formless variableness (Wilkinson 2009: 168) and truthfulness. God is more powerful than any terrestrial manifestation (Rump et al. 2002: 14). There exist many different deities that are hier-archically structured into more potent and sub-ordinate deities. The highest authority, which is the trinity of the creator (Brahman), the preser-ver (Vishnu) and the destroyer (Shiva), is called trimurti (Seeland 1984: 61). A majority of Hin-dus idealize a particular deity but it is also usual to include other deities into worship (Wilkinson 2009: 169).

The main orientations of HinduismMany different orientations of Hinduism are co-existent. The six main sects of Hindus are shai-vas, vaishnavas, shaktas, ganpatyas, saurapathas and smartas (Majupuria & Kuman 2013: 48). Vaishnavism and shaivism have the most devo-tees. Vaishnavism worships god Vishnu who res-tores the threatened world order, while shaivism focuses on the main god Shiva who, contrarily to Vishnu, destroys and recreates world order and thus incarnates contrasts such as life and death (Wilkinson 2009: 178).

Animals are sacrificed in rituals connected to the strict worship of Vishnu. There are only a few strict vaishnavas in Nepal, the majority of the de-votees of Vishnu are non-vegetarian and thus not

RELIGION AND CULTURE IN NEPAL

Swayambhu

rings. Buddha also began teaching the second and third turning of the wheel of dharma, which form the mahayana Buddhism, the great vehicle. Ma-hayana teaches how to attain enlightenment not only for oneself but also for other living things by supporting them on their way to enlightenment (Gyatso 1995: 9). Mahayana is popular in North and East Asia (Schoeps & Bolle 1959: 52). In Nepal the vajrayana Buddhism is prevalent (See-land 1984: 69). Vajrayana was initially a part of mahayana school and was later on distinguished as a buddhist school of its own also called the diamond vehicle. Vajrayana is practiced in the mountain regions of Nepal and Tibet and is, be-sides mahayana, also comprised by the Tibetan Buddhism (Seeland 1984: 60).

Vajarayana Buddhism in NepalIn Nepal hindu and buddhist traditions are very strongly connected (Van Kooij 1978: 5) and ent-angled with elements of various pagan beliefs (Seeland 1984: 59). The vajrayana Buddhism shows strong elements of Tantrism such as ma-gic spells and conjuration rituals. Meditation, yoga and the feeding and decorating of statues of gods are seen as special techniques to accelerate the path to enlightenment. Vajrayana Buddhists worship a multitude of gods and saints including many local deities, ghosts and nature manifesta-tions. Various magic and mythical rituals are part

task. When he reached the age of twenty-nine, he decided to continue his life in loneliness and me-ditation (Gyatso 1995: 5). After years of medita-tion, Siddhartha was liberated from all suffering, attained enlightenment and thereby became Bud-dha (ibid.: 8). Buddha then attracted more and more disciples (Schoeps & Bolle 1959: 41).

Buddhist beliefThe main goal of a Buddhist is it to free oneself from the never-ending cycle of uncontrolled death and rebirth, called samsara, and thereby be libe-rated from all suffering (Gyatso 1995: 37, 71). To achieve this goal, it is necessary to realize that there is no permanent self and instead accept in-finite emptiness and non-self (Gyatso 1995: 71). Only through meditation one can reach this state of inner peace called nirvana (Gyatso 1995: 40). The path to enlightenment is based on empathy and unconditional love for all living beings (Gy-atso 1995: 78).

This Buddhist teaching is called wheel of dharma (Gyatso 1995: 10). The turnings of the Wheel of Dharma symbolize the different streams of Bud-dhism. The first turning of the wheel of dharma forms the hinayana Buddhism, also called the small or inferior vehicle. Hinayana is mainly spread in South Asia (Schoeps & Bolle 1959: 39). It shows how to free oneself from all suffe-

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The Newars have their own language (Löwdin 1985: 6), which is originally Tibeto-Burman and influenced by Sanskrit, Prakrits, Persian, Hindi, Nepali and more recently also English (Gellner 2001: 252). The original Newari script is being used less frequently nowadays (Löwdin 1985: 7), as the Newari culture has been thoroughly india-nized (Van Kooij 1978: 1). Nevertheless, the Ne-wars still maintain certain non-Indian elements in their culture, which are connected to the culture of the Himalayan regions (Van Kooij 1978: 1).

The Newars are both Hindus and vajrayana Bud-dhists (Löwdin 1985: 11), while Buddhism and Hinduism are practiced very closely together (Seeland 1984: 59), which often leads to some kind of loyalty to both religions (Gellner 2001: 93). The Newars have a caste system of their own (Seeland 1984: 61). Only the higher castes tend to be exclusively Buddhist or Hindu (Löwdin 1985: 11). Ritual practices are regarded most important in terms of religion (Gellner 2001: 93) and play, together with festivities, a vital part in everyday life (Löwdin 1985: 13). Certain deities are wor-shipped by all Newars, whereas some deities are associated only to certain groups of castes. Very important Newari deities are the Kumaris, virgin goddesses, which are represented by prepube-scent girls (Löwdin 1985: 12).

of religious life. These elements have little in com-mon with traditional Buddhism and closely relate to Hinduism (Seeland 1984: 69). Many gods and demons are worshipped in both religions, even though their names and depiction differ between the two. The strong resemblance is rooted in the mutual origin in the Vedic time (Seeland 1984: 59). Vajrayana Buddhism has also integrated the caste system in its philosophy which originally is rejected by Buddhism (Seeland 1984: 69).

Vajrayana Buddhism has a number of enlighte-ned Buddhas, which are worshipped in a special order of priority. The highest ranking Buddha is the Adibuddha. He is followed by five divine Bud-dhas and Bodhisattvas. Latter omit the last level of redemption in order to help other living beings on their way to enlightenment. Ranked below these are five human Buddhas and Boddhisatvas (Seeland 1984: 69).

The Hindu and Buddhist NewarOne ethnic group which combines buddhistic and hindu traditions are the Newars. Their origin is found in the clash of the Aryan tribes of India and the Mongoloid tribes of Tibet (Majupuria & Ku-man 2013: 27), and are now named as the origi-nal inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley (Löwdin 1985: 6, Gellner 2001: 252).

Boudha

RELIGION AND CULTURE IN NEPAL

Since Prithvi Narayan Shah unified the country in 1769, high-caste Hindus have been politically do-minant in Nepal. Politically elite high castes im-posed a hierarchy on the resident ethnic groups. These ethnic groups were variously absorbed into the hindu caste hierarchy, some groups al-lied with the high-caste political elite (Stash & Hannum 2001: 357).

In 1854, early in the period of Rana rule, a Natio-nal Legal Code (muluki ain), that laid out detailed codes for inter-caste behaviour and specified pu-nishments for their infringement, was proclaimed (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 2). It was not until 1963 that hindu rules, including those governing caste considerations, were formally re-moved from law (Stash & Hannum 2001: 357). The old version of muluki ain was replaced by the new muluki ain of 1963 and later in 1990 by the new constitution, in which discrimination was forbidden by law. Although the discriminati-on was abolished by law in 1963 with the procla-mation of a reformed muluki ain and later by the constitution of 1990, the deeply-rooted strictly hierarchical and exclusive system of government with its institutional social, economic and cultu-ral oppression of the vast majority of the mul-tiethnic state’s population remained unaffected by this few formal and superficial changes in the political structure (Krämer 1996: 232).

In the Kathmandu Valley, the Newars are very influential in the economic, social, and political life. Both, Newari men and women are extensi-vely involved in business and trading. Women’s involvement in business activities is socially re-cognized and there are few restrictions on their travelling or interaction with men (Stash & Han-num 2001: 360).

THE CASTE SYSTEM OF NEPALIntroductionIn the Kathmandu Valley, the earliest detailed record of the caste system operating in Nepal is from the reign of the Newari king Jayasthiti Mal-la (1380-1394), when 64 different castes were al-lotted different tasks and hierarchical ranks (Ben-nett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 1). Later, Ram Shah (1609-1636) introduced some rules and re-gulations concerning relations between different groups of people outside the Kathmandu Valley, but it is not known how rigid or widely practiced these rules were. “It is clear however that during the 17th century as they conquered the various petty kingdoms in the territory that is now Nepal, the Shah rulers used the concept of the caste hier-archy as an organizing principle for consolidating the diverse people inhabiting Nepal into a nation state under their authority” (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 2).

Social life often takes place in publicBoudha

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by people regarded as impure cannot be eaten by the pure, though, for example, rice can either be neutral when it is uncooked or not, when it is cooked (Cameron 1998: 7).

Occupying both the top and the bottom of this system were the hill Hindus, or parbatiya who migrated to Nepal from the western hills. They brought with them their traditional caste-based social structure, which already allocated the high-est rank to the Bahuns (Brahmans), the Chhet-ris and Thakuris (Kshatriya). Both of these were classified as tagedhari, or ‘wearers of the sacred thread’ signifying their status as ‘twice-born’ or those initiated into the sacred Hindu texts (Ben-nett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 2). People from the ‘pure’ middle-ranking vaishya and sudra varnas do not seem to have come along with the-se Hindus on their migration eastward through the hills but the occupational groups, Kami (blacksmiths), Damai (tailor/musicians) and the Sarki (cobblers) did. Falling within the ‘impure’ group, collectively called pani nachalne or ‘tho-se from whom water cannot be accepted’, they were ranked at the very bottom and classified as achut or ‘untouchable’ (Bennett, Dahal & Govin-dasamy 2008: 2). In Nepal’s hilly and mountain areas, the middle rank was accorded to the exis-ting indigenous groups, mainly belonging to the Tibeto-Burman language group. Since many of

The 1991 census accounted for no less than 60 caste-ethnic groups. While many of these groups are concentrated in certain regions of the country, several of the major groups are scattered over the whole country.

Overview of the caste system in NepalIn Nepal’s caste system everyone is integrated according to their relative ritual purity into the four broad varnas of the classical Hindu caste system: the brahman priests, the kshatriya kings and warriors, the vaisya traders and businessmen and the sudra peasants and laborers – with an additional group technically ‘outside’ the caste system (Dalits) because of their ritually defiling occupations which rendered them ’untouchab-le’ by others (Bennett, Dahal and Govindasamy 2008: 1). Purity and impurity, or pollution, are concepts found in Hindu culture that refer to sta-tes of people, objects, and actions. Pollution com-prises three broad types: that incurred by death, birth, and miscarriage; contact with various ob-jects (metals, cooking utensils, soiled garments, places, animals); and parts of the body (feet, sex organs) and bodily substances (saliva, phlegm, semen, blood). Interaction between castes as well as between men and women is partly regulated by rules of impurity avoidance. Water is a potent transmitter of both purity and impurity because it is used to purify through bathing. Food prepared

Main Caste/Ethnic Groups

Caste/ethnic groups with regional divisions (11) and social groups (103) from 2001 census

Cas

te G

roup

s

1 Brahaman/

Chhetri

1.1 Hill BrahmanHill Brahman

1.2 Hill ChhetriChhetri, Thakuri, Sanyasi

1.3 Tarai/Madhesi Brahman/ChhetriMadhesi Brahman, Nurang, Rajput, Kayastha

2 Tarai/Madhesi Other Castes

2 Tarai/Madhesi other castesKewat, Mallah, Lohar, Nuniya, Kahar, Lodha, Rajbhar, Bing, Mali Kamar, Dhuniya, Yadav, Teli, Koiri, Kurmi,

Sonar, Baniya, Kalwar, Thakur/Hazam, Kanu, Sudhi, Kumhar, Haluwai , Badhai, Barai, Bhediyar/ Gaderi

3 Dalits

3.1 Hill DalitKami, Damai/Dholi, Sarki, Badi, Gaine, Unidentified Dalits

3.2 Tarai/Madhesi DalitChamar/Harijan, Musahar, Dushad/Paswan, Tatma, Khatwe, Dhobi, Baantar, Chidimar, Dom, Halkhor

RELIGION AND CULTURE IN NEPAL

Importance/ meaning of the caste systemIn the 2001 Census around 81 percent of all Ne-pali reported their religion as Hindu, thus loca-ting themselves within the caste system (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 1). But Nepalis were already socially defined by the caste system several hundred years ago and even earlier in some areas, regardless of whether they were Hin-du or not. Some in the high mountain areas may have been more influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and others in remote valleys and jungle areas by shamanistic or animistic beliefs. For them, con-tact with the hindu world view may have been minimal, but for most people living in the terri-torial boundaries of the modern Nepalese state – especially after the promulgation of the National Code or muluki ain in 1854 – the caste system has been a major determinant of their identity, social status and life chances (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 1). Table 2 shows that caste-affiliation has strong influence on purchasing po-wer parity (PPP), life expectancy or adult literacy. The upper castes (Bahun – Chetri – Newar) have human development indicators which lie about 50% higher compared to the hill ethnic, Tarai ethnic, and occupational caste groups (Murshed & Gates 2005: 126). Income per capita amongst the disadvantaged hill ethnic groups is about 55% of Newaris (Murshed & Gates 2005: 126).

these groups consumed homemade beer and spi-rits, they were called ‘liquor-drinkers’ or matwali by the Brahmans and Chhetris whose caste status does not allow them to consume alcohol, which is considered as polluted. In contemporary Nepal these various ethnic groups are now referred to as the Adivasi or Janajati (indigenous nationalities) (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 2). This broad framework of the caste hierarchy is repli-cated with countless local variations and elabora-tions all over the Indian sub-content.

The 2001 census listed 103 social groups, based on caste, ethnicity, religion and language as well as unidentified groups, some comprising less than 0.1 percent of the population (Bennett 2005: 15). Numerically, no single group is predominant. Generally, the population can be divided into the Hindu caste groups and janajatis, and a third group, the religious minorities (mostly muslims). In 2001, caste groups constituted 57.5 percent of the population, janajati 37.2 percent and the re-ligious minorities 4.3 percent. Among the 10 ma-jor social groups, the hill Brahmans and Chhetris (B/C) had the highest numbers (31% of the popu-lation), hill Janajatis, 28.5 percent and the Tarai Middle Caste, 13 percent (Bennett 2005: 15).

Main Caste/Ethnic Groups

Caste/ethnic groups with regional divisions (11) and social groups (103) from 2001 census

Adi

vasi

/Jan

ajat

is

4Newar

NewarNewar

5Janajati

5.1 Hill/Mountain JanajatiTamang, Kumal, Sunuwar, Majhi, Danuwar, Thami/Thangmi, Darai, Bhote, Baramu/Bramhu, Pahari, Kusun-

da, Raji, Raute, Chepang/Praja, Hayu, Magar, Chyantal, Rai, Sherpa, Bhujel/Gharti, Yakha, Thakali, Limbu,

Lepcha, Bhote, Byansi, Jirel, Hyalmo, Walung, Gurung, Dura

5.2 Tarai JanajatiTharu, Jhangad, Dhanuk, Rajbanshi, Gangai, Santhal/Satar, Dhimal, Tajpuriya, Meche, Koche, Kisan, Mun-

da, Kusbadiya/Patharkata, Unidentified Adibasi/Janajati

Oth

er

6 Muslim

MuslimMadhesi Muslim, Churoute (Hill Muslim)

7 Other

OtherMarwari, Bangali, Jain, Punjabi/Sikh, Unidentified Others

Table 1: Main nepal caste and ethnic groups with regional divisions and social groups (2001 Census) (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 3)

18

and most importantly by getting an insight in the people’s daily routine and customs, when religion is most apparent. The caste system becomes like-wise comprehensible through everyday life. Even though it has been legally abolished, people’s so-cial interaction is often still influenced by caste-relations.

Bennett, Dahal and Govindasamy (2008: 4) wri-te, that “the issue of government’s failure to en-sure equal access to rights (e.g. citizenship, justice and political representation), public services (e.g. health and education) and opportunities (e.g. jobs in the civil service and army) to those lower in the caste/ethnic hierarchy, to women and to those from the Tarai/Madhes region has simmered for centuries, but especially after the overthrow of the Rana regime in 1951 when a more democratic polity was expected.“

Today, social exclusion and discrimination against Dalits, Janajatis, Muslims and Madhesis is openly discussed. One of the major demands of the Democracy Movement in 2006 was not just democracy, but more inclusive democracy and greater government attention to overcoming the persistent disparities between the dominant high caste Parbatiyas and the urban Newars (along with a few other Janajati groups and certain pow-erful Madhesi castes) – and the rest of the country (Bennett, Dahal & Govindasamy 2008: 4).

CONCLUSIONIn summary, it can be pointed out that the reli-gious diversity in Nepal is hardly tangible from outside the Nepalese cultural context. However, one can get an impressive feeling of Nepal’s reli-gious and ethnical variety by visiting the country

Table 2: Caste differences in 1996 (Murshed & Gates 2005: 127) / Source: UNDP (1998)

Preparing offerings at Durbar Square in Kathmandu

PPP GDP per capita

Gap HDI Gap Life expectancy

Gap Adult literacy

Gap

Nepal 1186 0.325 55.0 36.72

Bahun 1533 129% 0.441 136% 60.8 111% 58 158%

Chhetri 1197 101% 0.348 107% 56.3 102% 42 114%

Newar 1848 156% 0.457 141% 62.2 113% 54.8 149%

Limbu 1021 86% 0.299 92% 53.0 96% 35.2 96%

Muslim 979 83% 0.239 74% 48.7 89% 22.1 60%

Ahir 1068 90% 0.313 96% 58.4 106% 27.5 75%

Occupational castes

764 64% 0.239 96% 50.3 91% 23.8 65%

Other 1130 95% 0.295 91% 54.4 99% 27.6 75%

RELIGION AND CULTURE IN NEPAL

2120

This chapter provides a brief overview on the his-torical events in the region known today as Ne-pal. The historical account presented here starts with the emergence of the Malla dynasty around 1200 AD and ends with the 1990 people’s mo-vement, jana andolan.The main focus will be laid on the period between the 18th and 20th century, the Shah and the Rana dynasties and the reemergence of the king’s power which led to the establishment of the panchayat system. During the early history of Nepal, the Kathmandu Val-ley is the focal point of historic narratives. Alt-hough there are important events in other parts of the region as well they remain outweighed by the prominence of the Kathmandu Valley.

EARLY HISTORYThe Legend of Swayambhu and the emergence of KathmanduSwayambhu is one of the holiest places of pilg-rimage in the Kathmandu Valley and equally ve-nerable for Buddhists and Hindus. The story of Swayambhu is closely associated with the origin of the Kathmandu Valley. According to the Swa-yambhu purana, in the beginning, the valley was a big and beautiful lake known as kalidaha. The legend further explains that the Vipaswi Buddha once came here and sowed a lotus seed in this beautiful lake, which grew and bloomed with thousand petals. On that very flower, a dark-

blue flame emanated which is known today as Swayambhu joti (“self-originated flame”). Ha-ving heard about this extraordinary incident, pilgrims began to visit this lake to pay homage to this auspicious flame. Among the pilgrims was Mahamanju shree from Mahachina with his two spouses Varada and Mokshada. After honoring the Swayambhu joti, he planned to drain the lake. Finally, with the help of his spouses Varada and Mokshada, he cut a narrow slit into the hill at Chobhar and the water flew out of the lake. Hence, the lake was converted into a valley suita-ble for human settlement. Later on, a stupa was built in the place where the Swayambhu joti had emerged. That very stupa has been known as the Swayambhu Mahachaitya. (Swayambhu, Depart-ment of Archaeology, access 15.7.20013)

Malla DynastyThe earliest inscription referring to “Nepal” was found at Changu Narayan dating back to the year 465 AD. In the first millennium AD, the Kathman-du Valley and the surrounding hills were under the control of the Licchavis (Whelpton 2005:18f). Under the influence of war, refugees from Nort-hern India a new ruling dynasty appeared – The Mallas (literally “wrestlers”) (Bilder aus Nepal, access 2.12.2013). The Malla dynasty emerged in a political landscape consisting of multiple, small, loosely connected territories, which lacked

FROM MONARCHYTO DEMOCRACY:NEPAL TILL 1990Philip Boesch, Micha Reichert

a unified governmental body (Wiesner 1976: 13). Despite its prominent role, the Malla Kingdom was not the only kingdom but rather “part of a wider network of states” (Whelpton 2005: 22). In the 15th century, many small states emer-ged in the western and central hills. Besides the Gorkhas, who would soon reshape the political landscape of the region, a cluster of many small states emerged known as the baisi (‘twenty-two’) and the chaubisi (‘twenty-four’) (Whelpton 2005: 23). The Malla dynasty can be divided into two periods: the early Malla period (1200-1482) and the period of the three kingdoms (1482-1768). The early Malla period was characterized by cha-os and instability resulting from several raids by neighboring kings which culminated in the inva-sion of Muslim Sultan Shams ud-din Ilyas of Ben-gal in 1349/50. He devastated the Kathmandu Valley which is the reason why there are no buil-dings in Kathmandu dating older than the 15th century. It was Jayastithimalla (1382-95) who reorganized and reshaped the political as well as the cultural structure of Nepal and brought sta-bility to the region. Under Jayastithimalla, Nepal underwent a radical hindufication, in particular through the establishment of the caste system and its codification into law. The Kathmandu Valley was transformed from an open to a closed and strictly structured society.

After the death of Yakshamalla, the Malla King-dom was divided into three independent king-doms: Kantipur (Kathmandu), Lalitpur (Patan) and Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur). The division was a result of hereditary disputes between his three sons. Despite ongoing rivalries and small violent conflicts between the three kingdoms, the sense of unity remained. Instead, through this rivalry the three kingdoms pushed each other to cultural prosperity what became visible in the architec-ture and art of that time (after Wiesner 1976: 13f). Since the Licchavi period, the Kathmandu Valley’s location along a major trans-Himalayan route favored its strategic importance and wealth (Whelpton 2005: 19).

SHAH DYNASTY AND UNIFICATION – THE GORKHA KINGDOMThe conquest of the Kathmandu Valley by Prith-vi Narayan Shah, King of Gorkha (1723-1775), can be considered as one of the most important events in the history of Nepal. Many rulers of the Gorkha Kingdom west of the Kathmandu Valley had the intention of expanding its territory at the expense of the three Valley Kings. But eventually, it was Prithvi Narayan who succeeded in doing so. He embodied the qualities of a successful con-queror: determination, political and military skills and, when necessary, brutality. It was in 1768/69 when Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the Kath-

Figure 1: Boundaries of the Empire of the Gorkhas after the Treaty of Sugauli. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sugauli_Treaty2.PNG, access 15.7.2013)

2322

Parts of the ancient Royal Palace and the Durbar Square in Kathmandu

ongoing struggle for power between the royal fa-mily under the influence of the regent queens and the prime ministers that belonged to the Chhetri-caste. After Rana Bahadur returned from exile in 1804, he murdered Dalmodar Pande who had plotted against him. Shortly after, Rana Bahadur was killed by his half-brother. In this time of great political disorder, Bhimsen Thapa, an advisor of Rana Bahadur strived for power. With the help of one of Rana Bahadur’s wives, the Maharani Lalit Tripura Sundari, he plotted against the royal family. In a tragic massacre – known as the Kot Parva - in 1806 nearly 100 members of the royal court were killed (amongst them the remaining wives of Rana Bahadur) to make sure the Maha-rani Lalit Tripura Sundari could take over the po-wer while reigning in place of Girbanyudha who then was still a child. But the actual power lay in the hands of Bhimsen Thapa.

The ongoing expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom under the command of Bhimsen Thapa and his regent queen Lalit Tripura Sundari affronted the British in India, particularly in the Tarai. A vi-olent confrontation seemed inevitable. During the Anglo-Nepalese war (sometimes also referred to as the Gorkha war) from 1814-16, the Bri-tish East India Company managed to retreat the Gorkha army. The war ended in the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli. Around one third of the

mandu Valley and named Kathmandu the capital of the Gorkha Kingdom. Until his death in 1775 he nearly occupied all of eastern Nepal and much of modern Nepal. However, he feared to provoke India or China. Shah sought to establish indepen-dence and self-sufficiency. He emphasized the lo-cal rather than the Indian culture (after Whelpton 2005: 35-39). After the death of Prithvi Narayan his only two-year-old son Rana Bahadur became king in 1777. His mother Maharani Rajendra Lakshmi Devi and his uncle Bahadur Shah, the brother of Prithvi Narayan took over the govern-ment affairs. This was the beginning of a period in which the king’s mother exercised great power. It is referred to as the age of the Regent Queens as in the next 70 years Nepal was ruled by “kings who were either underage, inept, insane, or all three” (Thapa 2005: 73). Shortly after, Bahadur Shah was sent to exile by the queen. After her death in 1785, he returned from exile and assu-med power. When the actual King Rana Bahadur turned old enough to reign by himself, he arrested his uncle who then committed suicide in prison. After the death of one of his wives, his compro-mising behavior forced him to abdicate and give the power to his one-year-old son Girbanyudha. Rana Bahadur went into exile to India. In the me-antime General Dalmodar Pande assumed power in Kathmandu. He was the first mukhtiyar or Pri-me Minister of Nepal. It was the beginning of an

The Gurkhas

Since 1815, Gurkha soldiers recruited from Nepal have

served the British crown loyally (army.mod.uk). Every

year in December thousands of young Nepali apply for

the Gurkha regiment at the Gurkha Recruiting Center in

Pokhara. In 2012, 6134 men applied for 126 positions

in the hope of following the great Nepalese tradition of

serving at least 15 years as a Gurkha within the British

army (Bhandari 2013). Since members of the British

army were not allowed to enter Nepal until 1951, local

recruiters went to the hills, gathered the recruits, made an

initial selection and marched with the candidates down

from the hills and across the border into India. Today, re-

cruiters, mostly former Gurkha soldiers called galla wal-lahs, search the hills and forward the young men to the

Recruiting Center (Parker 2005, 23). Training academies

in the surroundings of Pokhara prepare these young men

especially for the selection process (Bhandari 2013). Fol-

lowing the family tradition (up to five generations of ser-

ving history) of joining the British army offers prestige,

fame and money to young Nepali men. Some say, failing

selection is considered a shame in the eyes of the family

so that some young men commit suicide.

Since 1815, the Gurkha regiments fought in numerous

conflicts all around the globe. During World War I,

200,000 Gurkhas fought in British and Indian regiments –

almost the entire Gurkha male population of eligible age.

The services in World War II and missions in the Falk-

lands, the first Gulf War, Bosnia and most recently in Af-

ghanistan and Iraq added to the high reputation of the

Gurkha regiment (Parker 2005, xvii). In the last few ye-

ars the reorganization and reduction of costs in the Bri-

tish army diminished the number of Gurkha soldiers. But

the popularity of the Gurkhas in Nepal remains the same.

FROM MONARCHY TO DEMOCRACY: NEPAL TILL 1990

RANA DYNASTYAfter 1846, a new Dynasty emerged in Nepal which ruled the country for 100 years until 1951 – the Rana family. On September 15th in 1846, general Jang Bahadur Rana gathered almost the whole political elite under false pretenses in the “Kot-”wing of the royal palace in Kathmandu. Over 130 people were killed in the following mas-sacre (Bilder aus Nepal 5, access 23.5.2013). The exact nature of the massacre is not well known and historians are still unsure by whom it was initiated. The trigger for the tragic events was the murder of Gagan Singh, a favorite and supposed lover of the reigning Queen. As a consequence of the massacre, 6000 members of the courtier fami-lies fled from the country, among them the Tha-pas, Pandeys and other Chhetri-caste families. This event cleared the way for another Chhetri clan – the Kunwars under the leadership of ge-neral Jang Bahadur Rana (Thapa 2005: 78-79). He became the new prime minister. The reigning king Rajendra was sent to exile in India. One year later, he returned to Nepal in an attempt to regain power but he was arrested and kept under house arrest for the rest of his life (Whelpton 2005: 46). From then on, the king was only a marionette of the Rana family but still highly respected by the Nepalis. From the beginning of the regime, the Ranas had to struggle against political opponents and particularly against survivors of the Kot-mas-

Gorkha territory had to be surrendered to the British. Today’s boundaries of Nepal originated from this treaty (compare Figure 1). In addition, the British were allowed to install a permanent resident in Kathmandu and to recruit Nepalese soldiers called “Gurkhas” (Thapa 2005: 76). The latter clause was included in the treaty because many British officers were highly impressed by the fighting prowess of the Gorkha army (Parker 2005: 45) (see Box 1). Nevertheless, the Nepalis are still proud of never being formally colonia-lized by the British.

During the Shah Dynasty (except for Prithvi Narayan) the power mostly lay in the hands of the regent queens and the prime ministers descen-ding from other noble families like the Pandeys, Thapas and other Chhetri. But the power of the king was not only weakened by the ambitions of nobility but also by ongoing intrigues and strugg-les for power inside the royal family and the fact that children were on the throne over a long pe-riod of time. It was a period of several political murders. From 1769 to 1846 none of the prime ministers died a natural death. A contemporary British observer once said: “The power of the pri-me minister is absolute – until he’s shot” (Bilder aus Nepal 4, access 23.5.2013).

2524

The Kathmandu Valley seen from Swayambhu temple

his death in 1929, corruption and favoritism re-appeared. Even though the slight modernization in the 1920’s, a systematic ban on technology and foreigners helped the Nepalese rulers to maintain cruel and rigid controls on its ill-educated people (Parker 2005: 11). Education was only allowed to a privileged section of the population. When the first tourists entered Nepal in 1955, they saw a medieval state. “No traffic, no billboards, no con-crete and glass,… no noise or chemical pollution” (Parker 2005: 12) – unlike what one experiences in contemporary Nepal.

NEPAL’S FIRST DEMOCRACY & RETURN OF THE SHAHSInspired by national movements in India, politi-cal awareness developed amongst the Nepalese population at the turn of the century. Although being confined to a small cultured class only, younger generations adopted ideas which slowly manifested in different sections of society. Several writings reported on the bad state of affairs and advocated for an improvement of social condi-tions. Krishna Prasad Koirala, a follower of Ma-hatma Gandhi, was an important early figure in the Anti-Rana movement (Krämer 1991: 17).Although the Ranas fought those movements, they could not prevent the formation of politi-cal parties. In 1937, discontent among the lower classes was high which led to the establishment

sacre. Jang Bahadur Rana tried to gain the trust of opposing families via intermarriage, endow-ment of land and lower administrative positions. To capture the power of the king, he married his son to a royal princess and convinced the king to declare him “Maharaja” in 1854 (Thapa 2005: 86). The Ranas were anxious to establish a good relationship with the British in India. Jang Baha-dur was the first Nepalese official to visit London in 1850 and France later on. Besides, “inspired by the Napoleonic code, [he] immediately ordered the task of codifying Nepal[ese] law, resulting in the promulgation, in 1853, of the Muluki Ain or the ‘Law of the country’, the basis for Nepal[ese] law today” (Thapa 2005: 86). The British reco-gnized the “Maharaja” as a sovereign, the legiti-mation for the Rana’s claim to power. The Ranas then provided the British with military help in the 1857 Sepoy rebellion in India. In return, the Bri-tish handed some Nepalese territories back over to the government (Thapa 2005: 87). After the death of Jang Bahadur in 1877, a new struggle over power emerged among his offspring. While the majority of the Rana prime ministers sought their own enrichment and glory, Chandra Shums-her Rana (ruling from 1901-1929) succeeded in implementing social and economic reforms. He fought corruption, abolished slavery and moder-nized the infrastructure in the country including the electrification of Kathmandu in 1927. After

Gyanendra the new regent. However, only three months later, King Tribhuvan – supported by the Nepali Congress and the Indian government – was able to return in triumph, put an end the Rana dynasty and declared a democratic system.

1951 followed an interim government of Nepal with basic principles of democracy such as a mul-tiparty system and periodic elections. This coa-lition cabinet was made up of the congress and Ranas (Whelpton 2005: 72). But the head of the state, the king, and fragmented political parties were unable to agree on a coherent political sys-tem (Barthelmes 2009: 6).

In 1955, King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah ascen-ded the throne, following his father’s demise. He gradually consolidated the bases of royal rule. The first elections were held in February 1959. The Nepali Congress won with a huge majority. Their leader, B. P. Koirala, became prime minister but was not able to restrict King Mahendra’s am-bitions (Gellner & Hachhethu 2010: 133).

In December 1960, King Mahendra imprisoned prime minister B. P. Koirala and his cabinet which he considered too powerful after dissolving the parliament and suspending the constitution. Reasons for the failure of this first democratic intermezzo were reforms which challenged the

of the Nepal Praja Parishad (people’s council). It had a broad base in the public, people from diffe-rent castes and ethnic background as well as the king, Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah. The goal was to overthrow the Rana regime and to introduce a democratic system under the patronage of the king, hence a constitutional monarchy. In 1940, the Ranas dissolved the party because it had be-come too large. Besides the well-organized net-work of spies working for the Ranas, which made it difficult to keep political action secret, the in-effectiveness of the pamphlets made by the oppo-sition due to fear of the government and people’s analphabetism is another reason for the failure (Krämer 1991: 19). Nevertheless, numerous other political parties (some of them with their own private army) were founded between 1940 and 1950, including the Nepali Congress Party led by Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala. After the invasion of Tibet by troops of the Chinese People’s Libe-ration Army, India was worried about its own safety. The weak Rana regime meant for India that the border between Nepal and Tibet seemed no longer secure (Krämer 1991: 22). The retreat of the British in India further weakened the au-thority of the Ranas. In November 1950 with the help of the Indian government, King Tribhuvan fled the palace and had to go into exile in India. Subsequent, the last Rana prime minister Mohan Shumsher Rana proclaimed the king’s grandson

FROM MONARCHY TO DEMOCRACY: NEPAL TILL 1990

2726

Gleaming gagris (water containers) and copper dishes on display at Assan tolThamel, a vivid part of Kathmandu

The basic idea of the panchayat system was the decentralization of responsibility and an initiative of countrywide development as well as the elimi-nation of all powerful political organizations such as parties, trade unions, etc. Elections were only held at the local level. This was supposed to raise the political awareness among the local populati-on based on hindu tradition and principles of self-government. Elected officials provided the higher ranking district-members. The king had the right of veto concerning adopted acts and performed as the head of the executive. Direct political involve-ment on a national stage was therefore virtually impossible and the constitution restricted basic rights of the population.

After the death of King Mahendra in 1972, his son Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, educated at Eton and Harvard, took over government affairs. He did not fulfill the hope of political leaders to rein-troduce party democracy, attempted however to be a benevolent ruler (Chadda 2000: 120). In 1980, he allowed a referendum on the panchayat that ended in favor of the old system by 55 per-cent. “Despite losing the referendum, the parties had been allowed the freedom to organize during the campaign, a freedom that was hard to reverse after it was over” (Gellner & Hachhethu 2010: 134). Hence, the whole system moved in a more democratic direction.

traditional elite, for example the eradication of tax-exempt lands or the abolition of the rajyau-ta system, which allowed to raise taxes granted to families of ancient kings (Thapa 2005: 120), as well as internal opposition in the Nepali Con-gress. The previously banned Communist Party and conservative forces like orthodox Hindu lea-ders as well as landowning farmers added further to the pressure (Whelpton 2005: 98). In 1961, the panchayat system was introduced and one year later absolute monarchy was reestablished in the constitution.

THE PANCHAYAT SYSTEMIn 1962, the panchayat system was established through a new constitution that set up direct-ly elected village or town councils (panchaya-ts), whereat their members formed an electoral college to choose district-level representatives (Whelpton 2005: 101). “These district pancha-yats in turn elected members to fourteen zonal councils. From the members of these zonal coun-cils, ninety were elected to the national-level 125-seat parliament, called the National panchayat” (Thapa 2005: 123). The remaining seats were assigned to royal nominees and representati-ves of class-organizations, the latter standing for broad sectors of the population like youth, women or peasants (Whelpton 2005: 101).

ther democracy was an adequate political form in view of Nepal’s historical legacy. In 1990, most Nepali supported the idea of a multi-party democracy in the country and fought for its re-alization. The public discussed the structure of democratic change and how to realize this goal (Pfaff-Czarnecka 2004: 2). After 80 years of mo-narchic rule, characterized by the unification of Nepal and the Shah Dynasty, and 100 years un-der the repressive Rana regime, democracy was introduced in the 20th century for the first time, shortly followed by the panchayat system. Politi-cal suppression and the poor economic situation in Nepal led to discontent among the population, fueled by urbanization and a growing educated middle class. These developments culminated in the jana andolan 1990, leading to an end of absolute monarchy and the reintroduction of a multiparty democracy.

Challenges that remain during this nation-buil-ding process are the rivalries between the diffe-rent political parties and their leaders as well as internal disputes. The ongoing presence of the king in form of the constitutional monarchy, fra-gile economy, strained foreign affairs with India and high hopes of the population can be added to that list (Pfaff-Czarnecka 2004: 2).

JANA ANDOLAN I (PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT)In 1990, the still banned and therefore illegal political party Congress and several left-front communist movements formed an alliance to res-tore democracy. The goal was to bring an end to the panchayat and absolute monarchy and to establish a constitutional multiparty democracy. Rapid urbanization and the rise of an educated middle class were two reasons for the success of the 1990 mass movement (Gellner & Hachhethu 2010: 131). Another important external factor contributing to the people’s movement, or jana andolan, was the current economic situation in Nepal. India had imposed an economic blocka-de caused by Nepal’s weapon import from China that in the eyes of the Indian government was a violation of the 1950 Friendship Treaty (Chadda 2000: 113). Consequently, Nepal experienced a shortage of basic goods such as salt etc. which led to protests in Kathmandu. In April 1990, King Birendra had to give in to the public pressure. After a series of strikes and pro-democracy riots he abandoned the panchayat and adopted a new constitution, transforming Nepal into a constitu-tional monarchy again.

CHALLENGES OF THE NEW DEMOCRACYThe political changes that occurred in 1950 and the following years raised the question of whe-

Photo next page: Pottary Square in Bakhtapur

FROM MONARCHY TO DEMOCRACY: NEPAL TILL 1990

3130

When talking about Nepal, people in western Europe, like Switzerland, often draw a rather simplified picture of the country: a stunning na-ture, mystical ancient cities, and majestic snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas. However, un-like this glorified Shangri-La imagination, only little about Nepal’s true distinctiveness is gene-rally known. In particular, little is known on the topic of Nepal’s recent history and the struggles for democracy. Even today, shortly ahead of the constituent assembly elections on November 19th, 2013, the ongoing processes do not hit the headlines in western media. On the other hand, while being in the country itself, the political challenges of reaching a political stability are evident all over Nepal. This chapter provides a brief outline on Nepal’s rich history since 1990 with the focus on its political landscape.

PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT AND RESTORATI-ON OF DEMOCRACYIn 1990, the panchayat period had come to an end and a new era in Nepal started. The growing dissatisfaction with the regime, including the high rate of unemployment and price rises, eventually led to the uprising of 1990 (Hachhethu & Gell-ner 2010:135). Primarily driven by the frustra-ted urban middle-class, Nepal’s mass movement took place in a global atmosphere of pro-demo-cracy and, according to Hachhethu & Gellner

(2010:135), was additionally fuelled by falls of dictators and authoritarian regimes in other parts of the world. Several left and communist parties teamed up and formed an alliance, called the Uni-ted Left Front (ULF) (Thapa 2002:80). Together with the Nepali Congress (NC), a liberal demo-cratic party, the ULF intended to put an end to the partyless panchayat system.

The people’s movement (jana andolan I) reached its peak on April 6th, 1990, when the demonst-rators on the streets of Kathmandu tried to storm the Narayanhiti Royal Palace and security forces, interfered by firing into the protesting crowd (Thapa 2002:80). Several dozens of unarmed de-monstrators were shot in the streets outside the palace (Hutt 1991:1021). Two days later, King Birendra lifted the 30-year ban on political par-ties. The main representatives of the democracy movement declared it as officially over due to their achievements regarding the legalization of parties, a constitutional monarchy and respect for human rights (Hutt 1991:1022, 1024). Negotia-tions for the formation of an interim government began and in November 1990, the new constitu-tion of Nepal, the fifth in the country’s history, was promulgated (Hutt 1991:1020). However, after calling the movement off, new parties emer-ged with more differentiated aims, which led to further riots and deaths in the Kathmandu Valley

RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY?NEPAL 1990 – 2013Kathrin Honegger, Urs Mändli

School children in Sankhu

in late April. As a consequence, King Birendra called upon the public for full support of the in-terim government and proclaimed his belief in a multi-party democracy (Hutt 1991:1024). Besi-des maintaining law and order, the main tasks of the interim government were to “[…] develop a multi-party system on the basis of Constitutional monarchy, draft a new Constitution, and hold General Elections” (Hutt 1991:1027). A recom-mendations commission was set up to decide on best practices in how to form a new constitution (Hutt 1991:1027). But when sending the draft of a new constitution to the king in October 1990, new tensions arose when the palace released its own draft to the media which was widely seen as similar to the previous form of the pancha-yat period, including various privileges for the royal family etc. (Hutt 1991:1034). However, a compromise was found and the new constitution was promulgated on November 9th. Hutt (1991: 1035) summarises it as follows: “[…] a compro-mise had been achieved that generally favoured the demands of the Democracy Movement but still reserved important powers and privileges for the monarchy”. The form of government had changed from an absolute monarchy to a consti-tutional monarchy. With this shift, the king ag-reed to give up his full control over the executive power which was from that date on represented not only by the king as the head of state but also

by a council of ministers headed by the prime mi-nister. In 1991, the first parliamentary elections were held from which the NC emerged as the strongest party (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010:136-137). After 13 months of interim government, Girija Prasad Koirala became first prime minis-ter when interim prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai – also a representative of NC – was not elected for a second term (Krämer 2000).

POLITICAL PARTIES AND ECONOMIC REFORM POLICIES IN THE 90S In the 1990s when the first (1991), second (1994) and third (1999) parliamentary elections took place, it became clear which parties influenced the political landscape in Nepal the most. The three leading parties were the Nepali Congress (NC), “[...] the Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), which had been formed in early 1991 by the unification of two splinter groups of the former Nepal Communist Party, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) or National Democratic Party, the party of the erstwhile panchas, the politicians of the partyless panchayat system” (Krämer 2000). The NC’s identity was seen as liberal and centrist, the CPN-UML was known as leftists and progressive, and the RPP as rightist and conservative (Hachhethu 2000:4). And whereas the NC favoured a multi-party system, the CPN-UML idealized an one-

3332

Picketers at Durbar Marg during a bandh called by the CPN-M led alliance to protest against the elections to the constitutional assembly scheduled for November 2013.

scape of Nepal remained unstable and according to Hachhethu & Gellner (2010: 136), was rather full of stress and strains. Furthermore: “The poli-tical parties began with a huge fund of goodwill, which they rapidly squandered” (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 136). Krämer (2000) agrees with this view, and summarizes that the parties and their politicians forgot all their ideology and ma-nifestos as soon as they were in power.

The first phase of transition – from 1990 to 1994 – is seen as a rather successful period compared to the following years until 1999, when Nepal had already experienced eight different governments. The defeat of the NC in the mid-term elections in 1994 marked the end of this first phase of tran-sition. The next phase of transition was far less promising. On the contrary, the political party system started to erode from the inside and was overwhelmed by intra- and inter-party conflicts (Hachhethu 2000: 1). Thus, democracy in Nepal was characterized by manipulation, incompetent governance, mismanagement, irresponsibility and excessive political intervention in bureaucra-cy and an erosion of ideology. To understand the weakness of the party system, it is important to bear in mind that parties in Nepal already existed before the restoration of democracy in 1990 – as some sort of opponents of the panchayat regime (Hachhethu 2000: 2-3). However, these parties

party communist system. The RPP, on the other hand, was considered to be the party of advocates of the former partyless panchayat system. Consi-dering these different backgrounds of the three main parties, Hachhethu (2000: 3-4) points out that a major ideological breakthrough was made by both the CPN-UML and the RPP giving up their initial faith in the systems they wanted to achieve (one-party and partyless) in order to com-pete in the system of parliamentary democracy.

Despite of a general tendency of disorganisation among the parties, the RPP appeared to be one of the most disorganized ones. The RPP initially emerged out of two separated parties which were each led by former panchayat prime ministers (Thapa and Chand) and then was unified in the early 90s. Hachhethu (2000:7) comments: “The weakest point of this party is that it was not for-med on the basis of ideology, but on the ground of common political background and identity of its ranks and files as the erstwhile panchas”.

The NC formed a majority government after the elections in 1991 and 1999, whereas the CPN-UML formed a minority government after the elections in 1994 when they achieved most seats in the congress but still had a lower share of po-pular vote compared to the NC (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 136). However, the political land-

RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY? NEPAL 1990 – 2013

Demonstration of the CPN-M

any fruit. In general, a socio-economic improve-ment in the country could not be observed in tho-se years right after the restoration of democracy and an increase in the per capita income mainly resulted from other factors such as remittances (Thapa et al. 2008: 51). Since 2000, the number of Nepalese labour migrants has increased five-fold (Willjes 2012: 53).

Regarding development assistance (ODA), Ne-pal shows a massive lack in government mecha-nisms to mobilize the resources in an efficient way. Nepal receives a relatively high amount of ODA which has additionally increased since the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed in 2006 (see below) and the transition from war to peace began (Chaulagain 2012).

NEPAL’S MAOIST REBELLION AND PEOPLE’S WAR 1996 – 2006After the 1991 elections, the political power in Nepal was centered between NC and CPN-UML. However, tired of the permanent political infigh-ting between these two dominating parties and the resulting insufficient democratization process, the Nepal Communist Party (Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) (CPN-M)) started a “People’s War” in February 1996. This Maoist uprising was the beginning of a bloody ten-year civil war with 13’000 to 17’000 deaths, massive destruc-

had to undergo a fundamental change in their status: “With the reinstatement of a multi-party system, the role and functions of political parties changed from that of illegal organizations to le-gitimate power contenders” (Hachhethu 2000: 2-3).

Economic reform policies, for example, were seen as an effective way to pull Nepal out of its economic misery. Unfortunately, the neoliberal approach of selling nationalized industries and placing some of Nepal’s infrastructure projects in foreign hands did not work properly. No additio-nal jobs could be generated with it and the lack of transparency and good governance could not be filled (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 136). Never-theless, due to the increasing amount of remittan-ces from Nepalese migrant workers and because of revenues through market globalization, the state’s bankruptcy could be prevented (Hachhe-thu & Gellner 2010: 136; Thapa et al. 2008: 51). Even though the state remained financially liquid, the disparities between the rural and the urban areas increased dramatically (Hachhethu & Gell-ner 2010: 136). Further economic reform poli-cies, which were launched after the restoration of democracy in 1990, such as removal of import license, full convertibility of Nepalese Rupees, a value added tax system, and freeing banks depo-sits for private sector investments, did not bear

3534

Daily traffic jams on the Prithvi Highway, the main artery from Kathmandu to the WestMiniature kites decorating a houseStatue of King Mahendra

communist movement in Nepal – with its utopian ideal and promises of ending inequalities – was considerably backed by the country’s poor, youth and different minority groups (Lawoti 2010: 6). Furthermore, the successful mobilization of eth-nic and tribal support in the heartland of Nepal played an important role. As Pahari (2010) points out, the Maoists initiated their movement in the mountainous districts of Pyuthan, Rukum and Rolpa, where Moham Bikram Singh, a native of Pyuthan district and a senior patron figure, lived among the Kham Magar communities in Rukum and Rolpa and helped to build a radical commu-nist underground movement (Pahari 2010: 205).

The origin of the Maoists lies in numerous splits of the CPN-Fourth Congress and the emergence of the CPN-Unity Center (CPN-UC) and the CPN-Masal. A subgroup of CPN-UC, the United People’s Front Nepal (UPFN), was not recognized by the Election Commission in 1994 (Lawoti 2010: 6). In 1995, after another split, the CPN-UC renamed itself as CPN-Maoist (CPN-M) and on the 4th of February in 1996, the UPFN sub-mitted a list of 40 demands to the government while threatening with insurgency if the demands were not met (Lawoti 2010:7). At this time, only few people were aware of the CPN-M as one of countless communist parties and groups. The forty-point demand list was hardly noticed and

tions of infrastructure, severe human rights abu-ses and many displacements. There are different opinions about the reasons for the dramatic rise of such violence. Amongst the most mentioned are poverty, unemployment, failed development, ethnic uprising and bad governance (Hachhethu 2001: 58). However, as Lawoti (2010: 3) points out, there are no simple answers to it. To gain a more complex understanding of it, other aspects, such as the fall of the communist ideology in the rest of the world, the restoring of democracy in Nepal 1990 (democracy is supposed to defuse violence), and the slightly improving living con-ditions in the following years must be considered as well. But whatever one might consider as the reasons for the Maoist insurgency, “the present conflict is not a product of just the past few years. It has behind a long history of bad governance, oppression, corruption and marginalisation of people, especially women” (Sharma & Prasain 2002: 152).

The communist movement in Nepal was divided in more than one dozen communist parties and factions. They ranged from the radical Mao-ists on the one hand to more moderate groups, such as the CPN-UML, on the other hand (La-woti 2010: 5-6). Despite the factionism and the downfall of other communist regimes in other parts of the world at the end of the century, the

war without an organized armed force (Sharma 2001: 41) and only a few dozens of fighters (Eck 2010: 33). One week after the beginning of the war, the government treated it as a law and order problem and responded with police repression and mass arrests (Hachhethu 2001: 61). Then, the home minister declared: “I am confident that we will be able to bring the present activities un-der control within four or five days” (Sharma 2001: 49). In the first two years of the people’s war, the Maoists killed 38 persons – the police killed 91 persons and arrested several suspects (Hachhethu 2001: 61).

In the early 2000s, the war intensified for two reasons: First, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the U.S. war on terror, the Nepalese government (and also the United States) labeled Maoists as terro-rists (Sharma 2006: 1247). Second, in June 2001 King Birendra and much of the royal family were killed in a rampage by – according to the official version – Crown Prince Dipendra. The Crown Prince committed suicide and died a few months after the incident. The newly enthroned king was Birendra’s brother Gyanendra, who had been king for a short while as a child. While there were many rumors about the rampage, it seems to be conflict-unrelated (von Einsiedel et al. 2012: 19). However, while King Birendra had been reluctant to deploy the army against its own people, Gya-

almost totally ignored by the prime minister and the media (Sharma 2001:38).

These demands (for full list see Appendix A in Hutt 2004: 285) give an impression about aims and political tendencies of the CPN-M and its ideological leader Baburam Bhattarai. The list included some genuine concerns such as “Nepal should be declared as a secular nation”, “Land should belong to tenants”, and wishful issues such as “Drinking water, roads and electricity should be provided to all villagers”, or “Em-ployments should be guaranteed for all” (Lawoti 2010: 7). There are also some demands on natio-nalism such as ”The open border between Nepal and India should be regulated”, and ”Nepal[ese] workers should be given priority in different sec-tors”, which shows that Nepalese communists were highly nationalist and different from the in-ternational communist movement (Lawoti 2010: 6). The Maoists were also strict opponents to the monarchy: “All special privileges of the king and the royal family should be abolished” (Lawoti 2010: 6).

On February 13th, 1996, a few days after the de-mands were submitted, the people’s war began. It started with strikes against factories, offices and police outposts in the districts of Rolpa, Rukum, Gorkha and Sindhui. The Maoists began their

RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY? NEPAL 1990 – 2013

3736

A bus that allowed tourists to reach the airport during a bandh

elite and non-elite groups facilitated the Maoist’s recruitment of youth from rural and remote areas (Sharma 2006: 1247). Spreading from their po-wer base, they penetrated into the cities and the Kathmandu Valley and almost all of Nepal’s 75 districts (Sharma 2001: 38), forcing police and army to withdraw from large regions of the coun-try (von Einsiedel 2012: 20).

JANA ANDOLAN II AND THE END OF MONARCHYAfter the royal coup in 2002, King Gyanendra addressed the ongoing riots in a harsh authoritari-an way and made it clear to take Nepal back to an absolute monarchy. The so called all-or-nothing gamble by the king signalised that there was no prospect of a stable balance of power between pa-lace and parties. However, with no improvement achieved, the monarchy of King Gyanendra was increasingly questioned - not only by the parties but also by the civil society (Crisis Group 2005). Eventually, a large scale people’s movement (jana andolan II) was initiated in April 2006 against the direct rule of King Gyanendra. Then, after 19 days of protest, this second people’s movement came to a successful end with the capitulation of the king on the 24th of April (Calder 2008; Crisis Group 2006). That day, Gyanendra “[...] accep-ted popular sovereignty, reinstated parliament and invited the mainstream seven-party alliance

nendra decided to call the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) in November 2001 (Hachhethu 2001: 71, von Einsiedel 2012: 19). The year 2002 was the bloodiest with over 4’500 killings reported rela-ted to the People’s War, where less than 1’500 killings occurred between 1996 and 2001 (von Einsiedel 2012: 20). Nevertheless, police forces as well as the army were rather ineffective against the guerilla-like tactics of the Maoists, which in-cluded the killing and kidnapping of people and damaging institutions and infrastructure (Sharma 2006: 1247).

“Guerilla warfare cannot sustain without the support and compliance of the people” (Lawo-ti 2010: 16). Therefore, the Maoists somehow ought to win the support in the villages. To do so, they engaged in the building of infrastructu-res like roads and bridges. Further actions against unpopular village elites, untouchability, ethnic prejudice and sexism, domestic violence against women and the prohibition of public sale of alco-hol in some areas have led to a pro-people image of the Maoists (Lawoti 2010: 16).

At the end of the war in 2006, when the Compre-hensive Peace Agreement was signed, the Mao-ists had about 30’000 fighters under their control (Eck 2010: 33). The rise of poverty and inequa-lities between rural and urban areas as well as

Impressions of a bandh

Kathmandu on September 12th, 2013

«Tourist Shuttle Bus Service» says the huge banner,

mounted between the head lamps of the bus – it al-

lows this bus to drive through the empty streets of Ka-

thmandu on this Thursday, September 12th, 2013. It is

our second-last last day in Nepal and the capital city

of Kathmandu is our last stop of our excursion. When

we arrived at Kathmandu airport two weeks ago, traffic

noise, crowded roads, and polluted air were among the

first impressions. Not today – the streets are empty, the

air seems purer than on the days before, and there are

no howling motors, squealing brakes or blowing horns

startling newly arrived travelers. It is bandh in Nepal. A

bandh is an organised strike, which means a shutdown

of shops, schools, public services and traffic. Excluded

and a new party led by Mohan Baidya called itself once more Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The remaining other two powerful parties, the NC and UML, “[...] have rejected many aspects of the proposed socio-political transformations, notably by opposing identity-based federalism” (Crisis Group 2012). Provided that all parties are struggling with factional and ideological di-visions, an overall consensus is not in sight. The 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA) was dis-solved on May 27th, 2012 (FES 2013). Despite the violent opposition of the CPN-M led coaliti-on, elections to a new constituent assembly were successfully held on November 19, 2013 with a voter turnout of about 70%. While the Nepa-li Congress and the UML emerged as the clear winners of the polls (with 196 and 175 seats res-pectively), the CPN-M was relegated to the third place with a meager 80 seats.

CONCLUSIONNepalese politics have faced several major shifts in the last 23 years. 1990 marked the year when the executive and legislative powers were taken over by political parties. However, the leading parties failed to restore the young democracy into a stable and inclusive system which, eventually, culminated in the civil war from 1996 to 2006 that has left indelible scars in various respects. Regarding the country’s

to implement its roadmap [...]” (Crisis Group 2006). Jana andolan II was seen as a full success for the people of Nepal regarding the King’s resi-gnation, the hope for better political leadership, the demonstration of people’s constraint on the Maoists, and a strong signal to the international community. On the 30th of April, Girija Prasad Koirala, by the time aged 84, was once more in-augurated as prime minister (Crisis Group 2006).

CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATIONToday, seven years after the Peace Agreement, the political situation in Nepal seems deadlocked. In the 2008 elections of the Constituent Assembly the Maoists emerged unexpectedly as the new leading party (Crisis Group 2012). They changed from a rebel group to an official party. However, Nepal’s politics had soon to face further chal-lenges when new Madhesi parties – representing people of the southern Tarai region – emerged as powerful forces in the assembly. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) unified with the Com-munist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre-Masal) in January 2009 and renamed itself to Unified Com-munist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN (Maoist)). Together with the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), they have argued for an identity-based federalism which should take into consi-deration the historical marginalisation of indige-nous groups. In 2012, the UCPN (Maoist) split

are international flights, ambulance services and water

transports. On a bandh-day, Kathmandu seems to be a

completely different city. Tourists could easily get ner-

vous when looking for transportation to the airport. Ne-

pali people, however, act in a way that shows us that they

are used to this situation. Bandhs take place frequently

in Kathmandu. People know how to inform and organize

themselves. Websites like nepalbandh.com provide infor-

mation about the date, on which a bandh is planned, its

reasons and who the organizers are. Today, small groups

of protesters, primarily young men, are marching in the

streets, swinging banners and shouting paroles. Strike pi-

ckets, which are located on crucial road junctions, should

ensure that no vehicles are on the streets, except for tou-

rist buses and rickshaws. Armed police forces are placed

around these strike pickets, observing without getting in

touch with the protesters. Here too, all involved groups

like policemen, protesters or tourist-bus-drivers seem to

be familiar with the situation and behave calmly.

It is not clear to us what the precise demands of the

protesters are. One reason might be that some political

parties are opposing the upcoming Constituent Assembly

elections on November 19th. Another rumor says that

they are protesting against increasing ticket-prices for

public transport. However, in regard of the elections, the-

re might be more strikes coming. Despite the relatively

peaceful atmosphere on that day, a bandh leads to nega-

tive consequences such as economic damages and deepe-

ning mistrust in public services. Furthermore, there is a

huge potential for violence. It becomes clear to us that

trust in political structures and democratic instruments

are fundamental issues for Nepal. Therefore, to include

the protesting voice into politics might be a step forward

to reduce the frequency of bandhs and shutdowns of

whole cities.

RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY? NEPAL 1990 – 2013

38

Youth wing of the CPN-M demonstrates against the scheduled elections to a Constituent Assembly in Basantapur/Kathmandu

recent history, it seems that the disagreement on the political level is merely the only thing that is constant, unchanging and reliable. On our excursion it was astonishing to see how routinely the people dealt with the political impasse in their everyday lives. On the day the general strike (bandh) took place (see box “Impressions of a bandh”), it felt like people on the street knew how to come to terms with the situation. Furthermore, Nepalese people, with whom we had the chance to talk, seemed to be rather distanced from politics than eager to get involved themselves in the political tur-moil. Nepal’s political transition has certainly not been completed yet. There remain hurd-les to overcome. The government will have to address persistent problems of law and order, lack of genuine leaders, impunity, dependence on foreign aid, infrastructure, and food inse-curity to name a few. The fronts are hardened and political credibility is in deep crisis. We as-sume that the radical turnaround from 1990 was an important step into a new political Ne-pal. However, from our present point of view there is still a very long way to go until demo-cratic structures are strengthened. The tense si-tuation in Nepal resembles a powder keg that could easily explode again.

Demonstration of the CPN-M led 33-party alliance against the elections.

RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY? NEPAL 1990 – 2013

4140

Lonely street vendor at Durbar Marg during the CPN-M called bandh, overseen by the armed and traffic police.

After a ten-year long civil war (1996-2006) bet-ween the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) and the government security forces, Nepal is in a state of political transition. In this chapter, we will discuss some of the challenges Nepal is fa-cing concerning the election of the Constituent Assembly and the effects of the present state of impunity without a permanent constitution on human rights, focusing on the situation of the minorities living in the country. We shall also examine the debate on federalism, which is of si-gnificant importance in the difficulties of writing the constitution.

THE CONSTITUTION, IMPUNITY AND RULE OF LAWIn 2007, the century-old monarchy was to be replaced by a secular democracy and an Inte-rim Constitution was implemented, according to which Nepal is understood as a Federal Republic (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 142). Although the-re was a Constituent Assembly in charge of writing Nepal’s constitution, the country’s government is at present time still operating under the Inte-rim Constitution implemented in 2007 (Pimentel 2010: 283). Further, serious atrocities against hu-man rights committed by both sides in the conflict are still not addressed, leading to what some call a “state of impunity” (Human Rights Watch & Advocacy Forum 2011: 2). So far, the attempt to

write a definite constitution has not been success-ful. For a better understanding of the today’s situ-ation, we shall give a brief overview on the recent history of the political changes in Nepal, focusing on the constitution and the rule of law, as both are crucial to the stability and functionality of a democracy. As the multiparty democratic system under the constitutional monarchy did not meet people’s expectations, the Maoists started the “people’s war” against the government in 1996, which marks the starting point of a ten-year civil war (Chiang 2013: 942).

When in 2006 the Maoists and the Seven-Party Alliance representing the parliament signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), this marked the end of the civil war (Chiang 2013: 943). Both sides committed to condemn impu-nity and to investigate human rights violations (NHRC & OHCHR-Nepal 2011: 16). Royal po-wers were reduced and the Maoists were invited to participate in the government (Pimentel 2010: 289).

Both the security forces and the Maoists commit-ted many violations of the International Huma-nitarian Law, such as killings, enforced disappea-rances or torture (Chiang 2013: 942), especially during civil war. The army was close and loyal to the ruling monarchy, and the enforcement of

NEPAL IN TRANSITIONIMPUNITY & RULE OF LAW,FEDERALISM, AND THE SITUATION OF MINORITIES IN NEPALLisa Honegger, Irene Schärer, Anne Wegmann

law and order by police authorities was almost inexistent. Those circumstances granted the Mao-ists the justification for the enforcement of their own “law” (ACHR 2008: 4).

The human rights atrocities include rape, killing and the disappearance of people. Both sides were accusing each other of being responsible for the-se acts of violence (Human Rights Watch & Ad-vocacy Forum 2011: 13). Many unsubordinates were taken into custody, while their families were not allowed to visit and were often even threate-ned themselves (Human Rights Watch & Advo-cacy Forum 2011: 17).

In order to address these wartime atrocities, the government created two commissions: the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” (TRC) and the “Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances” (CD) (Chiang 2013: 943). These commissions are meant to support the criminal justice system as a fact-finding body rather than dealing with pro-secutions, which still remains duty of the court. Problems arise when investigation and prosecuti-on are largely postponed by the political parties and courts, referring to the work of the TRC and the CD. On the one hand, political parties seem to hesitate to grant the mandate of investigation to the TRC. On the other hand, they use their re-liance on the work of the TRC and the CD as an

argument to keep delaying the jurisdiction (PBI 2011: 3). So far, the two commissions have failed, although previous governments had promised in-vestigation on wartime crimes several times (Hu-man Rights Watch & Advocacy Forum 2011: 3).Up to this day, authorities have tried to protect both sides – security and rebel forces – from being made accountable for human rights abuses, as both are now participants in the government. Key elements in these protection strategies are case withdrawals and general amnesties, as explained further down (Human Rights Watch & Advocacy Forum 2011: 25).

After elections to the Constitutional Assembly in 2007, an Interim Constitution was adopted and it was agreed to write a completely new constitu-tion for a federalist, secular state (Pimentel 2010: 289). According to this Interim Constitution, the state is required to uphold human rights as well as to eliminate corruption and impunity.However, the Interim Constitution has weaknes-ses regarding the distribution of power. The fact that the president holds the power on recommen-dation of the Council of Ministers to suspend, commute or reduce any sentence imposed by any court and other authority or institutions stands in contrast to the requirements of the state under the Interim Constitution. Exculpations or amnes-ties can only occur after investigation and prose-

4342

The current state of instability and lack of ac-countability hinders the introduction of a definite constitution to a federalist system in Nepal. Ac-counting for all the different needs and interests of the various ethnic groups in Nepal and dividing the power equally among them is no easy task. Also, the country’s diversity of natural resources and the access to them is a big issue among peo-ple, as there are regions with high fertility, and others with almost no usable natural resources. Thus, in the next chapter, we focus on the debate on federalism in Nepal, as it has a big impact on the process of constitution writing.

DEBATE ON FEDERALISM IN NEPALThe governance system where power ist divided between a central authority and constituent po-litical units is called federalism (The free dictio-nary: 2009). Nepal tries to introduce a fair fede-ralism, which possesses the advantage of equally considering all regions and ethnic groups, to fulfill the diverse demands of its multi-ethnic po-pulation. Reduced marginalization of disadvan-taged groups and religion through a strengthened political representation, the stimulation of deve-lopment and democratization and the reduction of conflicts through equal empowerment of all groups are three potential advantages federalism can bring to Nepal (Aalen & Hatlebakk 2008: 2, Töpperwien 2009: 2). After 1990, as the pancha-

cution of crimes, but the Constitution Assembly has failed to propose an article to prohibit such pardons for serious crimes (NHRC & OHCHR-Nepal 2011: 14f). So far, more than 600 wartime criminal cases have been withdrawn by successive governments (Human Rights Watch & Advocacy Forum 2011: 25).

The existing Emergency Power Article within the Interim Constitution even enables the president to suspend legal rights fixed in the Interim Con-stitution, such as the right of speech, the right of assembly or press freedom. Abuse of legal right is therefore possible, since it can be suspended exactly at the point when needed most (Pimentel 2010: 312).

Human rights organisations state that, in order to be able to address the committed violations through transitional justice, it is crucial to esta-blish the rule of law so that all persons are held equally accountable to the laws that are consis-tent with international human rights norms. Only if people can be held accountable for the commit-ted violations, citizens will feel justice and thus start to trust in the government again, which is important for sustainable peace and democracy (Chiang 2013: 945).

Advocacy Forum

The Advocacy Forum (AF) is an NPO and an NGO which

was established in 2001. Its goal is to promote the rule

of law and uphold international Human rights standards

as well as fighting the culture of impunity in Nepal. AF is

working in 20 districts out of 75 in total, employing 75

staff members in 16 offices.

The AF has five separate departments: the Criminal Ju-

stice Department, the Transitional Justice Department,

the Prevention of Torture Department, the HR Documen-

tation and Monitoring Department, and the Child Rights

Monitoring and Juvenile Justice Department (Advocacy

Forum 2013).

In our discussion with representatives of AF it became

clear that in their opinion, missing political will of politi-

cians in charge is a core problem hindering the investiga-

tion of wartime crimes. They see a big lack of accounta-

bility and are hoping for support from the International

Community to take repressive measures in order to put

some pressure on the politicians.

AF faces obstacles in their work, since many of the cur-

rent political leaders themselves are somehow linked to

the committed wartime atrocities. Up to this day, AF

cannot account for one case successfully solved. AF finds

their cases by visiting detention centers, or victims re-

porting to them in their offices or through their radio

programs on the topic.

They receive funding from different organizations such

as Unicef and European governments and stress that it is

important to invest the money first in the establishment

of human rights before investing it in other development

projects.

NEPAL IN TRANSITION

Visit of the Advocacy Forum

as the dominant group’s share is almost nowhere more than 50%. Another risk is the dissociation of units and the reduction of loyalty to the state (Töpperwien 2009: 13f).

The proponents of the fiscal approach pursue the same economic conditions of all units to create an even development for all regions, which would, in their opinion, prevent conflicts over resources. Critical voices state that marginalisation cannot be prevented by a fiscal approach, which will lead to a society controlled by elites and con-flicts within constituent units between the pla-nes and the mountain areas (Töpperwien 2009: 13f). Aalen and Hatlebakk (2008: 7) suppose that an equal allocation is impossible because 12 districts out of 63 generate 94% of the state income. Possible solutions for this conflict are a combination of the approaches, the elimination of people’s concerns through enacting laws that further minority rights by the central govern-ment, proportional representation of the popu-lation in politics, reserved education places for marginalized groups, fiscal exchange between the units, guidelines about how the resources should be shared or the development of mechanisms for conflict solving (Töpperwien 2009: 13). In 2002, an official list of 59 janajati (indigenous nationa-lities) groups was published by the state. For tho-se groups included on the list, seats in political,

yat system was overthrown by the people’s mo-vement and street battles and demonstrations led to the legalization of political parties, a new con-stitution was allowed, which defined Nepal as “a multi-ethnic, multilingual, democratic, indepen-dent, indivisible, sovereign, Hindu and Constitu-tional Monarchical Kingdom”. As a consequence of the panchayat system, under which all Nepa-lis were claimed equal, the ethnogenesis started (Gellner 2007: 1825). Subsequently ethnicity be-came more prominent since different groups were enabled to live their culture freely.

Nevertheless, the political debate in Nepal main-ly concerns the establishment of the federal units and their borders. In the literature there are two main opinions to be found: One is the idea of creating units based on ethnic groups, while the other position favors a fiscal federalism, where units are based on an equal allocation of natu-ral resources (Töpperwien 2009: 13f). Both op-tions have several advantages and disadvanta-ges. While the formation based on ethnic groups would lead to an equal political representation of all groups and increased security of minorities, antagonists claim that these constitutions could facilitate civil war amongst the about 100 diffe-rent ethnic groups and more than 70 linguistic groups in Nepal. Furthermore, there is no way to create units with a homogeneous population

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Preparation for a demonstration of the CPI-M at Kathmandu‘s Durbar Square

diversity, which is regarded as extremely vital for the further democratization in Nepal (Hangen 2007: 2). The Madhesi movement gained atten-tion of the state as it turned more violent, thus capturing the attention of the media in 2007. The Madhesis are an ethnic group living in the Terai region but do not include the Tharus, the latter having formed a separate movement. While the Tharu are Nepal’s fourth largest ethnic group, they do not share a common culture, language or history, as ethnic labels shifted over time, empha-sizing the fact that identities are in flux. Conflicts about different boundary demarcations lead to violent protests in spring 2012, when the Mid- and Far-West districts such as Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur were affected by clashes between Tharuhat activists, ‘undivided Far-West’ movement activists and security forces (Nepali Times 2012b). According to Kretowicz (2010) and Kumar (2008) Tharuhat is the name for the land of the Tharu origin. A 19 day long bandh (a general strike) ended after the parties signed an agreement to ensure multi-ethnic federal states but the Tharuhat activists are still agitating (Ne-pali Times 2012b).

To sum up, the debate of federalism is not only an issue that is being discussed by politicians, but also a topic that leads to protests and civil war. Especially the equal representation of the nu-

administrative and educational institutions will be reserved (Gellner 2007: 1825). In 1990, a new national organization called NEFIN (Nepal Asso-ciation of Indigenous Nationalities) was founded, in which all 59 janajati groups are represented today. The organization urges the government to uplift the janajatis and is also successful in attrac-ting large grants from the British Department for International Development (Gellner 2997: 1825). This controversial debate emphasizes the fact that federalism on its own will not bring a solution to inequality and marginalization in Nepal.

To stress the importance of the federalism deba-te its impact on society and several movements will be discussed in the following. It is not only a point in a politician’s agenda – it has also influ-enced the daily life of almost every Nepali person. Several protests and movements related to fede-ralism in Nepal (Hangen 2007: viii) eventually led to the collapse of the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, Nepal still has no constitution and only an interim government at the present time. Subsequently, the janajati, Madhesi and Tharu movement will be discussed briefly. The janajati movement tries to achieve more political stabi-lity and asks for more attention to their ethnic demands. The activists demand a redistribution and wider sharing of political power and the right to freedom of expression of political and cultural

NEPAL IN TRANSITION

Hopeful younger generation

into different castes was done by assigning the highest caste to the people who adopted the most of the Hindu culture (Krämer 1996: 21-34). But because of the multiplicity of ethnic groups, there were many tribes that retained their traditional customs and refused what they regarded as a for-eign culture and philosophy. The tribes that adap-ted the least were classified as the lowest caste or even as not being part of any caste (Krämer 1996: 21-34). The following groups count as minorities in Nepal:

DalitsThe Dalits are also called “untouchables” (Krä-mer 1996: 34). Many of them are farmers or descendants of the servants of escaped Indians, who belonged to one of the highest castes (Krä-mer 1996: 34).

As they were classified even below the lowest cas-te in the 18th century, they were seen as ritually polluted, also because of their non-hindu culture and practice. This made it impossible for them to produce and sell goods because they were regar-ded as impure. They were excluded from police and school, their rituals and traditions were puni-shed and as their goods were not demanded, they suffered poverty and slavery. If they owned land, it had to be assigned to the higher castes (Krämer 1996: 232).

merous ethnic groups and minorities often causes problems and conflicts. No matter how the units are built up in the end, it has to be combined with political sanctions and a centrally managed poli-tical system which coordinates the compensation of the disadvantaged groups and regions. The debate on federalism often mentions minorities. The following section takes a closer look at these minorities.

MINORITIES IN NEPALOne of the main challenges in solving the prob-lem of federalism in Nepal is the diversity of its population. In Nepal, the majority of the popula-tion belongs to so-called minorities, which are de-fined by Prasad Bhattarai (2004: 312) as a group of people that suffers from oppression by another group. Therefore, a minority exists “only in rela-tion to a majority” (Prasad Bhattarai 2004: 312). These people in Nepal, who have been margina-lized and excluded from politics for many years, now demand a voice and rights.

The oppressed groups emerged in the 18th cen-tury, when Hindu people declared Nepal as a Hindu state and the Hindu caste system was ad-opted to the local population (Krämer 1996: 21). Nepal was composed of many individual parti-al states with their own tribes, their individual culture, ethnicity, and laws. The classification

4746

Observing the newcomers in Lwang Women in Bhaktapur producing wicks from cotton wool for oil lamps.

of their low status in society and because they are legally disadvantaged.

One of the challenges they face is the procure-ment of food for the family, for which they are responsible (Bhattarai 2012: 75). Especially if be-longing to one of the marginalized ethnic groups, food is often rare because of poverty. The fact that women do not have the right to access capi-tal equipment or assets makes it even more dif-ficult to obtain food security (Basnet 2012: 85). To guarantee the children can be fed, women of-ten decide to work as day laborers, where they have to work hard and under dangerous condi-tions (Bhattarai 2012: 76).

Another problem they face is prostitution. Often due to poverty women end in prostitution, where they suffer physical and psychological mistreat-ment (Gurung 2012: 79). Prostitution, its parlous conditions, and the fact that annually 20,000 young women are sold to Indian brothels, whe-re they are victims of forced prostitution, show the discrimination of women and their lack of rights (Bansh Jha 2004: o.A.). These discrimina-tions come along with women’s low position in society and religion. While the husband is allo-wed to address his wife with the lowest level of courtesy, the woman is forced to use the highest level for communication (Yamajola-nepal 2010).

JanajatiSome Dalits belong to the janajati. Janajati is ano-ther word for “tribe” (Gellner 2007: 1825). The term was first used in the 1990s, when activists started their protests. It comprises the hill tribes of Nepal as well as groups of Tibetan culture and a small number of tribes from the Terai (Gellner 2007: 1825). The distinction between caste and janajati is similar to the difference between caste and tribe in India but in Nepal, more than 40 % of its population belongs to the janajati (Gellner 2007: 1825). All these ethnic groups have their own culture, traditions, and area of settlement (Kern 2012: 64). The janajati are subdivided into two main groups, the Hill/Himalaya-janajati and the Madheshi janajati (Bansh Jha 2004: o.A.).

Just as the Dalits are marginalized by higher cas-tes, the janajati claim that they suffer from po-litical and social exclusion, lack of education, poverty, and discrimination because of their di-sobedience of the hindu ideal (Kern 2012: 64). Even within the janajati exists a hierarchy, and in-dividual ethnic groups can be oppressed by other members (Prassad Bhattarai 2004: 309).

WomenWomen in Nepal also belong to a minority. Many of them suffer marginalisation, discrimination and violence as well as sexual harassment because

NEPAL IN TRANSITION

disapproval, indifference and less respect because of women’s low position in Nepalese society (PBI 2012). A lack of capital resources and limited ac-cess to international humanitarian organizations additionally impedes their work.

Following the people’s movement and the civil war, policies were established to improve the situation of these three minorities but their im-plementation appears as difficult. Despite the official abolishment of the caste system, even to-day nearly all members of the lower castes suffer from a lack of land and education and are still the most marginalized and poorest group of people in Nepal (Krämer 1996: 232-252). Although the interim constitution states that by law 45% of positions in the bureaucracy are reserved for op-pressed groups and that they should be represen-ted proportionally to their portion of the popu-lation, their voices and claims often are ignored (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 142).

Just as the janajati nowadays can participate in political parties, the interim constitution also states that political parties must guarantee 33% of the state positions to women (Hachhethu & Gellner 2010: 142). But the implementation of these rules is, as shown earlier in this paper, dif-ficult. To improve women’s position in Nepal, granting them a say, access to land, assets, and to

Religion demands a girl’s virginity when getting married. In the case that she is pregnant before marriage, she can be ostracized and thrown out of the paternal home (Yamayola-nepal 2010). Women in West Nepal are also discriminated by the Chaupadi-system, where they get separated and locked up in a hut away from home during menstruation, owing to their “impurity” (Bhat-tarai 2012: 76).

All these legal, cultural and societal discrimina-tions lead to the low position and marginalization of women in Nepal. An improvement is difficult because they do not get help from the state. As shown earlier in this paper, impunity and corrup-tion make it impossible to punish these offences on women (PBI 2012). Police officers – mainly male – often do not believe women when they seek help for mistreatment, or regard rape as a right of a husband to his wife (PBI 2012).

During the last years, human rights activists tried to improve the situation of the Nepalese women. However, their work is not welcomed by every-one, especially by men (Pariyar 2012: 59). Men accuse them of interfering with their privacy, and thus threaten and intimidate the activists (Pari-yar 2012: 60). While male human activists find it easier to make themselves heard by the police, female human rights activists are often met with

48

Members of the armed police force watching over the bandh at Durbar Marg

from a combination of these two concepts, the right of access to land and assets, rigorous integ-ration of the minorities into politics and the pu-nishment of human rights violations are seen as potential actions to meet all the different needs of the population and to respect the manifold tradi-tions and cultures in Nepal.

penal court would be necessary as well as chan-ging of the widespread patriarchal mentality. The government should help women by supporting them in their requests and take measures to gua-rantee food security (Bhattarai 2012: 78).

CONCLUSIONSince the implementation of the Interim Consti-tution in 2007, the government of Nepal has not been able to draw a new constitution. Despite of the state’s requirement to prevent human rights violations, corruption and impunity, the situation has not improved. Discrimination of minorities such as women, Dalits and janajati continues and the implementation of laws to integrate them into politics seems to be difficult. The concen-trated power of the state in a few positions was identified as a reason for this situation. Bandhs, demonstrations and the ongoing debate on fe-deralism express the dissatisfaction of different groups in the country. Federalism is seen as an important point to enhance the situation of the marginalized groups and to regain the people’s trust in the government. The main challenge is how the units of a federalist Nepal should be built to be able to include the needs of all the diffe-rent (ethnic) groups. Both suggestions, a division of Nepal into different units with equal natural resources as well as its formation by units of dif-ferent ethnic groups seem to be difficult. Apart

NEPAL IN TRANSITION

Rani Pokhari (the “Queen‘s lake”) in the

centre of Kathmandu. The pond with a

Shiva temple in the centre was contructed

by King Pratap Malla in the 18th century

in memory of his dead son and offered as

a consolidation for his wife.

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Nepal is one of the poorest and most food inse-cure countries in Asia. Although Nepal has made progress in poverty reduction, the situation for the people remains often precarious and many causes of food insecurity are still not addressed. In the following, we give an overview of food security, land rights and land distribution in Nepal (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: i). To describe the food security situati-on in Nepal and gain a better “understanding of the livelihoods of poor people” (IFAD 2013), we draw on the sustainable livelihoods approach. A sustainable livelihood is a major factor for food security as it gives the opportunity to take hold of issues that allow having a good life and being food secure (Oni & Fashogbon 2013: 110). In turn, food insecurity implies a nutritional risk and can lead to poverty and damage livelihoods (Young et al. 2001: 1).After introducing the livelihoods approach, we discuss the problems in connection with food security in Nepal. Thereby we particularly focus on land rights and land distribution systems and their influence on food security. The remainder of this contribution briefly outlines the role of food assistance as one reaction to food insecu-rity. The World Food Program is spotlighted as one of the main actors in food aid. Concluding, the different themes are reconsidered and again embedded into the conceptual approach.

Sustainable Livelihoods ApproachThe Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) is a concept that evolved in the late 1980s and gained popularity in the course of the paradigm shift from top-down to bottom-up development approaches in that time (Ellis & Biggs 2001: 443-444). Figure 1: The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (Steimann 2006: 2)

It has its roots in Amartya Sens’s “asset vulne-rability framework” (Sen 1981) that he develo-ped in the context of famine analysis. One of the main characteristics of this approach is its explicit focus on the people and their livelihood strate-gies. People’s assets are placed in the centre of the framework (Ellis & Biggs 2001: 445). In their daily life, people have to earn a living operating with their human, natural, financial, physical and social assets. The framework embeds the-se assets in a wider context. On the one hand, people’s lives are threatened by external factors like shocks, trends and seasonality that build the so called “vulnerability context”. This can inclu-de adverse weather conditions, diseases or fluc-tuations of the economy. On the other hand, the assets are embedded in institutional structures on different levels, including norms and values, of-ficial laws or policies.

FOOD SECURITYAND LIVELIHOODSIN NEPALJill Brütsch, Sarah Hartmann, Alexandra Meister, Pascal Senn

The SLA makes it possible to analyse the reasons of declining food availability at the household le-vel. As the SLA looks at the complex interplay of assets, external factors and activities the ap-proach supports an understanding of the reasons of famines and how interventions can possibly improve people’s livelihoods. The ownership of land can be a crucial natural asset to gain a be-neficial livelihood outcome and to avert famine (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 13). The following discussion of food insecurity, land distribution and food assistance in Nepal draws on these basic insights of the livelihoods frame-work. We will start with discussing food security in the next chapter.

FOOD SECURITY There is a wide spectrum of definitions and inter-pretations of food security. Food security reaches from the national or even global availability of adequate food supplies on one hand to adequa-te nutrition and well-being of every individual person on the other hand (FAO 2003: 3). In the following, we will discuss the definition given by the FAO with its four dimensions. This chapter will further explain the current food security situ-ation in Nepal and discuss local disparities, land ownership and external threats such as influences due to the people’s war.

Definition and current situationThe FAO describes Food security as „a situati-on that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dieta-ry needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2003: 28). Further, the FAO divides food security into four dimensions:

1 — Availability of Food, referring to the presence of food in a country (or on a more local level), coming either from do-mestic production, commercial imports or food aid (FAO 2008: 1).

2 — Access to Food, describing „a household’s ability to acquire adequate amounts of food through its own home production and stocks, direct purchases, barter, gifts, borrowing or food aid“ (FAO 2010: 8).

3 — Food Utilization, which consists of different factors. One is the ability of the human body to absorb and use nutrients. Another is the storage of food, its proces-sion and preparation. Further, the usage of water and cooking fuel and the hygienic conditions are part of it as well as intra-household food distribution (FAO 2008: 1).

The sustainable livelihood approach (Source: Steimann 2006:2)

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Paddy fields near Lwang

80% of the food required on the national level (Adhikari & Paudel n.y.: 29). This number va-ries between different areas of Nepal. Especially the far- and mid-western districts are experienci-ng a severe deficit, cultivating only about 30% of the amount of food required, while the Terai is the most important area for agricultural pro-duction. This is mainly due to environmental factors such as topography and climate, but also due to the limited possibility of using agricultu-ral inputs in order to increase productivity. If the production growth rate remains stable and the population continues to grow, Nepal will become consistently food deficient (Food Security Moni-toring Task Force 2010: 13f). Food availability is further impeded by the lack of infrastructure such as all-weather roads, through which food deficits in peripheral areas can be alleviated (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 1). Such distribution problems indicate that a local or na-tional availability of food does not guarantee that households are provided with sufficient food. The access dimension of food security captures these aspects.

Access to foodA household’s ability to acquire adequate amounts of food is not only dependent on its mo-netary income but much more on its livelihood strategy, including its ability to produce or trade

4 — Stability, which means that all three factors are given at all times and includes an individual’s condition such as health or em-ployment as well as external influences such as natural disasters and social, political and economic conditions (FAO 2010: 8).

Food insecurity that might occur if these dimen-sions are not given can be chronic, seasonal or transitory, depending on the cause, consequence and duration of these (FAO 2008: 1). If a per-son is food insecure he or she cannot consume the amount of food needed (Osmani 1993: 3). In Nepal, 17% of the population was experiencing malnourishment in 2010 (Joshi et al. 2010: 2). In the following, this situation is discussed in detail taking into account the four dimensions menti-oned above.

FOOD SECURITY IN NEPALAvailability of FoodAgriculture is responsible for producing food and it is the most important economic sector in Ne-pal. However, while the productivity is low and the production shows a long-term stagnation, the population growth is high (Deraniyagala 2005: 54). There are different levels of food availabili-ty; regional, national, district or community level (NPC & CBS 2013: 3). The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that Nepal is producing about

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

So called "local chicken" are usually prefered to broilers.

They are also used for Hindu rituals and sacrifices.

Mobile street vendor

There are different reasons why people are expe-riencing failure of food entitlement. There can be physical, financial and social barriers, as the de-finition of food security (Food Security Monito-ring Task Force 2010: 1) and the sustainable live-lihood approach already showed. Entitlements can be production- or trade-based (Sen 1981: 2). As already mentioned, many households in Nepal only produce a limited amount of food due to their small land holdings. Many Nepale-se households are farm households but only own 0.83 ha of land in average and 45% even own less than 0.5 ha, which is not enough to produce an adequate amount of food (Food Security Monito-ring Task Force 2010: 13).

Another reason for access-based insecurity, which directly affects the trade-based entitlement is the weak infrastructure, such as the lack of a road network and markets in remote areas. 60% of Nepal’s road infrastructure can be found in the Terai. Weak infrastructure does not allow the people to easily trade their crops or buy food. Rural people have to travel over two hours on average to reach market places. This is less prob-lematic in urban areas (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 15).

Even if food is available it is often not affordable for households. This economic barrier is a prob-

which depends on different factors (Rakodi 2002: 315). The entitlement approach of Amartya Sen (1981) helps to explain the access dimension of food security. It basically consists of three con-ceptual categories (Osmani 1993: 3):

1 — Endowment set: that consists of all resources a person has, whether these are tangible or intangible assets;

2 — Entitlement set: that is all possible combinations of goods/services a person can obtain by using his endowment set;

3 — Entitlement Mapping: the relation-ship between the two sets named above. It shows how the endowment set can be converted into goods/services.

This concept resembles the SLA explained be-fore. People have to ensure their access to food while utilising given assets under certain external influences. This is part of a successful livelihood strategy. If a person is experiencing a failure of food entitlements, he or she cannot obtain the re-quired amount of food no matter how he or she reallocates resources to obtain food. Famine then means that a large number of people suffer from this entitlement failure at the same time (Osmani 1993: 3).

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Drying lentils, an important staple food

Food UtilizationFood utilization has different meanings. We al-ready discussed availability and access that exist on national/local and household level. Utilization concerns an even smaller scale. It is understood as the nutrient and energy intake of an individual, which depends on feeding practices and dietary diversity as well as food storage and preparation (FAO 2008: 1). It further points at differential food distribution within the household. Soci-al factors are of big importance in this context; male children may be favoured and women may only be allowed to eat after the men have satis-fied their appetites (Food Securing Monitory Task Force 2010: 1).

StabilityAs discussed before, there are external factors that influence food security and livelihood re-spectively. These can be of various origins and can threaten all three dimensions of food securi-ty. The agricultural production is highly depen-dent on weather conditions and its outputs are strongly varying from year to year (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 14). Furthermore, economic factors such as volatile food prices or unemployment can impede food security. Someo-ne may be food secure for the moment but things can change rapidly or in a periodic cycle (FAO 2008: 1). Other important factors for food secu-

lem as 31% of Nepal’s population is living below the poverty line. Money is either required to buy inputs for adequate agricultural production or to access markets. Conversely, food insecurity can lead to or increase poverty, as we will see when discussing coping strategies later (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 17).

Caste or gender may be social barriers to food access. The caste system is very important in Nepal and it often defines who has access to re-sources and opportunities (Food Security Moni-toring Task Force 2010: 5). Statistics show that Dalits are most often suffering from food inse-curity while Brahmins and Newars are less often struggling with food insecurity (NPC & CBS 2013: 81). Also gender plays an important role for possibilities to access food. Women are more likely to suffer from food insecurity and they are the first ones within the household who have to reduce food intake. Women do not have as many endowments as men do. They rarely own land, house or livestock, they often do not get the same education and employment opportunities and their control over household decision-making is lower than men’s (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 7f).

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

Tea garden in Lwang

Before 1950In the time before 1950 it was mainly the state who acted as a landowner that distributed the land to its people. There were two different main forms of land tenure: The Raikar system and the Kipat system. Raikar was land that was cont-rolled by the state while Kipat land was managed by a particular community where the state had no influence (Adhikari 2008: 22).

The Raikar systemIn the Raikar system the state assigned land to private persons under the condition that taxes had to be paid for the land. Until 1951, Raikar land made up approximately 50 percent of the cultivated land in Nepal. From the two systems mentioned above, especially the Raikar system includes many additional subsystems, of which the Birta and the Guthi systems are worth menti-oning (Adhikari 2008: 23).

In the Birta system the state distributed land rights exempt from taxation to individuals who were close to the ruling class. As a consequence, people who helped to establish the interests of the ruling class were entitled to privileges in land tenure. Until 1959, Birta land made up 36% of the land in Nepal. Afterwards, this system was abandoned (Adhikari 2008: 23).

rity are political stability and the absence of vio-lence and terrorism (FAO 2013: 16).To gain a better understanding of the different factors influencing food security and livelihoods in Nepal we focus on two factors in the following. The first regards the past development of small land holdings. Access to land is influenced by fac-tors deeply rooted in history. The second factor, which posed serious threats to food security in Nepal was the people’s war from 1996 to 2006, a period characterised by political and economic instability that directly threatened the availability of and the access to food.

LAND RIGHTS AND LAND DISTRIBUTIONThe origins of present conditions of land owner-ship in Nepal, with households holding small parts of land, lie far back in the past. The Ra-na-dynasty, which was in power until 1951 and practiced different forms of land tenure, played an important role in that. Serious attempts for land reforms only emerged after the downfall of the Ranas (Adhikari 2008). The history of land tenure in Nepal can therefore be roughly divided into two periods: The time before 1951 and the time after 1951. Subsequently, a short overview of the most important forms of land tenure in Ne-pal is given.

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Figure 2: Overview of the pre-1950s land tenure system in Nepal (Adhikari 2008: 23)

on of resources, mainly land, because forests and cultivable land were mostly given to the elites. Farm workers, who did not own land themselves and therefore could not profit from the land, are still stuck in poverty today (CBS & World Bank 2006). Families with little land, who need the land as a livelihood-basis, are highly vulnerable to food insecurity (CBS 2006a).

A second implication of the system was an insecu-rity of land tenure among the people, as the state could claim back the land at any time, even land exempt of taxation like in the Birta system. Only land under the Guthi system was safe from being reclaimed, a reason why this form of land tenure was very popular.

After 1951After the downfall of the Rana regime in 1951 there were several attempts to modernize land tenure in Nepal. Worth mentioning are, among others, the land rights movements of Bhim Datta Pant around 1950 or the Jhora Movement from 1967-69. A listing of further movements can be found in Adhikari (2008: 33).

As a reaction to public protests over the years, the government began to implement reform measu-res. However, for several reasons these measures did not have the desired impact (Adhikari 2008:

The Guthi system consisted of land that was as-signed to religious or charitable institutions. This land was exempt from taxation and could not be taken back by the state. As a consequence, this guaranteed property made Guthi land very popu-lar among people. Today there is still 2 percent of the land under this system (Adhikari 2008: 24).

The Kipat SystemThe second main form of land tenure in Nepal was the Kipat system. The land in this system was in possession of a community and only the com-munity members were allowed to use the land. This form of land tenure was mainly assigned to communities of Mongoloid origin. In 1966 the Kipat system was abandoned. At that point, 4% of the land was held in the Kipat form.

The constitution of land tenure in Nepal con-sisted of more subsystems, which due to their complexity and number cannot be discussed here in detail. Figure 2 gives an overview of the land tenure systems before 1950 (Adhikari 2008: 24).Figure 2: Overview of the pre-1950s land tenure system in Nepal (Adhikari 2008: 23).

Implications of the systemThis network of different systems of land tenure in Nepal in the past had mainly two implications. On the one hand, it led to an unequal distributi-

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

Breakfast in Lwang with buckwheat rotiWork in the tea gardens

CIVIL CONFLICT INFLUENCEAfter showing how access to food can be influ-enced by land ownership, a factor deeply roo-ted in history, we will now look at how it can be rapidly interrupted by political instability and violence. Seddon and Adhikari (2003: 78f) de-scribe the impact of Maoist and security forces actions on food security, mentioning three areas of effect: Firstly the effects on food production: The access to land and inputs was reduced and the availability of labour was (and still is) small, especially as young most able-bodied members were leaving the households to join the move-ment. As a consequence of the conflict there was a large-scale displacement of people and involun-tary migration from rural areas, which threatened the agricultural production. Secondly, the conflict affected food distribution: Security forces in ru-ral areas did not allow the people to carry more than one day’s food supply as they wanted to stop the Maoists’ food supply. This was problematic for people who had to walk far to reach distant markets and needed to be able to carry food sup-ply for one month. Further, bridges were dest-royed by Maoists, which turned otherwise short distances into long walks. A third area of effect concerned stocks and stores: Security forces were punishing farmers who were providing food sup-plies to Maoists by removing their food. People were at times looting the WFP food stores, which

64ff.). Among these measures were for instance the Land Act 1957, which should grant security of tenure to the tenants, the abandonment of the Birta system and the conversion of those lands to the Raikar system in 1959.

Also worth mentioning among governmental measures with little impact is the government’s policy towards the Kamaiya people. Kamaiya are people in a permanently bonded farm labour system (Adhikari 2008: 51). These people could not repay the debt on their land to the landlord and thus had to serve the landlord until the debt was paid. However, because of compound inte-rests, this almost never happened. In 2000 there were over 100,000 Kamaiya people. In the same year, the government declared the bonded labour system to be illegal (World Organization Against Torture 2006: 23) and promised to give land to the poorest Kamaiya households, but often the land was either too small for big families to pro-duce sufficient food for themselves, or the land was under community forestry or covered by ri-vers, so that it was hardly useable. Most of the families received land only on paper, but not in the field. The government argues that there is not enough land for distribution, while activists and society experts maintain that in western Nepal there is lots of public land available for distribu-tion (Adhikari 2008: 52).

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Hot ingredients

ted. This may happen in form of cash transfers, social protection (such as free healthcare, food stamps, emergency assistance etc.) or food as-sistance (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 31). The next chapter discusses the role of food assistance in Nepal.

FOOD AID IN NEPALDue to the aforementioned reasons causing food insecurity as well as due to its unequal distribu-tion, there is a need for food aid in Nepal. This chapter first discusses the basics of food aid and later turns to various organizations.

Food aid – Definitions and typesThe Food and Agriculture Organization FAO defines the term “food aid” as “the provision of food commodities by one country to another, free of charge or under highly concessional terms, to assist the country in meeting its food needs” (FAO 2002). Three types of food aid are usually distinguished: The first type is emergency food aid, which is “distributed to the food insecure in times of crisis such as war or famine” (Lowder & Raney 2005: 7). The second form is project food aid, that implies „food that is distributed for free (or in exchange for work) to participants in programs typically run by non-governmental organizations or the World Food Program that are intended to promote agricultural or economic

had adverse effects on those relying on these (Sed-don & Adhikari 2003: 78f). In the following we discuss how people try to cope with transitory and chronic food insecurity.

Coping strategies“Coping strategies are the ways a community, household or individual adjust their livelihood strategies in response to food insecurity” (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 27). Stu-dies found that there is an order of such coping strategies that differ in their long-term effects on a household’s assets, distinguishing between nor-mal and negative coping strategies (Food Securi-ty Monitoring Task Force 2010: 27). Normally, people first change their diet and start consuming less preferred food that is cheaper. Then they may borrow money to buy food on credit, which might result in debts that lead the household to more drastic steps. Members of the household may migrate in search for employment. There-after, they may sell household assets, livestock, agricultural tools or inputs. At the very end the household also has to sell its land. That shows how frequent negative coping strategies possib-ly result in a downward spiral towards chronic food insecurity (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 27, Maxwell et al. 2003). As food security is a basic human right, people who are suffering from hunger are supposed to be protec-

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

Permanent paddy fields in the lower reaches, shifting cultivation in the hills

(Pyakuryal, Roy & Thapa 2010: 25). The World Food Program, the biggest humanitarian aid agen-cy in Nepal at that time, started support in 1970. They mainly delivered wheat, corn and rice. The amount of food deliveries to Nepal by aid agenci-es rose from 1976 to 2009. Whereas the general trend shows that the support grew over the years, this trend is marked by temporal fluctuations. For example, the annual weather situation has a big impact on the supply situation. The type of food aid has also changed over time. In the last years food support in emergency situations has incre-ased at the expense of long-term programs and projects (Bishokarma 2012: 50-51).

Nepal Food Corporation (NFC)In the late 1940s the state took first measures to improve the provision of food to the population and soldiers. The governmental institution for food aid, the Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) was founded in 1974. The main tasks were the procurement, storage and distribution of food in tight supply situations.

In 2010, there were about 600 members of staff working in zonal offices, branch offices and de-pots. The main task of the NFC is the procure-ment, storage, transport and distribution of food but there are some other activities. Some of them are more organizational, like the monitoring of

development” (Lowder & Raney 2005: 7). Low-der and Raney (2005: 7) define the third form, program food aid, as following: „Program food aid is either donated or sold at a concessional pri-ce to the government of a recipient country which then sells the food on the market“. These three types show that there are different forms of food aid. Some of them are long-term interventions and related to development programs, others fo-cus on temporary aid in critical situations. The-re are various ways in which food aid is finally performed. Some organisations supply regions in critical situations with food, others concentrate on agricultural projects to involve the local popu-lation and set the stage for further development. Differences between governmental efforts and non-governmental programs are discussed in the following.

After all, one should keep in mind that food aid is a controversial subject and the critics warn about some negative long-term consequences as impacts on the local agriculture or relationships of depen-dencies (cf. Barrett 2006).

Food aid in NepalThe provision of food to the population is a well-known challenge in Nepal. Because of the recurring tight supply situation the government established the “Department of Food” in 1951

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Mustard seeds

by NFC and that the quantities are insufficient as well (FAO 2010: 27). Another problem is that “the budget available for the transportation of food severely limits the amount that the NFC can supply” (Food Security Monitoring Task Force 2010: 31).

Along with the governmental organisation there are some NGO’s fighting famine and working for a sufficient food supply. Since 1990 there is a shift from governmental measures to private and non-governmental actors (Pyakuryal, Roy & Thapa 2010: 25). The World Food Program as a pro-minent humanitarian organization plays a crucial role in Nepal. The guiding principles and inter-ventions in Nepal are presented in the following.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAM“In emergencies, we get food to where it is nee-ded, saving the lives of victims of war, civil con-flict and natural disasters. After the cause of an emergency has passed, we use food to help com-munities rebuild their shattered lives.” (WFP 2013a). The World Food Program (WFP) is the biggest humanitarian organization in the world, which combats hunger worldwide. Founded in 1961, the WFP pursues a vision in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. They work together with their sister UN agencies

the available food stock and the management of food grains supply. There are also political ef-forts to stand in for the interests of farmers and consumers. The development of the necessary in-frastructure (construction of storehouses, mills, traffic routes etc.) is also important to realize the projects (NeKSAP 2010: 7). The governmental organisation pursues the following five goals (Py-akuryal, Roy & Thapa 2010: 25):

1 — Procurement, storage, transport and distribution of food to fair prices to cover the need of some remote and poor regions in the country.

2 — Provide the population with sufficient food and other essential commodities.

3 — Implementation of the governmental rice-export-program.

4 — Maintain a food reserve for the do-mestic disposal.

5 — The construction of storehouses for food is also one of the targets.

Although the price for rice sold by NFC is lower due to subsidy payments, it is criticized that many poor families still cannot afford food provided

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

Sale of hot chillies (dalley kursani) in the marketLegumes as intercrops

January 2013 the organization started the new five-year Country Program, which supports the government of Nepal in focusing on social safety nets in the areas of nutrition, tackling food inse-curity, education and rural livelihoods support. The strategy concentrates on the most vulnera-ble population in the mid- and far- western hills and mountain regions where most food-insecure people live. One problem in these regions is the already mentioned insufficient infrastructure, which has negative impacts on food supply. The main points of this five-year country program are (1) mother- and child-health and nutrition, (2) school meals, (3) productive assets and liveli-hoods support and (4) capacity development of WFP’s partners (WFP 2013b).

Shift away from traditional Farming (2011) No matter how hard the people in far-west Nepal worked many of them never had enough food for their family. This changed with the introduction of the community-based commercial farming of cash crops, which the WFP introduced in partner-ship with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interna-tionale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The WFP claims that the program has led to considerable impro-vements in the livelihood of the people through effective long-term agricultural intervention. According to the WFP, the people in Nepal had never tried farming cash crops like chili or garlic.

in Rome – the Food and Agriculture Organizati-on (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricul-tural Development (IFAD) – as well as with other government, UN and NGO partners. The WFP has five objectives:

1 — Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies

2 — Prepare for emergencies

3 — Restore and rebuild lives after emer-gencies

4 — Reduce chronic hunger and undernu-trition everywhere

5 — Strengthen the capacity of countries to reduce hunger

The organization relies entirely on voluntary con-tributions for its funding. The principal donors are governments (WFP 2013a).

World Food Program in NepalThe WFP is providing food assistance through three sub-programs: (1) the Country Program (2013-2017), (2) The Social Protection Liveli-hoods and assets creation program (2011-2012) and (3) the refugee operation (2011-2013). In

62

threaten that households have adequate access to food. In Nepal, where many people are suffering from food insecurity caused by different factors, food aid gains importance. Food aid assists peop-le with meeting their food requirement. Food aid is organized by governments or non-governmen-tal organisations and aims to help in transitory food insecurity by making food accessible. Mo-reover, it holds the potential to provide long-term solutions to chronic food insecurity situations, which might result in an improvement of people’s livelihoods.

They were skeptical about switching. The farmers received on-the-spot training on land preparati-on, cropping pattern, irrigating and proper har-vesting techniques (WFP 2012a). Two projects that the WFP was involved in are the introduction of cash-crops and school-feeding.

Better Education through School Meals (2012)Under the School Supporting Program WFP in collaboration with GIZ invested in building infra-structure for around 60 schools to promote qua-lity education and improve physical environment for around 10,000 students. In 2012, more than 38 Million meals were served to nearly 192,000 children of 17,000 primary schools. They also supported more than 800 children with digital learning materials under the laptop program in partnership with Open Learning Exchange Nepal (WFP 2013c).

CONCLUSIONFood security is a multidimensional aspect and part of a successful livelihood strategy. Monetary wealth is not the sole indicator for food security; the livelihood framework and Sen’s entitlement approach reminded us that this rather depends on how one uses his or her assets to acquire the amount of food required. Small land holdings, caused by past and present political conditions and jurisdiction, are only one problem that might

Meeting with the WFP in Nepal

We had the opportunity to speak to Kurt Bruja and his

colleagues from the World Food Program in Nepal. In

an introductory presentation the food situation of Nepal

was discussed, together with the level of food security.

They also discussed issues such as the NeKSAP (Nepal

Food Security Monitoring System) Phase Classification

and the Country Program and Training Ships.

A very interesting point they mentioned was the interac-

tion between the government in Nepal, the WFP and the

population. The Nepali population seems to be very skep-

tical of the government. So why does the WFP cooperate

with the government in all projects?

For the WFP this cooperation is very important. Not only

because the government plays an important role in food

aid but also because the WFP wants to help to improve

the relation between the government and the population.

The WFP provides real-time information on households'

food security situation in the most vulnerable parts of

the country. To our question, whether WFP is expecting

any changes in the cooperation with the government de-

pending on the outcome of the upcoming elections, they

answered that no changes are expected because the bu-

reaucrats will more or less be the same. However, they

will never know. It is possible that strikes will take longer

and as a consequence affect the food security dramati-

cally. The WFP hopes that the election will take place

and that they can reach their goal to improve the relati-

onship and the food security of people in Nepal.

FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NEPAL

Sunset over Chitwan National Park

6564

This paper addresses tourism and environmental protection in Nepal. After a short introduction of the latest history of tourism in Nepal and the local valuation of nature protection, several sections follow: an illustration of the Chitwan National Park, and an analysis of community forestry and the case of the Annapurna Conser-vation Area Project as an example of a bottom-up project.

Development and the importance of tourismTourism is crucially important for the economic development of Nepal. It delivers more than 30% of the foreign currency to the country. Many Ne-palis work in the tourism sector, for example around the main airport in Kathmandu, as tour guides but also in the whole informal sector (CBS 2010). The numbers of visiting tourists during the last years have fluctuated relatively to the poli-tical situation and therefore, they reflect several political conflicts. In 1999, Nepal counted more than 500,000 tourists. Subsequent military con-flicts with Maoist rebels had a negative impact and the number of visiting tourists decreased to less than 300,000 per year in 2002 (CBS 2006b). During this time, it was widely discussed to what extent trekking tourism, on which Nepal mostly relies, could still be considered a sustainable form of tourism.

Many inhabitants of Nepal and nature protec-tion groups mentioned that there were too many damages to the environment and, what is more, economic benefits for local people were low. After military conflicts with rebels diminished, tourism numbers increased again thanks to several efforts of the national government and NGOs. Now they are stable at around 500,000 tourists per year (CBS 2010).

Local valuation of nature protectionNepal counts numerous protected areas. They can be subdivided into national parks, conser-vation areas or wildlife reservation areas. More than 15% of Nepal’s surface is under protection (Müller-Böker et al. 2001: 727). The function of national parks can differ: national parks that are located in the high mountain area mostly have the main goal to secure the fragile ecosystem and to stimulate a sustainable agricultural and touristic use. By contrast, national parks in the lowland provide protection for several threatened animal species (Müller-Böker et al. 2001: 731).

Initially, nature protection in Nepal was under-stood in a way where nature in national parks should remain unaffected by any local inhabi-tants. To live in a national park was therefore restricted, which led to several conflicts, as this paper will show in the next section. Today, na-

TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTALPROTECTION IN NEPALIsabelle Aebersold, Davide Anderegg, Annina Michel, Isabelle Thurnherr

The protected Indian Rhinoceros roams Chitwan National Park

ture protection is better adapted to the specific conditions of Nepal’s natural and cultural envi-ronment. This should lead to more benefits for local people and less conflicts within the popula-tion (Müller-Böker 2001: 762-763). As we show below, community forestry is one of these stra-tegies to protect nature as well as human liveli-hoods and is frequently applied in areas where people’s livelihoods depend heavily on natural resources and forests.

CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK AND THE RELOCATION OF THE THARUThis section is concerned with the establishment of the Chitwan National Park, which lies about 147 Kilometers south of Kathmandu at the border to India, also known as the Terai lowlands (Mc-Lean 1999: 38). In a brief chronological synopsis, an illustration of the events dealing with wildlife conservation and the resulting marginalization of the Tharu people is provided as an example of a national park where its inhabitants were evicted.

Chitwan, the Tharu and wildlife conservation ‘Tharu’ is the term given to a diverse group of peoples who are considered to share a common identity through their aboriginal inhabitance of the Terai, the lowland plains of Nepal, which have been regarded historically as an inhospita-ble territory with forests and swamps infested

with malaria (Jones 2007: 561). The forest is a vital part of the Tharu universe, as it is the ori-gin of their shamans and the space of their gods and spirits (Müller-Böker 1998: 239) and also provides them with all essential resources such as food, fodder, fuel and medicinal plants (Jones 2007: 562). Prior to the epalese land registration system and land reform in the mid-20th century, the Tharu in Chitwan were a semi-nomadic peo-ple who practiced shifting cultivation (McLean 1999: 39). After the malaria eradication pro-gram in the Terai during the 1950s and following floods in 1953, which washed away hundreds of farms in the northern hill regions, large numbers of migrants from the hills settled in the Terai. The government of Nepal encouraged hill people to acquire land by settling and clearing forests, re-sulting in the disappearance of a high proportion of Chitwan’s forests (McLean 1999: 40). After the area had been opened up for immigrants, the population and thus the pressure on the natu-ral resources increased massively (Müller-Böker 1998: 234). Not just the Tharu were seriously affected by land loss as a result of exploitation by hill migrants (McLean 1999: 40), uncontrolled clearings also lead to a continued reduction of animal’s biotopes, such as of the Rhinoceros unicornis. In 1964, the Nepalese government, supported by international conservation organi-zations, established a rhino sanctuary to protect

6766

ous and previous village structures could not be maintained. Besides such deficits, the relocation process has also forced a situation of cultural de-privation, as Tharu families are no longer able to celebrate their festivals together and practice their traditions such as fishing (McLean 1999: 41f). Relocations continued into the 21th centu-ry, as planned timeframes for resettlements could not be met before (McLean & Stræde 2003: 513).

The Chitwan National Park todayToday, the Chitwan National Park, declared as a UNESCO world heritage site, is a major tourist attraction in Nepal, which is reflected in rising numbers of visitors. The number of tourists vi-siting Chitwan National Park had been 836 in 1974 and reached 85,753 by the year 2007, while foreign visitors outweigh domestic tourists and those from South Asian countries. Seven hotels have been built inside the park boundaries and several hundreds in its vicinity (Pandit 2011: 43). In 2012, the hotels within the park were forced to close because the cabinet did not renew the licenses. This was the result of a discussion on high pollution and environmental concerns due to increasing tourism in the park. In spring 2013, the decision whether the close-down will be de-finite was still in limbo (The Himalayan Times 2013a, 2013b).

the Rhinoceros unicornis, which was at this time threatened with extinction (Müller-Böker 1998: 234, 236). In order to maintain the protection of the animals living inside the park, several villages consisting of totally 4.000 people had to be relo-cated (McLean & Stræde 2003: 512).

The establishment of the Chitwan National ParkMany protection measures such as the rhino sanctuary finally led to the establishment of the Royal Chitwan National Park in 1973. An area of 544 km2 was declared as national park and put under strict protection (Müller-Böker 1998: 236). The department responsible for wildlife preser-vation and national parks forcibly expelled the people living inside the designated park bounda-ries and restricted local use of natural resources, acting at that time according to the policies of the IUCN (International Union for the Conser-vation of Nature). Tharu people were therefore totally excluded from park management planning and were banished by armed military if they were not cooperative (McLean 1999: 40). Those relo-cations have affected the economic, social, spiri-tual and cultural wellbeing of the Tharu. In the example of the resettlement of Padampur to New Padampur, there was a general lack of infrastruc-ture and basic services, such as drinking water and irrigation facilities. After the relocation, the new villages became more ethnically heterogene-

Experiencing Tharu Culture in Chitwan

Today, Tharu people often still live in villages within their

group. Traditionally built houses and more modern buil-

dings form the typical Tharu village center in the Chitwan

region. Their traditional houses are built out of a wooden

scaffold with walls formed from clay. The roofs are co-

vered with thick grass layers or, less traditionally, tiles.

This original construction, which is completed without

any modern tools, such as nails or screws, is still per-

formed today. The houses are orientated in north-south

direction. This, along with very few and small windows,

contributes to a cool climate inside the home, as the sun

does not shine on the long side of the house during the

day. It is striking how cool and dark it is inside a Tha-

ru house on a hot and sunny day. Besides this aspect,

the Tharu house exposition concept also follows a more

spiritual understanding, as “the head of the earth is the

north” (Müller-Böker 1993: 283).

The Tharu have been marginalized in tourism develop-

ment in the Sauraha area as most shops, restaurants and

other establishments benefiting from tourism are run by

other ethnic groups. Tharu are mostly employed in lower-

level positions, which are often seasonal and therefore

less reliable (Pandit 2011). Nonetheless, some newer ac-

tivities show that Tharu increasingly try to benefit from

tourism. One example is the Tharu Cultural Museum and

Research Centre in Bachhauli, a village next to Sauraha,

where the local village life is described and represented

with different spiritual, agricultural and every-day arti-

facts. Another example is the Tharu culture stick dance

group, which performs traditional and modern Tharu

dances for tourists. The distinctive culture of the Tha-

ru surely offers many possibilities to build up livelihoods

based on tourism-oriented projects.

TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN NEPAL

National park from aboveTraditional Tharu House

Community forestry is a development strate-gy which is frequently applied in areas where people’s livelihoods depend heavily on natural re-sources and forests. The core idea of community forestry is to transfer the rights of forest manage-ment from the state to the users of a specific fo-rest patch. As a result, the forested area becomes a common property where the forest user group has to determine all rights of use. This includes not only the grade of protection and conservati-on of forest species and biodiversity but also the regulation of access and forest product extraction (Adhikari et al. 2004: 246). From a developmen-tal point of view, community forestry is thought to improve local people’s livelihoods as it allows accurate assessing and managing of the needs of all actors of a forest user group. Additionally, due to precise regulations and restrictions, the con-dition of forestlands can improve significantly under community forestry (Thoms 2006: 1452).

Community forestry in Nepal The establishment of community forests in Ne-pal has significantly been driven by environ-mentalists’ and the government’s concern about the increasing deterioration of Nepal’s national forests. According to Thoms (2011: 306), since the nationalization of Nepal’s forests in 1957, the governmental forestry service was not able to suf-ficiently manage all of the country’s forests due to

Besides its economic benefits and its conservati-onal success regarding several species and espe-cially Rhinoceros unicornis, tourism in Chitwan has also led to social problems. A recent study by Pandit (2011: 40) reveals that the expansion of tourism in Chitwan has led to an increased social differentiation between the Tharu and the hill migrants, as most of the business activities in the area are controlled by the hill migrants, while the Tharu have been marginalized. This can also be seen in the empowerment of migrant women, which became more financially independent from their husbands, which is not the case for most Tharu women (Pandit 2011: 40). Although the example of the Chitwan National Park shows no signs of participative planning including local re-sidents, some newer developments in the park’s vicinity show different approaches. Following the buffer zone act of 1993, the forests outside the park were handed over to the Chitwan National Park and mapped into four forest types. One of those is Buffer Zone Community Forest, which includes user groups in conservational and usage planning (Jones 2007: 560f), which will be dis-cussed as follows.

COMMUNITY FORESTRYAfter a short definition of community forestry, this section deals especially with the chances and risks of community forestry in Nepal.

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Community forests surround agricultural land

Chances and risks of community forestryAfter over two decades of community forestry in Nepal a twofold conclusion can be drawn: On the one hand, the overall condition of Nepal’s forests improved significantly and biodiversi-ty has considerably recovered (Adhikari, 2004: 246; Thoms, 2008: 1452; Dev et al., 2003: 75). On the other hand, the expected improvement of people’s livelihoods is often not observed. Cont-rarily, the poorest forest users frequently appear to be disadvantaged by the conversion of their associated forest patch into a community forest (Thoms 2008: 1452). Dev et al. (2003: 75) men-tion three reasons: First, marginalized forest users may be overseen and/or excluded by the process of local FUG formation and are thereby later denied access to the community forest. Second, newly formed community forests often start with a perennial timespan of strictly restricted extrac-tion in order to recover forests from former over-extraction. However, people whose livelihoods depend heavily on forest products will struggle disproportionately from restrictions. Third, fo-resters often privilege local elites and tend to ne-glect the interests of the poorest members of the FUGs. Dev et al. (2003: 76) suggest that the above mentioned problems should be addressed by the formation of what they call “livelihood forestry”. In particular, FUGs should move their focus away from forest protection and instead concentrate

Nepal’s topography and the lack of financial as-sets. As a result, forests in Nepal showed evidence of severe degradation because of over-extraction and logging by 1980. The solution to the problem was to create community forests by handing over management rights from the government to local user groups (Adhikari et al. 2004: 246).

The formation of a community forest proceeds as follows: First, at village level, forest user groups (FUGs) are formed by an initial identification process that defines which people are using that specific forest patch. In a second step, the FUG has to establish a head organizational organ, a constitution and a forest management plan, which then has to be approved by the national Department of Forest. Forest district officers constantly provide newly formed FUGs with sil-vicultural knowledge with the aim to professio-nalize Nepal’s forestry (Nightingale 2005: 585). Though community forests remain the property of the government, FUGs are granted the rights of management, extraction and exclusion (Thoms 2011: 306). Currently, over a quarter of Nepal’s forested areas are managed as community forests and the government is determined to increase the number of forests managed by FUGs as far as possible (Adhikari et al. 2004: 246).

TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN NEPAL

of bird, reptile, amphibian and mammal species. Some of the last individuals of snow-leopards, Himalayan musk deer, red pandas and Himala-yan brown bears are native to the area (Nyaupa-ne & Thapa 2006: 53). This biological diversity is similarly challenged by cultural multiplicity. The 120,000 inhabitants of the area belong to ten distinct ethnic groups, each of which has its own social and cultural life, local dialect, practi-ces and religion. The bulk of the residents are far-mers, labourers, herders or traders (Nyaupane & Thapa 2006: 53). Most of them live at or below subsistence level.

The Annapurna Conservation Area ProjectIn 1986, an autonomous, non-profit and non-governmental organization called King Mahen-dra Trust for Nature (KMTNC) decided to pro-tect the area (Nepal 2002: 78). It founded the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). The reason for this was the fast growing number of tourists and to a smaller extent also the incre-asing number of inhabitants. This led to an un-controlled deforestation, as wood was used as the most important energy source and construction material (Nyaupane & Thapa 2004: 23). In addi-tion to forest clearing, tourism has contributed to increased litter, inadequate sanitation and water pollution (Nyaupane & Thapa 2004: 23). Never-theless, the residents strongly opposed the pro-

more on management and distribution of forest resources. Especially, the needs of every member of the FUG have to be evaluated and considered in the forest management plan. This tendency to a more inclusive community forestry approach can be observed in most literature addressing the risks of community forestry in Nepal (Thoms 2008: 1462, Adhikari 2004: 255). Therefore, one can expect that the nature of community forestry in Nepal will transform significantly in the future. How a more inclusive form of community fore-stry can be applied is shown in the following.

THE ANNAPURNA CONSERVATION AREA PROJECT: SUCCESSES AND PROBLEMS This chapter presents an example of an integra-ted community forestry approach and advanta-ges and disadvantages of its implementation are examined.

Nepal’s first and largest conservation area is na-med after the famous Annapurna massif. The An-napurna Conservation Area (ACA) and its beau-tiful landscapes are much affected by trekkers of all levels. It is Nepal’s most popular tourist desti-nation (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 353). The ACA covers a considerable land area of 7,629 km2 and encloses a high number of places of interest. The region is home to more than 1,000 species of flowering plants and there is also a high variety

Community forestry in Lwang

Forests around Lwang, a village in the southern part of

the Annapurna Conservation Area, were strongly influ-

enced by the establishment of the Annapurna Conservati-

on Area Project (ACAP) in 1986. Prior to the formation

of the ACAP, forests surrounding Lwang village suffered

severe deterioration and large parts were already defo-

rested to barren land. At that time, people lacked forest

resources, mostly firewood, which they had to buy at high

prices from traders. However, with the establishment of

the ACAP, a plantation program was introduced which

aimed at the recovery of the adjacent forests. To convince

the villages of the necessity and success of the planta-

tion, ACAP people promised that dwellers would soon

have firewood again. In addition to the plantation, village

committees were built which consisted of 9 to 13 people

per village.

The main function of the committees was to regulate

forest use and the extraction of forest resources. These

committees are still active today and represent a cru-

cial part of daily village life. In order to collect resour-

ces from the woods, people have to ask permission and

get strictly punished when convicted of illegal hunting

or extracting. Once a year, forest resources are collec-

ted at the village level and each household gets an equal

amount of wood. According to a member of the commit-

tee of a village nearby Lwang, the overall acceptance of

this community forestry approach is very high. Although

people initially were very discontent about the prohibiti-

on on cutting firewood, they are aware of the necessity of

conservation and they agree to cut down their own needs.

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Pranil Upadhayaya explains the Machhapuchre Model Trek

the immediate needs and priorities of the villagers (Nepal 2002: 84).

Successes and problems of the projectThe community-based management has been successful in delivering conservation benefits in ACA, attributable to changing patterns of resour-ce use and behavior among local communities (Bajracharya et al. 2005: 239). It has increased the control of local communities over their re-sources. This has been facilitated thanks to ri-sing conservation awareness among local people resulting from environmental education and the development and strengthening of local institu-tions such as the CAMC (Bajracharya et al. 2005: 239).

However, the ACAP has not been able to esta-blish overall acceptability throughout the entire area. In some villages, the project and its emplo-yees are still regarded with considerable suspicion (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 357). One possible ex-planation is the confusing interpretation of com-munity itself. The term “community” is usually used to denote a homogenous group of people who share common values, needs, aspirations and goals (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 353). Such an interpretation ignores the diversity of the interest groups in the ACA. Most people from remote vil-lages are motivated to participate in ACAP pro-

posal for establishing a park, because they feared that they would have to leave their homes to clear the way for wild animals and forests to prosper (Nepal 2002: 78). However, the KMTNC did not plan to fund a national park. The bad experien-ces observed in Chitwan National Park were alar-ming. They decided to fund a park without the in-fluence of the national government. Instead, they chose a decentralized bottom-up approach. Since the day of foundation, the aim has been to inclu-de the local citizens and put the responsibility for the ACAP in their hands. The ACAP is authorized to charge fees to visitors and to retain the inco-mes to finance its projects related to health and sanitation, education, environmental protection and tourism (Nepal 2002: 84). Various grassroots organizations have been created to engage local people in conservation and community develop-ment. These conservation management commit-tees (CAMC) work in partnership with the admi-nistration (Nyaupane & Thapa 2006: 54). There are committees for conservation education and extension (CEEP), natural resources conservati-on (NRC), alternative energy development (AEP), and many more (NTNC 2013). These groups are actively fulfilling tasks like fund-raising, repairing trails, cleaning-up and paying educational visits to other areas. Thanks to these committees, ACAP has promoted local participation in resource ma-nagement and can therefore more simply identify

Machhapuchhre Model Trek (MMT)

Western Nepal’s main

tourist attraction, the

Annapurna Circuit trek,

is threatened by a traffi-

cable road being const-

ructed alongside it. Alt-

hough it can be regarded

as a lifeline for locals in

the inaccessible region,

trekking tourists will

avoid this route once the

road is built. What the

villagers along the An-

napurna trek could lose,

may be gained by the al-

TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN NEPAL

local communities within the next two years (Ka-thmandu Post 2013). It is expected that this will improve the situation of ACA inhabitants. How-ever, a legal framework must be elaborated to as-sure that the conservation objectives are fulfilled.

The ACAP can be used as an inspiring role mo-del for bottom-up conservation and development programs. The mandatory entrance fees as well as donations are used to improve the situation of the inhabitants, nature and tourism. However, there is still room for improvement. Ecological, economic and social benefits of the ACAP are un-equally distributed because of social and geogra-phical barriers. For a successful handing over and further development of the ACAP it is vital to re-duce these barriers (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 360).

CONCLUSIONNepal has great touristic potential. As the vast majority of tourists visit Nepal to enjoy beautiful and unaffected nature, it is essential to conserve this asset. In doing so, there is a trade-off between social needs and conservation values. On the one hand, hard ecotourism is associated with fewer negative environmental, economic, and socio-cultural impacts but simultaneously yields fewer economic benefits (Nyaupane & Thapa 2004: 42). On the other hand, traditional forms of tou-rism and conservation as described in Chitwan

grams, but they have barriers posed by schedule conflicts with agricultural activities and family and childcare responsibilities (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 359). In the north of the park, close to half the population still stays out of the participatory process (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 356). Current-ly, upper-caste, richer, and more educated social groups are better positioned to control and ma-nipulate participatory ACAP programs (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 359). For sustainable solutions, it is essential to understand the social hierarchy, gender bias and cultural differences of the rural societies (Khadka & Nepal 2010: 353). Otherwi-se, weak groups are not identified, and existing inequities become rather exacerbated than resol-ved by the project.

During the first decade of the 21st century, Mao-ist insurgency destabilized the ACA. The state of lawlessness is believed to have reduced conserva-tion efforts. Additionally, it has severely damaged tourism businesses (Bajracharya et al. 2005: 246). But during the last few years, the violent unrest has stopped and the tourist figures are improving.

Current developmentsThe funder organization KMTNC has changed its name to National Trust for Nature Conser-vation (NTNC). This spring, NTNC decided to hand over the responsibility of the park to the

most 16,000 local villagers living in the area of the new-

ly established Machhapuchhre Model Trek in Kaski dis-

trict. Its name is based on the fact that a main feature of

the trek is the excellent view of Mount Machhapuchhre

alias Fish Tail (6,993m). Beside the economic benefit

to the local villagers, the main aim of this development

project is to keep the impact on the natural environment

to a minimum. This model of rural tourism appears in

two ways: First as an organized trekking route with the

availability of campsites and porters’ shelters in five wil-

derness places and second as a homestay provision for

tourists in the local people’s houses in seven villages na-

mely Lachok, Ghachok, Machhapuchhre, Ribhan, Lwang,

Ghalel, Sardikhola and Dhital. Machhapuchhre Tourism

Development Committee (MTDC) represents these seven

villages as a core coordinating local body.The National

Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South

is one of 20 long-term research programs implemented

by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Pra-

nil Upadhayay applied for and received funding from

NCCR North-South to create infrastructure for orga-

nized trekking in the Kaski district. He has developed the

MMT in consultation with the trekking operators and the

local community. Furthermore, Pranil Upadhayay pub-

lished a code of conduct to ensure sustainable practices

and environmental responsibility. It includes guidelines

on planning, socio-economic and environmental aspects

as well as safety and security issues. On 10 December

2009, Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass finally inaugura-

ted the model trek. On the same day, the infrastructure

of MMT was handed over to Machhapuchhre Tourism

Development Committee (MTDC). The program was also

supported by Nepal Tourism Board and Annapurna Con-

servation Area Project/Nepal Trust for Nature Conser-

vation.

72

Lwang on the Machhapuchre Model Track

National Park incur more such negative impacts but generate greater economic profits, which are unequally distributed (Nyaupane & Thapa 2004: 42). ACAP is halfway between the two forms of tourism. Similar to community forestry approa-ches, minorities within the ACAP region are still underprivileged as more inclusive regional deve-lopment has only scarcely been implemented yet. Hopefully, over the long term, Nepal will be well served with such compromise solutions. Local empowerment and equity are important precon-ditions for successful nature conservation and consequently satisfied tourists. For the future, Nepal will benefit from following a development path, which takes into account nature conservati-on but also weak and minority peoples.

Tourism is not only externally driven as the vast majority of the visitors are foreigners, but also because almost all supplies come from outside (Nepal 2002: 84). This dependence leads to eco-nomic vulnerability. Future programs should link tourism with other economic sectors to increase the overall economic capability of the region (Ne-pal 2002: 84).

TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN NEPAL

Entering Chitwan National Park comfortably and safe

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We had the opportunity to talk to several villa-gers’ groups from Lwang and its neighbouring villages: the community forestry and the mo-thers group, the village development committee (VDC), and the Lwang school. These groups form an important part of the area’s civil soci-ety. Moreover, they take part in the shaping of the Machhapuchre Model Trek. The talks were made possible by interpreters from the village and from our group (Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya, Miriam Wenner).

COMMUNITY FORESTRY IN LWANG AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGESIsabelle Aebersold, Philippe Bösch, Davide Ande-regg, Pascal Senn

Introduction of community forestry to the areaThe village Lwang is situated in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), which is one of the largest protected areas in Nepal. Since the laun-ching of the Annapurna Conservation Area Pro-ject (ACAP) in 1986, Lwang and its surrounding villages underwent significant changes in terms of nature conservation and forest management.

We had the opportunity to talk to the people li-ving in this region and to ask them about their opinion of community forestry. By the time the ACAP was initiated, the forests around Lwang

showed severe deterioration and often there was only barren land left where there used to be fo-rest. Because people had hardly any alternatives to firewood for cooking and heating, they had to cut timber to a great extent. Therefore, the ACA project leaders introduced a community forestry program in the region to protect the remaining forests from further degeneration and to let them recover as much as possible. In order to get the village dwellers’ support for the program, the ACAP assured people that thanks to communi-ty forestry they would have firewood again and explained them the importance of conservation.

The initiation of the programThe community forestry project started with a plantation program, where people from the vil-lages planted new trees during one month. With wires and posts they protected the seedlings from wild animals. Furthermore, a committee from nine to thirteen people was elected for each vil-lage, which had the duty to observe and control the community forestry program. The duties of this community forest groups are to patrol the forests to prevent illegal wood-cutting as well as hunting, which is also prohibited. If somebody is convicted of illegal cutting, the person gets dis-possessed of his or her tools and is punished by the community forestry committee and ostracised by the other villagers. Illegal hunting is reported

TALKS WITH VILLAGEGROUPS IN THE LWANG AREA

Swiss students and villagers during the Interview with the VDC secretary at Koleli Community Hall

to the ACAP and has even more dire consequen-ces as the culprit could face a long sentence in jail. However, the community forestry group assures that they hardly ever encounter illegal extractions of any sorts.

Yet, the establishment of the community forest brought some problems for the village dwellers too. As it is now prohibited to hunt wild animals, their plantations are often foraged and there is hardly anything they can do about it. What is more, as soon as the ban to cut trees was impo-sed, people severely lacked firewood. As a result, they had to pay a fee to use their community fo-rest or they have to buy firewood from markets in distant villages. Though there are several cutting seasons per year when every household gets its equal amount of firewood, bigger families have not enough wood to sustain their livelihoods.

ConclusionConcluding it can be said that the initiation of the ACAP helped to improve the situation concerning the well-being of forests and the availability of firewood around the village of Lwang. Moreo-ver, the program is accepted and supported by the local people. Still, a few problems remain that eventually have to be solved in the future. Com-munity members are not allowed to use effective instruments to chase off foraging animals, which

causes some frustration. And the allotted amount of firewood per household is not considering the number of people living that household, which seems unfortunate. We think it is important that the community members express their opinions and problems and not just accept a certain state if it is not benefitting them. However, in our opi-nion the two mentioned problems could be solved within the participation in ACAP.

INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY OF LWANG VDC Jill Brütsch, Alexandra Meister, Annina Michel, Anne Wegmann

Welcome at Koleli villageWithin the scope of group work in Lwang, one group of students had the opportunity to speak to the Secretary of the Village Development Com-mittee (VDC) in Koleli, a village close to Lwang. The four students were welcomed by a large group of villagers, who all attended the interview. The crowd showing up explained the rare and therefore special occasion of western tourists’ vi-sits in the village.

The Village Development Committees are the lo-wer administrative level of Nepal’s two-tier lo-cal governance structure and situated below the District Development Committees. Each VDC is

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Members of Lwang's mothers' group

The VDC during times of conflictDuring wartime, the VDC faced many problems as the area was highly affected by the conflict. It was partly used as a shelter for the rebel forces. Therefore, the VDC office had to move down to the city of Pokhara, which entailed a much larger administrative effort. Asked about their future prospects, the secretary emphasized the impor-tance of tourism and agriculture, as well as the combination of the two fields, for example in pro-jects like “Almond Tourism”, where the almond growing business should attract trekking-tourists to visit the village.

MOTHERS GROUPLisa Honegger, Kathrin Honegger, Annabelle Jaggi, Irene Schaerer

IntroductionThe Mothers Group of Lwang was initiated in 1989 by the Annapurna Conservation Area Pro-ject (ACAP). The intention was to enhance the cooperation among the women of the village. Every woman from the age of 15 years can be-come a member of the Mothers Group (also when they do not have children). Currently, almost all women of Lwang belong to the group. In total there are 130 members. Together they elect 15 members to form the general committee. During our stay in Lwang we were able to interview some

further divided in several wards, Lwang VDC has nine.

Functions of the Village Development CommitteeInitially, the VDC was an elected body of peop-le, which consisted of five representatives of each ward, meaning 49 members in total. As a con-sequence of political instability and transition in Nepal, no elections were held during the last six-teen years. This resulted in a much smaller board in the VDC, consisting of only seven members: one representative of each political party (four in total), a secretary, an assistant secretary and an administrative assistant.

The main function of the VDC is the alloca-tion of funds to each associated village. While the amount of governmental money distributed within the VDCs is determined by the state, the local committee decides on the actual distributi-on. On the one hand, the contributed money is allocated to processes of human empowerment, such as women groups, disadvantaged ethnic groups and the disabled, as well as agriculture, education and emergencies. The latter is a precau-tion in the event of accidents or environmental disasters. The other part of it flows into develop-ment projects like road construction, drinking water systems and tourism projects, for example new trekking routes.

Marriage in Lwang

Arranged marriages are customary

in the Lwang area. Love marriages

are possible but occur very rarely.

However, it is possible for a future

couple to get to know each other

before a marriage is agreed upon.

When a woman gets married she

moves to her husband’s house where

she has to take care of her parents

in law. She thus becomes a part of

the groom’s family. The average age

at which people marry has increa-

sed from 12 years to 20 years. No-

wadays, couples have around 2 to 3

children whereas in former times 4

to 6 children were the norm.

TALKS WITH VILLAGE GROUPS IN THE LWANG AREA

The school in Lwang

these are offered to the group by other residents of Lwang, as no bank would give them credit due to their low creditworthiness.

Furthermore, the women spend money on im-proving the education of their children, as the government does not support them in this mat-ter. The women themselves can also benefit from educational programs, which are carried out by ACAP. There, the women learn how to perform their daily work more efficiently and how to the-reby increase their income.

EmancipationThe Mothers Group has had a substantial ef-fect on women’s emancipation. The interviewed women said that the group had made it possible for them to earn money on their own. Before the group was formed, their husbands forbade them to earn money. However, today the women are still financially dependent on their husbands. In most households the income does not suffice to make a decent living. For that reason, over 90% of the village’s families rely on labour migration of (mostly) male family members who leave the village to earn money abroad. Nevertheless, the women mention that it happens that they receive only little or no money from their migrated hus-bands. In addition, the labour migration results in a heavier workload for the women due to the

women, which are part of this general committee. We asked them about activities initiated by the Group and, in addition, could gain some insights into their everyday life and customs. The inter-view took place in front of one of the main buil-dings where the women were gathered together for preparing food.

Role of the Mothers GroupThe Mothers Group plays a vital role in the vil-lage of Lwang. According to the women, the initiation of the Mothers Group has brought a lot of progress and development. The home-stay project, for example, is one of the recent changes in which the group has been actively involved as many women host tourists. Apart from that, the women collect money by organizing and doing traditional dance performances and selling hand made products. Furthermore, they sell self-pro-duced dairy products such as buffalo milk and butter to other residents of Lwang and relatives living in the city of Pokhara. They also establis-hed a small shop.

With their earnings they have been able to finance several infrastructure projects in the village such as the installation of wells, burial sites for the dead, footpaths and the building of a council hall. As a group it has become possible for the women to take loans for their projects. However,

7978

Source: own research

tain some very interesting insights into their life. They showed us that the Mothers Group eventu-ally leads to a better social status of the women in the village society.

THE SCHOOL IN LWANGMonika Haggenmacher, Sarah Hartmann, Urs Mändli, Micha Reichert, Anita von Däniken

IntroductionOur group had the great opportunity to talk to three teachers in Lwang about their local school and the school system in Nepal. Apart from some information about the school in general they de-scribed impressively the daily problems they are confronted with and their hopes for the future.

The school building and infrastructureThe visit of the school building revealed striking discrepancies compared with schools in Switzer-land in terms of availability and size of the rooms and even safety issues. Inside the classrooms it is very dark and there are no facilities or furni-ture beside the desks and the black board. The school building is very old and liable to collapse, but there is not enough money to rebuild it. As the local teachers explained, the lack of financial funds from the government and in particular of teaching aids is one of the main reasons the local school cannot achieve the education standards set

missing assistance at home. Even though some improvements have taken place in the last deca-des, the women are still faced with exhausting working conditions and long hours: they work in the fields, prepare food and take care of family members and animals from five in the morning until late in the evening.

As one of the big advantages of the group, the women name their strong team spirit and solida-rity. By working together in the fields, singing and occasionally going on outings they strengthen their social cohesion. From time to time they also sit together in the evening to chat and enjoy a glass of liquor. Often they discuss personal issu-es among the members of the group and support each other. This communication is one of the things they cherish most in their lives.

ConclusionTo sum up, it needs to be emphasized that the women mostly mentioned positive effects that the Mothers Group has on their lives. Apart from the increased self-employment, the women are able to support each other, strengthen their relation-ships and improve the infrastructure in Lwang for the benefit of all villagers.

Last but not least, we would like to thank these cheerful women of Lwang, who enabled us to ob-

Facts and figures of the Lwang school

Number of teachers 9 (2 private, 7 governmental)

Number of pupils 159 (83 boys and 76 girls) from Lwang and neighbouring villages

Class size 20 – 25 pupils (mixed casts)

Classroom size 12 – 20 m2

Level of education Primary (classes 1 – 5, school entrance at the age of 5 years) & Lower secondary (classes 6 – 8)

Subjects taught Nepali, English, science, moral science, math, social science (= geography), physics, arts, computer

Timetable Sunday to Thursdays: 10 am – 4 pm, Friday: 10 am – 1 pm

Tests 3 times a year

TALKS WITH VILLAGE GROUPS IN THE LWANG AREA

Talking about community forestry

they do not fully understand the importance of their children’s education and consider working in the household or on the fields as more impor-tant. The children of richer families often go to private boarding schools in order to receive a bet-ter education.

Hopes for the model trekWith the introduction of the model trek, the teachers hope for an improving situation of the school. The trek brings money to the village and thus hopefully will generate money for schooling as well. The teachers expect improvements due to the money the village earn through homestays, but also through the direct help of tourists and NGO’s.

To conclude, the teachers are aware of the limited access to education resources and their educatio-nal mandate. Besides better infrastructure they re-quest more teaching aids especially for computer courses and English. In their view, these two sub-jects will be essential for the success of their pu-pils in the future. Against all odds, the teachers of Lwang are optimistic that things will change for the better. Not with the help of government funds but with money generated through tourism.

by the government. Computer skills as a newly introduced subject is an illustrative example of this conflict. The school of Lwang has only one single computer for the whole of 159 pupils and 9 teachers – and it does not even work. This means that computer classes are only theoretical with the help of one single manual. The use of key-board and mouse can be illustrated, but not on a working computer.

Scarce teaching and writing materialBesides the run-down building and the lack of equipment, one of the main problems is also the unavailability of teaching and writing material. The teachers have scarcely anything to illustrate the subject matter – no books, no copier, no over-head projector – there is only a single blackboard and some posters. In addition, pupils lack writing utensils as they have to bring them by themselves and are not provided by the school. Thus, due to the school fees and expenses for utensils many families cannot send their children to school. This leads to another set of problems: sporadic school attendance. So called “house-problems” keep the pupils away from school. Especially child-ren from lower casts need to help their parents working in the fields or in the household. The communication between the teachers and the pa-rents is rather difficult. As the parents themselves usually did not have the chance to go to school,

Photo next page: Farewell blessings for our journey still ahead

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PARTICIPANTS

Alexandra Meister

Alice Kern

Anita von Däniken

Annabelle Jaggi

Anne Wegmann

Annina Michel

Us in the tea garden

Davide Anderegg

Irene Schärer

Isabelle Aebersold

Isabelle Thurnheer

Jill Brütsch

Kathrin Honegger

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Lisa Honegger

Micha Reichert

Miriam Wenner

Monika Haggenmacher

Norman Backhaus

Pascal Senn

PARTICIPANTS

Gazing at …Enjoying the food in Lwang

Philip Boesch

Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya

Sarah Hartmann

Ulrike Müller-Böker

Urs Mändli

Photo next page: What is happening in Sankhu?

BildlegendeBildlegende

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