Once upon a time, social scientists treated “secularism” as a benign referent to the absence of theocratic governance. Thanks to a series of critiques and correctives, many of which have come from scholars and experiences in South Asia, secularism is now recognized as a set of ideological constructions in its own right. As a result, the term has been increasingly problematized. Along with the consensus that there is not simply one, but multiple modernities, scholars have recognized that each of modernity’s constitutive components – including secularism – come in a variety of forms. The task now is to understand what the different forms of secularism are, and what they do. Secularism in Nepal is a particularly rich, yet remarkably understudied, source of information for global discussions related to the proper…

Himalayan towns showcase a variety of institutional, regulatory, and technology led arrangements for sustaining the flows and quality of water. These arrangements and approaches are largely aimed at mitigating concerns related to alternate land uses in and around water-supply catchments, and their potential impacts on water quality and availability. Recently, incentives for controlling landuse through Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) type arrangements have attracted some attention in the region, along with numerous other approaches. These include negotiated settlements between up- and down- stream water users, or between international donors and local communities; the enactment of zoning regulations; and the promotion of tree planting and forest protection in water supply catchments. These efforts are largely guided by perceptions and science regarding the benefits of such actions on sustaining water flows. In…

The supply and management of drinking water to small towns of the Himalayas is a critical challenge. Around half of the urban population in the Western Himalayas, covering Nepal and the two Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, live in small towns of less than 100 000 people. These small towns rely on springs, lakes and rivers for drinking water with supply systems managed and governed through a variety of approaches and institutional arrangements. Across the Himalayan region, widespread urbanisation and reports of decreasing spring water flows have increased pressures on water supplies. This paper aims to draw insights about institutional arrangements and local governance for water supply management systems for small towns in the Himalayas by drawing on six case study towns – two from Nepal and four…

The Himalayas are often referred to as the „Third Pole‟. This appellation acknowledges the fact that after the two poles – North and South - the Himalayas with their snowfields, glaciers and perennial rivers are the largest reservoir of freshwater on this planet. Reassuring as it may seem, this appellation pales when one looks at the paradox of water supply in towns and cities across the Himalayas. Traditionally water supply in hill towns has been based on supply from natural springs, streams fed by springs, lakes and rivers. Over a period of time, increasing population, loss of forest cover, lower water availability from springs and streams have ensured that hill towns and cities face water stress especially during the summer season. Leakages in the distribution system and a drop in…

Small towns in hill and mountain regions of South Asia depend on springs, streams, lakes and rivers in their surrounding catchments for the supply of water. Such towns in India and Nepal have grown rapidly with little planning for infrastructure needs more generally, and for water supply in particular. While demand for water is increasing, there is growing pressure on available supplies, which has created several issues relating to water management and governance, interaction among stakeholders (particularly upstream and downstream communities in hydrologically-connected catchments), and the sustainability of supplies, due to the competing demands of water from different sectors. Through this panel, we will share our preliminary insights from our ongoing research from the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and in the hill regions of Nepal. The three…

In the past few years, there has been an increase in attention to violence against women and especially the responsibility of the state in Nepal. As others have pointed out, despite various political and social campaigns including the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and the “One Billion Rising” campaign to end GBV, violence against women in Nepal is rampant, as is impunity for perpetrators. As noted Indian feminist activist Kamla Bhasin stated at the 2013 Kathmandu launch of the “One Billion Rising” campaign, “Violence is everywhere because patriarchy is everywhere.” Much was made by Bhasin of the significance of launching the South Asia programme in Nepal. A list of the progressive and empowering laws won by Nepali women over the years — laws and rights not…

While the Ranas who ruled Nepal for a more than a century (1846-1951) in general barred their "subjects" from having access to formal education, there was a policy turnaround especially after the assumption of power by Padma Shamsher in 1945. From the erstwhile policy of controlling the access to education, the new policy sought to craft the minds of the masses by providing them "appropriate" education. With this change in policy, Nepali girl/women in principle were able to have access to education.   This opened the floodgate and eventually and paved the way for the education of women. Chiefly through archival research for the period 1933-51 AD, this paper examines the discourses on stri-shiksha (female education) which ensued in the then existing controlled and limited public sphere following the new education…

A woman’s right to grant Nepali citizenship to her spouse and children has been a contested issue in both the first and second Constituent Assemblies.  By exploring in detail the different dimensions of the numerous intersecting issues in the apparently simply issue of women and citizenship, this paper seeks to reveal the difficulties during Nepal’s transition period in  generating sustained critique and changes of patriarchally structured rules and laws.  It is argued that the specific history of exclusionary politics of the state vis a vis various excluded groups and the sexist and the regional/racist environment in which women’s groups and Madhesi groups in particular are embedded, mitigate against the forming of strategic alliances. This paper will be divided into three main sections, each exploring a different aspect of the debate…

  Throughout the history of Nepal, women have fought to achieve rights for themselves.  Real and meaningful gains have been made in legal, social, cultural and political sectors. Yet with each gain made by women, strategic decisions have been made by the male political elite to exclude, marginalize and devalue the worth of women and their bodies to retain control masculinized power.  The three papers in this panel take three different issues – citizenship, education and laws relating to sexual violence - to map out the manner in which specific gains made by women are structured within the patriarchal priorities of high caste, male, Hindu, state elites.  These papers serve to highlight the manner in which modern, and institutionalized patriarchy, the dominant gender order that it legitimizes and perpetuates, and…

Nepal is in transition. Great political change has been happened through people's movement in 2006, which over through monarchy and established republic Nepal. That movement has established many other agendas relating with social and economical transformation. Main streaming the marginalized groups based on gender, caste, region, ethnicity, class etc. was the mission of the movement. For the reason, federalism, participatory democracy, inclusion, gender equality, secularism, good governance are major agendas in the process and institutionalizing all these issues are in high priority. First step on the institutionalizing process is promulgation of long awaiting new constitution, which is still under drafting process.  From the feminist standpoint all these issues, demand something different meaning. Women have not been recognized as fully independent citizen by state. Discrimination between father and mother in regards…