“ …Utherabole hawa le lagthyo- basera bole musa le sunthyo” meaning “…if I stood up and spoke the wind took away my voice and if I sat down only the mouse heard …”  “…from thinking of it as our ‘fate’ to tolerate violence we now know it is our ‘right’ to live a life free of violence…” “…After tolerating four months of eccentric and physical behavior of my ex-husband, my parents realized all was not good. Family members tried to mediate the situation but I finally opted for divorce, otherwise I would either be dead or in a mental asylum by now…” Expressions from eighty four year old, forty two year old and twenty six year old women respectively reflect the changing perception and mindset of women towards violence against…

The paper stars with a review of what women of Nepal have achieved, in terms of economic empowerment and capabilities, factors that have played positive or negative role in this progress, and analyzes the current challenges in ensuring equal playing field to women of various social groups in the market economy, that Nepal is sure to follow. There have been significant public and non-government sector investment in Nepal in the last 20-25 years to increase women’s access to education and health facilities because of which HDI improved from 0.416 in 1991 to 0. 540, GDI improved from 0.312 to 0.912 .  Women have gained much in terms of education and health, and income as well. Female/ Male earned income ratio in terms of Purchasing Power Parity$ has also jumped from…

The panel will have three papers, focusing on women’s movement since the Beijing Conference on Women, 1995, achievements, current and agenda and future directions, in the context of the restructuring of the state and the society. .   

(Translated into English) Asika is a folk tradition current in the Central Himalayan region of Nepal and India anciently known as Manasa Khanda and Kedara Khanda. Though it was practiced in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal and Kumaon, its influence in Doti and Kumaon is deeply felt where it has maintained its time honoured regional character. The Manasa Khanda and Kedara Khanda region under reference is also known as the cradle of the Katyuri culture. The Katyuris ruled from Kartikeyapur in Garhwal, and once upon a time their territories also included Kailas-Manasarovar region. Thus, the eastern part of their kingdom was known as Manasa Khanda and the western Kedara Khanda. People inhabiting the region under study have been practicing the Asika traditions for generations. The term Asika denotes ‘blessings’. In the…

According to the Central Himalayan pauranic traditions the geographical area extending from the Kali-Karnali in the east to the Tons in the west consists of two divisions, namely, Mānasakhaṇḍa (roughly modern Far Western Nepal, Kumaon and adjoining eastern Garhwal up to the Pindar) and Kedārakhaṇḍa (roughly remaining part of modern Garhwal up to the Tons). Inscriptional evidence coupled with the Katyūrī traditions indicates that the area under reference was ruled by the Katyūrī dynasty from about the seventh century through thirteenth century of the Common Era. The Katyūrī kingdom was liquidated by the so-called ‘Khasa’-Malla/Challa of the house of Saiṁjā (western Nepal) in the thirteenth century CE. Consequently, there arose several petty independent principalities in the geographical area under reference. Eventually, the Later Katyūrī-s, the Chandra-s and the Paṁvāra-s emerged…

This paper examines the concerted erasure of the word ‘sukumbasi’ by governmental and nongovernmental agencies in the context of Kathmandu’s urban politics, linking it to a process of de-politicization of a land-rights based movement. This paper argues that sukumbasi identity and political agendas are deeply rooted in issues of land reform and ownership. ‘Sukumbasi’ refers to both a population of people as well as a recognized physical space claimed and inhabited by the group. Starting 1998, sukumbasi groups began to organize under an umbrella organization whose primary objective was to obtain titles (lalpurja) for its sukumbasi constituents. Their slogan – “Bhumisaahitko baas adhikar” articulated the radical politics of their movement in no uncertain terms. Drawing upon ethnographic and archival research, this paper argues that as the sukumbasi movement intensified across…

This paper examines the concerted erasure of the word ‘sukumbasi’ by governmental and nongovernmental agencies in the context of Kathmandu’s urban politics, linking it to a process of de-politicization of a land-rights based movement. This paper argues that sukumbasi identity and political agendas are deeply rooted in issues of land reform and ownership. ‘Sukumbasi’ refers to both a population of people as well as a recognized physical space claimed and inhabited by the group. Starting 1998, sukumbasi groups began to organize under an umbrella organization whose primary objective was to obtain titles (lalpurja) for its sukumbasi constituents. Their slogan – “Bhumisaahitko baas adhikar” articulated the radical politics of their movement in no uncertain terms. Drawing upon ethnographic and archival research, this paper argues that as the sukumbasi movement intensified across…

This paper examines aspects of Nepal’s changing political economy by tracing the relationship between political elites and agrarian structures in the central Tarai since the first democratic revolution in 1950. Based on a review of existing literature on land reform and land distribution, as well as ethnographic material from Dhanusha district gathered during 2013 summer research, it tentatively argues that the political importance of land decreased significantly over the three decades of Panchayat rule between 1960 and 1990. In the 1940s and 1950s, land was the major economic and political resource; all top political leaders at the time came from landlord families. After the introduction of a land ceiling in 1964, however, access to patronage resources distributed through the royal palace, and later the democratic government, in Kathmandu seems to…

The divide between nature and culture is demolished in anthropology. Rather than continue to view nature as a backdrop or resource for human meaning making, scholars today move to consider the complicated ways nature is imbricated in the creation of systems of value and the formation of social experience. Inherently, the selection of value and meaning from environmental entanglements entails a political choice. This panel brings together four current anthropology graduate students whose research focuses on questions of the relationship between land and the state in Nepal. Through an array of ethnographic, historical, and discursive methods, the panelists demonstrate the ways the concept of land can be used analytically to approach topics of national interest, including citizenship, land reform, state infrastructure, and federalism. Various anthropological subfields inform the panelists’ diverse…

Planners and IT experts usually argue that a high-level, centralized, and powerful body overseeing the IT sector is what required for unleashing the revolutionary power of IT in Nepal. This idea is generally evoked for all sorts of technology development. This paper criticizes this polemic by presenting the story of the rise and fall of High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT) established in Nepal in 2003. The HLCIT was the apex body formed under the chair of the Prime Minister to provide crucial policy and strategic direction to the Nepali IT sector.  Located at the Prime Minister’s Office, the HLCIT had a powerful vice chair, secretaries of two line ministries (Science and Technology, and Information and Communications), and the President of the Computer Association of Nepal as its members.…