I had Seen discrimination, Dalit was hegemonised, and faced many social problems and challenges, made far worse by state mechanism under Hindu ideology, which gave me the key interest to examine the praxis/practices of untouchability and caste based discrimination which is rampant in the society. I've always had the curiosity in mind over how and why caste-based discrimination and untouchability exists, what sorts of discrimination the Dalits, or so-called inferiors caste groups, have been facing, and the severity of that discrimination. Does caste based discrimination exists only against Dalits by non-Dalits, or does it exists among Dalits themselves? Which is more severe, discrimination by non-Dalits or Intra-Dalit discrimination, and does discrimination exists only due to Hindu ideology or are other factors also responsible. I see the intra-dalit conflict is too much vast and more challenging.

With its systematic coverage of different groups, this book demonstrates how similar trends of ethnic formation are affecting all parts of Nepal. Yet, within the boundaries of a single culturally diverse state, very different forms of ethnicity have emerged. " This is a truly thematic collection with a well-defined focus on the important contemporary topics of ethnic identity and nationalism. The importance of the theme is self-evident in a world attempting to come to grips with such problems in virtually all modern states. Anyone with an interest in contemporary Nepal should study this volume." Nepal is the only officially Hindu kingdom in the world and remains so in spite of a revolution, or people's movement, in 1990 which overthrew the partyless Panchayat regime and instituted a multiparty constitutional monarchy. Since November 1994, it has also had an elected Communist government, the first of its kind in South Asia. This volume takes a long-term view of the various processes of ethnic and national development that have been displayed, both before and after 1990. It brings together twelve carefully chosen ethnographic and historical chapters covering all of the major ethnic groups and regions of Nepal.

The socio-political landscape of Nepal has been rocked by dramatic and far-reaching changes in the past thirty years. Following a ten-year Maoist revolution and civil war, the country has transitioned from a monarchy to a republic. The former Hindu kingdom has declared its commitment to secularism, without coming to any agreement on what secularism means or should mean in the Nepalese context. What happens to religion under conditions of such rapid social and political change? How do the changes in public festivals reflect and/or create new group identities? Is the gap between the urban and the rural narrowing? How is the state dealing with Nepal’s multicultural and multi-religious society? How are Nepalis understanding, resisting, and adapting ideas of secularism? In order to answer these important questions, this volume brings together eleven case studies by an international team of anthropologists and ethno-Indologists of Nepal on such diverse topics as secularism, individualism, shamanism, animal sacrifice, the role of state functionaries in festivals, clashes and synergies between Maoism and Buddhism, and conversion to Christianity. In an Afterword, renowned political theorist Rajeev Bhargava presents a comparative analysis of Nepal’s experiences and asks whether the country is finding its own solution to the conundrum of secularism.

Migration has been a basic fact of Nepali life for centuries. Over the last thirty years, migration from Nepal has increased diaspora communities across the world. In these diverse contexts, to what extent do Nepalis reproduce their culture and pass it on to subsequent generations? How much of diaspora life is a response to social and political concerns derived from the homeland? What aspects of Nepali life and culture change? In this volume twenty-one authors address these issues through eighteen detailed case studies that tackle issues of livelihood, identity and belonging, internal conflict, and religious practice, in the UK, the USA, India, Southeast Asia, the Gulf countries, and Fiji. Throughout the volume, we see how being Nepali outside Nepal enables new categories and new kinds of identity to emerge, whether as Nepali, Gorkhali, or as a member of a particular ethnic, regional, or religious group. The common theme of Global Nepalis is the exploration of continuity, change, and conflict as new practices and identities develop in Nepali diaspora life.exponentially, leading to many new