Debating Secularism in the Last Hindu Kingdom: Nepal's Democratic Experience 1990-2006.

The present paper aims to investigate the debate over a secular constitutional establishment in Nepal following the overthrowing of the Panchayat regime and the restoration of democracy in 1990. The paper shall analyse the modalities, reasons and implications of the enduring definition of Nepal as a 'Hindu kingdom' in the democratic constitutional framework. It has been argued that the constitutional provisions referring to Hinduism were enshrined in the 1990 Constitution to protect the 'traditions' of the country, give historical continuity to its institutions, and to consequently grant legitimation to the political system established by the new Constitution. However, such provisions placed Hinduism at the core of the state-constructed Nepali identity. The emphasis on the unity of Nepalese people seemed to discard its inner religious and ethno-linguistic plurality. This fact raised the question of how representative such state-constructed identity was of the entire population. Thus, after 1990, the relationship between Hinduism and the Nepalese state has come under fierce attack from the Janajati (ethno-linguistic minorities), the Maoists, leftist political parties and civil society. The constitutional provisions referring to Hinduism have been strongly contested, being perceived as the instrument endorsing and perpetuating forms of social, cultural and religious exclusion, discrimination and oppression. This paper aims to investigate the veracity of such claims in the light of the social implications of Nepal's legal developments, interpretation and application of its legal rules. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]