By Ali Hassan

Cultural diversity and its management d has become a focus of attention because of its universal existence in terms of race, religion, language, cultural differences etc. In most of the world's nation states, Nepal is also included in such states particularly after the restoration of democracy in 1990. There has been a growing academic as well as public debate to redefine the role of the state and the nature of governance to accommodate its diverse social, cultural, ethnic, language, and racial groups on an equal footing. Nepalese culture represents a fusion of Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Mongolian influences, the result of a long history of migration, conquest, and trade.

Nepal is a plural society which laces one basic dilemma. On the one hand, all members of the liberal democracy are in principle if not in practice entitled to the same rights and opportunities. On the other hand, they also have the right to be different and after 1990, the rights of minorities (especially of Janajatis and Dalits) to maintain and promote their cultural distinctiveness and to be visible in the public spheres, including the mass media, school curricula, and so on, are increasingly insisted on. A crucial challenge for plural societies therefore consists of allowing cultural differences to persist without violating common and societal defined rights. In other words, the challenge consists of finding a viable compromise, for the state as well as the citizens (representing power and agency respectively), between equal rights and the right to be different. If we take a dynamic and positive view of ethnic, religious, and cultural and other forms of diversity as an invitation for people to interact, to celebrate and to learn from difference rather than a passive acceptance of the fact that diversity simply exist.

Hindutva ideology which is not only confined to India but it has also severely affected the preservation and celebration of other major religions practiced in Nepal. Until 2007, when Nepal was finally declared a secular state, followers of non-Hindu religions were not even recognized with national holidays for their major festivals. Local elites from various Indigenous Nationalities (called Janajatis in Nepal) were incentivized, with the promise of political relevance, to convert to Hinduism. Reportedly, many Thakali and Gurung lineages, two very prominent Janajati communities in Nepal, switched their primary allegiance from Tibetan Buddhism to Hinduism due to such incentives.

The rulers in Nepal foregrounded these incentives with an active ploy to eradicate Indigenous languages and make Nepali the dominant lingua franca. In a country where only 44 percent speak Nepali as their first language, even today, state-sanctioned eradication of Indigenous languages gradually eroded the unique culture and religious practices of these communities. One of the starkest examples can be observed in Magars, one of the biggest Janajati communities in Nepal. While Magars represent 7.1 percent of the population, their Indigenous language is spoken only by a meager 3 percent. Losing one’s native language leads to a gradual decay of the collective memory of one’s unique history and religious culture. Throughout the last three centuries, many Janajati communities lost their language, culture, and religion to a state increasingly hostile to any deviance from the specific blend of Nepali-speaking, upper-caste Hindu traditions.

The harms of Hindutva have not been limited to the non-Hindu population of Nepal. One of the most notorious ways in which it subjugates Hindu populations is via the caste system which has been used as a central tool of division and oppression in many Hindu kingdoms in South Asia for the last 3500 years. Nepal has been no exception. The most detrimental effects of the caste system have been experienced by Dalits—communities denigrated to the bottom of the caste hierarchy. The ancient Hindu tradition of caste-based marginalization has continued under the direct supervision of every ruler since the founding of Nepal. Dalits have been denied both the necessary land to survive and their deserved social respect in Nepali society since its inception.

Hindu fundamentalist groups often use Muslims as the soft target since the time of monarchy in order to settle the religious agenda. Hindu mobs set mosques and Muslim properties on fire following the demolition of Babri mosque on 6 December 1992. The unilateral attacks were perpetrated by Hindu fanatic groups affiliated to organizations in India. Nepal shares 1800 kilometers porous border with India.  Communal tensions in India often spill over to Nepali side causing the damage and hardships to Muslim minorities.

On 2nd September 2004 during the direct rule of King Gyanendra thousands of Hindus attacked mosques, Muslim-owned businesses and homes across Nepal to avenge the killing of 12 Nepalese workers by terrorists in Iraq. Two men were shot dead by the police. The intensity of unilateral attack against Muslim was so severe that government had to impose an indefinite curfew on the capital and in the other affected areas to restore order.

Similarly when Nepal was being declared secular, one mosque in Sarochia, Biratnagar in eastern Nepal was bombed on 29th March 2008 killing two people on the spot. Several others were injured in the explosion.

 In Novermber 2016 on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's birthday a Muslim rally was attacked by a Hindu mob in Matehia, Bankey district in Western Nepal in which two Muslims were killed on the spot. District court released all the accused against ordinary bail. In addition to this, in a decade seven prominent Muslims have been killed Hindu vigilantes.

 Muslims Christians and Dalits are facing self imposed ban on certain food habits. They cannot use beef in their kitchen for the fear of lynching and police action. As mentioned above cow slaughter is a punishable crime in Nepal.

To enhance the socio-economic status of Dalits, Women, Madhesi, Indigenous communities, government introduced Reservation Act in 2007 and accordingly these groups avail 38 per cent seats under reservation quota in civil services, army, police and health sector. That is indeed a positive move. But Muslims have been deliberately kept out of such reservation arrangements.

Nepal remained a cultural mosaic forming a unique kind of multi ethnic and caste society thorough out its history. The increasing self-consciousness and growing sense of political, cultural and economic marginalization among minorities clearly demonstrate the inadequacy of the conventional paradigm of ethic and cultural accommodation aimed at creating monolithic and homogenous Nepali national identity. Thus, managing of diversity and difference for the purpose of nation building is indeed a tremendous challenging job for all.