Abstract
Nowadays, almost everyone speaks in support of equality, but people find it difficult to speak in favour of hierarchy or inequality at least in public (Beteille in The reproduction of inequality: occupation, caste and family, 1991). Even for the sake of rhetoric, nations seem to follow a “people-centric” approach by adopting various programmes.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, Article 42 of Nepal’s constitution talks about social justice for marginalized castes and categories.
- 2.
Terms like ‘Brahmins’ and ‘Brahman’ are interchangeably used in this book.
- 3.
Discussion with Durga Sob, March 11, 2009.
- 4.
According to them, words such as “hunger” and “starvation” are being used by the modern Western world of prosperity for some particularly vulnerable groups such as the homeless or illegal immigrants.
- 5.
But the discrimination may not be in the same degree and magnitude for the poor members of his or her group.
- 6.
According to Walker and Walker, social exclusion as a more comprehensive formulation refers to the dynamic process of being shut out, fully or partially, from any of the social, economic, political or cultural system which determines the social integration of a person in society. Social exclusion may, therefore, be seen as the denial (or non-realisation) of the civil, political and social rights of citizenship.
- 7.
Sprinkling purified water on bodies of so-called higher castes was necessary when these people touched so-called untouchables, and it was not necessary to sprinkle such water when these higher-caste people had touched the so-called touchables.
- 8.
Ma ju pim is used to refer the impure and untouchable in the Newari language.
- 9.
For example, in Palpa Magars had considerable influence, in the Sena-ruled Kirat region called Vijaypur and Chaudandi, Kirats had influence.
- 10.
For example, earlier even the Brahmans could be subjected to slavery but in the nineteenth century, they were made immune to it.
- 11.
Oral narratives available among the Indian Nepalese.
- 12.
In the past, the Nepali Congress under B. P. Koirala believed that the inclusion of Dalit women and Janajatis can be done only through education, and for this a school was opened in the village of Humin in Palpa for educating the Dalits. However, in the 1990s, the Communist Party of Nepal–United Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) activists began purification ceremonies for Dalits such as performing Satya Narayan Pooja in Dalits’ homes and organizing movements for their temple entry, which is dubbed by the Nepali Maoists as the Sanscritization process.
- 13.
For instance, Adhikari (judicial and administrative officers of dara (a group of villages or a sub-district), Karki (fiscal officers of dara), Mahatara (village headmen), Rokaya (subordinates of Mahatara), Lekhaka (writers of public documents), Senapati (commanders of the army), and Paikela (warriors such as Thapa, Khadga, and others).
- 14.
People of certain castes such as Brahmin, Chhetri, Thakuri, and some other castes were allowed to wear “holy” threads called Janai. These castes were also called Tagadhari. Castes wearing holy thread were considered to be superior to those not wearing them.
- 15.
Thar in Nepali means a variety or a type, where as gotra means a clan. In some communities such as Kirats (Rai-Limbu people), thar means a clan.
- 16.
The members of six families belonged to the clans of Pandey, Aryal, Panta, Rana, Khanal, and Bohra. Their forefathers had helped Dravya Shaha to establish the political formation of Gorkha in the sixteenth century. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Kirkpatrick was assured that even the throne of the ruler would not be safe if the thar ghar thought that his actions would endanger sovereignty; he says that their ascendancy rested on the respect they derived from their services and attachment to the ruling family of Gorkha. See William J. Kirkpatrick, An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul, Manjusri Publication House, New Delhi, 1969, pp. 124–125.
- 17.
Matwalis were also categorized as those who could be enslaved, and those who could not be enslaved. They were also categorized on the basis of whether water could or could not be accepted from them. For an English translation of Muluki Ain regarding jaat, see M. C. Regmi, Nepal: An Historical Miscellany, Adroit Publishers, Delhi, 2002.
- 18.
In the past, only the Kathmandu Valley was called Nepal.
- 19.
For such laws and punishments see Tulasi Ram Vaidya and Triratna Manandhar, Crime and Punishment in Nepal: A Historical Perspective, Bini Vaidya and Purna Devi Manandhar, Kathmandu, 1985.
- 20.
“He cut off noses and ears of many of the Brahmins who officiated at the temples where prayers had been offered for the recovery of the Rannee; he deprived others of their caste by forcing the flesh of dogs and hogs into their mouths”. For details, see M.C. Regmi, Kings and Political Leaders of the Gorkhali Empire 1768–1814, Orient Longman, 1995, p. 9.
- 21.
It appeared that Kajis and Bhardars sent Tiwari to Bhirkot (the then new territory) to collect gadibubarakh tax without royal authority. Tiwari collected NRs.6,000, which he shared with his co-conspirators. For details, see M.C. Regmi, Kings and Political Leaders of the Gorkhali Empire 1768–1814, Orient Longman, 1995, pp. 58–59.
- 22.
These pahade Rajputs are today called Thakuri.
- 23.
Later, Rais and Limbus were added to the Namasine category.
- 24.
A man who married the wife of another man had to pay certain penalty as specified in the law to the former husband of the woman. The fine was called Jarikhat.
- 25.
The Act made to amend and unify the Civil Laws, 2017.
- 26.
Section 10 of the act amended and unified laws related to criminal offences.
- 27.
Based on interactions with research scholars from Ladakh on September 21, 2008, in JNU.
- 28.
Mrdanga in the Odia language or mridôngo is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India as accompaniment for devotional music.
- 29.
Call to Make Surkhet New Capital”, Himalayan Times, 31 March 2008
- 30.
Bikram Sambat (BS) which is also called Vikram Samvat is known as the Vikrami calendar, a historical Hindu calendar in the Indian subcontinent. It is the official calendar of Nepal.
- 31.
The advocates of a positivist approach have argued that research guided by the values of researchers present only a biased reality. They twist facts of realities to conform to the value of the researcher. They support a line of thought or behaviour, or opposed each other. Such value-loaded research is morally inappropriate. For sociology to become a science, it should manifest a belief in inductive reasoning. It should collect the facts and derive its statements based on what is exactly implied in those facts.
- 32.
The normative approach on the other hand does not envisage the possibility of a value-free science of society. It considers that the very notion of “value-freeness” is itself a value. In the guise of “value-free” discussion of observable facts of current reality, it distracts academic attention from the analysis of dynamics and change in society.21 It is a conceptual tool to guide research in favour of the status quo in society. The emphasis of any academic work should be geared towards liberation of society. It should be able to debunk the obstacles of its progressive change.
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Pyakurel, U. (2021). Defining Dalits in a Nepali Context. In: Reproduction of Inequality and Social Exclusion. Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8908-9_1
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