Abstract

Nepal is unique in terms of culture, religion, and geography as well as in its Indigenous Communities (IC). There has always been domination by the mainstream culture and religion; however, until recently there was no visible friction and violence between any religious groups and ICs. Within the societal structure, there was an effort to maintain harmonious relationships, at least on the surface. In recent years discord has emerged primarily due to political crises as well as an identity crisis among ICs. In practice, until recently, the majority of the people, including the ICs but with the exception of the hardliner Muslims and Christians, respected or worshiped the same deities one way or another. Social harmony also has been reinforced by the interdependence of the peoples living in Nepal’s different geographical terrains, whose survival has depended on intergroup cooperation. These relationships, however, are breaking down slowly as part of a process of social transformation centered on the evolving identity of ICs, which is having a positive impact on their wellbeing. This paper examines the stake of ICs, which has been a major issue of discussion in the wave of ongoing constitution preparation processes.

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue culture, religion, and geography as well as in its Indigenous Communities (IC). The main pur-pose of the research is to explore the harmonious relationships among various languages and religious as well as indigenous communities. Systematization literary sources indicates that socio-cultural har-monies and inter-relationships among the different religious, ethnic and indigenous communities is building and social transformation is occurring. The relevance of the decision of this scientific prob-lem was social stratification, however social strata are narrowing slowly. Methodological tools of the research methods were empirical completely based on secondary sources and personal observation of about five years of research on the process of social transformation. The object of research is based on Nepal, where about 125 languages are spoken and dominantly Hindu, however Buddhist, Islam, Christianity and other religions have been practiced harmoniously. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis based on secondary sources and, which showed that paper demonstrates the positive impact of government policy directives on the acceptance of indigenous knowledge and the social wellbeing of ICs. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that social and cultural transformation has been occurring in Nepal, however the change pattern is relatively slow. The results of the research can be useful for the socio-cultural researchers as well as for the policy makers and general readers who are willing to know the harmony of social inclusion.

Keywords: indigenous communities (Adhivasi), ethnic group (Janajati), caste system, religion, identity, social transformation

JEL Classification: Z00, Z12.

Cite as: Bhandari, M. P. (2019). Mainstream Religious Domain in Nepal a Contradiction and Conflict of In-digenous Communities in Maintaining the Identity, Race, Gender and Class. SocioEconomic Challenges, 3(1), 99-115. http://doi.org/10.21272/sec.3(1).99-115.2019.

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