Minority representation
Who are the minorities? Is minority representation really necessary ? Why are some ethnic groups overrepresented ?
A minority group refers to the group of people whose practices, race, religion, ethnicity, or characteristics are often in few numbers leading them to experience relative disadvantage compared to the dominant (majority) group.
What are the factors that determine if a specific caste or ethnic group is Minor?
Since Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, there's a huge variation within the different groups leading to various cultural diversity, social practices, and economic disparities. Nepal has 125 castes/ethnic groups, speaking 123 languages and practicing ten different religions (CBS 2012). Even among these groups, there are subgroups and hierarchies following various norms and cultures. This variation leads to the formation of diverse subgroups with different ideologies, norms, and values. In terms of population, no caste/ethnic group is in the majority in Nepal. The hill-origin people – specifically the Khas Aryas, who have roots in and practice Hinduism – are the dominant minority (28.8%), followed by the Madhesis and Janajatis.
Why is minority representation necessary?
Minority groups often get underrepresented, leading to unequal allocation of power, resources, and opportunities. When the voice of the minorities get unheard and underrepresented, certain policies and law that are formulated may not help the address the following communities problem. Having a person representing their community helps to address the issues and form the policies that are actually necessary for that group as this person is more aware of their community than other representatives. Also, the representation of various minority groups in the Parliament means to practice democracy at its best providing equal rights and opportunities to all the citizens irrespective of their caste, color, creed, and gender. Leaving the minority on their own and not being able to allocate the resources and powers to the people equally can eventually result in the rise of the feeling of being left out by the government and lead to the emergence of conflicts and extremism, which can harm the nation.
Are the minorities well represented in Parliament?
Minorities representation has always been a topic of discussion. Often the hill supremacy has led to the underrepresentation of various communities of Nepal. When the topic of nationalism enters the conversation, most of the time, only Hilly people are generalized as Nepali, and the policies are often made considering them. Also, the lawmakers and most representatives perceive Kathmandu valley as a Nepal, failing to address the issues of people from the rural areas. Even the Parliament of Nepal doesn't reflect the country's actual population. Khas Aryas are the ones who have been dominating Nepalese politics for a very long period. Despite having a population of 31.2 percent, this group makes up 45 percent of Parliament. Similarly, other minorities, such as Dalit, who has 13.8 percent of Nepal's population, make up only 8% of Parliament. Despite the laws designed to promote inclusion, women, Dalits, and Muslims remain underrepresented, especially in powerful positions.
Should women be considered as a minority? Why are they underrepresented?
Women do not constitute a statistical minority – their populations are nearly equal to men - but they can be considered a minority group since they have less authority and privileges than men. Being a patriarchal society, women in our country are very familiar with sexism and the disadvantages it brings with it in several different spheres of society, whether political, legal, economic, or familial. Although all parties have around 33 percent women each, the preference is mainly given to the male while determining the candidacy for FPTP. Since there are no reserved seats for women within the FPTP seats, women make up only 7.45 percent of all FPTP candidates but 56 percent of all PR candidates as compensation.
The struggle of minority women
Nepali women are entangled in so many hierarchies: class, caste, ethnicity, language, age, religion. Ideas about "respect" come from precisely these hierarchies of power. Though they belong to different caste, religions, cultures, and status, one thing is certain that they are being oppressed with respect to economic, political, socio-cultural, and legal status. The educational access and school attainment of girls, Janajatis (indigenous, disadvantaged groups), and Dalits (the low caste) are far below the national average compared to Brahmans and Chhetris (high caste and privileged groups) often leading to the minority women from indigenous and lower caste being more underrepresented and unheard. Despite the feminist movements, lower-class women cannot advocate their issues and problems because analytical education is limited to upper-class women. Bahun/Chhetri women only account for 31 percent of the women population. Thus, the rest of the women are still underrepresented when it comes to movements, politics, economy, and legal status.
Overrepresentation of Khas Aryas in the Parliament
Who are Khas Aryas?
According to the Constitution of Nepal, western hill Khas Bahuns, Chhetris, Thakuris, and Sanyasis, who are citizens of Nepal, should be considered as Khas Arya for electoral purposes. Khas or Khas-Aryas, Brahmins, and Chhetris—the hill so-called high caste Hindus—are the structurally privileged group in Nepal. They are disproportionately represented at all levels of government, especially in powerful positions.
What makes them privileged than others?
Dominance by Khas Aryas can be dated back to 1769 when Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the three cities of Kathmandu valley. With his court came his kinsmen, retinue, priests, and soldiers — the new aristocracy of the hill region — to settle permanently in Kathmandu. Among them were the thar-ghar, the chosen and select families of hill brahmins such as Aryal, Khanal, Pandey, and Panta, who were rewarded with the best lands and houses in the Valley as their jagirs in return for their services to the Gorkhali court in war and peace. Thus begins the success story of the probate Bahuns, the brahmins from the hills. Even After Jang Bahadur Kunwar came to power in September 1846, following the Kot Massacre, he reorganized the judicial, civil, and revenue administration along seemingly institutional models. His Muluki Ain, or Civil Code of 1854, tried to codify Hindu caste orthodoxy as a state ideology with the Bahuns and Thakuris- Chhetris topping the social hierarchy and lumping a large segment of other Nepalis, including the Newars, as enslavable matawalis. Although Jung Bahadur's Muluki Ain, which gave the highest ritual status to Bahuns, was officially abolished 110 years later in 1964, it had by then ensured the Bahun's secular status as well by putting them at the top of the social pyramid. With the exception of a few "token" members from other caste groups, Nepal's politics, Nepal's education system, Nepal's public sector, Nepali media has been entirely dominated by Bahunists and their circle of semi-slaves.
Even today, despite having a population of 31.2 percent, this group makes up 45 percent of Parliament. Most political parties remain dominated by the higher-caste Khas Arya group, relegating other groups to less powerful positions. 95.5% of all the Prime Ministers of Nepal have been Khas Arya men. Despite indigenous peoples, Dalit and Madhesi people constitute 69% of Nepal's population, not even one person belonging to these ethnic groups has reached the country's top executive post.
Source: Malla, kamal P. "Bahunvada: Myth or reality?", Himal South Asian, Nov 19, 2018, himalmag.com/bahunvada-myth-or-reality-kamal-p-malla-1992/
What are the provisions for women and minorities?
Provision for women
The constitution mandates that women make up one-third of the total number of representatives from each party in both houses of the Federal Parliament and the State Assemblies (SAs). To achieve this quota, the House of Representatives (HoR) and SAs Election Acts state that women must make up at least 50 percent of each proportional representation (PR) list submitted by a party to compensate for any shortfall from the first-past-the-post (FPTP) seats. In addition to a 50 percent quota for women on a party's PR list, the HoR and SA Election Acts specify the percentage of candidates on each list that should come from six "inclusion" groups specified in the constitution: Dalit, Adivasi Janajati, Khas Arya, Madeshi, Tharu, and Muslim. Lists must also include prescribed quotas of candidates from minorities and backward regions. To avoid high numbers of women nominated from only one inclusion group, the HoR Proportional Directive states that 50 percent of the elected representatives/candidates must be women within each inclusion group. The HoR Act prescribes the following quotas for each group, based on the population of each group in Nepal: Khas-Arya, Adivasi Janajati, Madhesi, Dalit, Tharu Muslim, and Other social groups.
| Inclusion Group | Percentage of Candidates |
|---|---|
| Dalit | 13.8% |
| Adivasi Janajati | 28.7% |
| Khas Arya | 31.2% |
| Madhesi | 15.3% |
| Tharu | 6.6% |
| Muslim | 4.4% |
Provision for people with disabilities and people from backward regions
The constitution also states that persons with disabilities and people from backward regions should be included in the list. For the HoR, the quota for candidates from backward regions is 4.3 percent. The ECN has instructed parties to include at least one person with a disability on their lists. Between HoR and SA candidates, 147 persons with disabilities have been nominated on the PR list.
Source:
- Paswan, Bhola. "Dalits and women the most under-represented in Parliament" the Record, March 3, 2018, recordnepal.com/dalits-and-women-the-most-under-represented-in-parliament
- "The State of Minorities in Nepal" misaal.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Nepal.pdf
- "Elections in Nepal" International Foundation for Electoral Systems, November 21, 2017, ifes.org/sites/default/files/2017_ifes_nepal_house_of_representatives_and_state_assembly_elections_faqs_final_1.pdf