The ethnic revival after the restoration of the Nepalese democracy in 1990 is one of
the most vibrant issues of Nepal's recent political and cultural history. The groups fighting in
the ethnicity movement have accused Nepal of being an “exclusionary, non-participatory and
non-representative state” (Gurung, 2010: 1). They state that it discriminates against
indigenous peoples, women, Madhesis, Dalits and other marginalized communities on the
basis of caste, ethnicity, language, religion, sex, class, and geographical territory, even
though all discriminations are supposed to have been abolished according to the law (ibid: 1).
Since the decade-long armed conflict between the Maoist insurgents and the Nepalese
government has turned into a peaceful settlement in 2006, the interim constitution of 2007
has declared Nepal to be a multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-lingual secular state. In order
to eliminate caste, ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender, and regional discriminations and to
address the issues of all disadvantaged groups, an extensive restructuring of the state has been
decided by the interim constitution. Among others, it should ensure basic education in one’s
mother language for each citizen. Furthermore, civil, political and human rights have
explicitly been guaranteed to all Nepalese citizens. The Three-year Interim Development Plan
also admits that the centralized and unitary structure of the state has been responsible for the
social and economic disfranchisement of indigenous peoples, women, Madhesis, Dalits and
other marginalized communities (Government of Nepal, 2007).