English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

airport is planned for Pokhara, and there is a
customs point in Lo Manang of Mustang. The
group envisions Tamuwan as one of Nepal’s
most prosperous provinces.
Participants had a long discussion on the
judicial system and customary law of
Tamuwan province. They emphasized the right
of ethnic groups to practice their own tradition
and culture, and concluded that in the federal
system of government local problems and
cases should be handled with local customary
laws of the various ethnic communities like
Naal pratha and Thum. These laws should be
recognized and institutionalized. However, it
is also recognized that no law practiced in the
province should encourage any type of gender
or caste based discrimination. When customary
laws like Bahupati pratha are practiced, these
laws should be seen from the perspective of the
particular community that has been practicing
them so there is continuity in the future.
The group also stated that there should be a
strong independent and efficient provincial
judicial system, and that the central law
should consider the provincial law. The legal
system should ensure ethnic, religious, and
linguistic harmony. To establish the rule of
law there should sufficient provisions to
punish those who violate the law.
Identifying the minority groups and their
rights, participants stated that groups that
have a low population and lack access to
economic, social and political power within
the province are called Minority Groups.
They listed Dura, Chepang, Kusunda,
Bhujel, Thakali, Najhi, Tyolmo, Kumal, Durai,
and Mustang Lo Dorsap as minorities in
Tamuwan province. To ensure minority rights
to the different opportunities provided
by the province, the group has proposed
making provisions for positive discrimination
for a particular time period. In addition, the
state should be responsible to protect and
promote the traditional occupations of the
minority groups. They have the right to their
language, culture and identity.
The detailed lists of the finding of the group
discussions are included in Annex IV.
Additional Questions and Answers raised
during discussions
Q. How far will a federal structure
developed on the basis of ethnicity address
issues such as “PUN” not recognizing
themselves as part of the “MAGAR” group?
Will this type of problem create more states
in the future? Bhim Karki
A. If there is internal discrimination in the
province there could be conflict in the future,
but only naming a province on the basis of
identity is not enough to create conflict.
Q. What are women’s rights in the context
of federalism in Nepal? Is there any federal
country in the world where women enjoy
equal rights? Will there be a separate state
for Nepal’s 60 lakh Dalits?-Teku Nepali
A. The issue of the rights of Dalits and women
are not directly addressed. The federal
structure is a geographical administrative
division. Further, the issues of Dalits are
not related with identification but with
discrimination and social justice. Similarly,
the issues of women have been addressed
by providing special rights with regards to
representation and education. Further, the
leadership development of Dalits in the
24 Federalism Dialogues Series 5