English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...
English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...
English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...
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Militarisation of the youth<strong>in</strong>terests. Consequently, the gaps among the youth groups are widen<strong>in</strong>gand they are divided on the basis of ethnicity, geography and politicalideology.Why are the youths be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> coercive activities? What is the reasonbeh<strong>in</strong>d them <strong>to</strong> tie up with one group or the other? What consequencescan it br<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> the society and the state? This chapter attempts <strong>to</strong> answerthese questions. The objective of this chapter is <strong>to</strong> exam<strong>in</strong>e the causesand consequences of coercive engagement of youth and the process ofmilitarisation of the youths <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nepal</strong>.The perspective on youth differs <strong>in</strong> every context but basically it isdef<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> terms of age group. The National Youth Policy-2010 def<strong>in</strong>esthem as “those from 16-40 years constitut<strong>in</strong>g of 38.8 per cent of the <strong>to</strong>talpopulation”. 4 Similarly, the National Action Plan for Youth Employment<strong>Nepal</strong> (2008-2015) states, “In <strong>Nepal</strong>, young people of the age group 15<strong>to</strong> 29 are generally referred <strong>to</strong> as youth. They are about seven million<strong>in</strong> numbers, and constitute 28.3 per cent of 24.8 million <strong>Nepal</strong>ese <strong>in</strong>2004. This encompasses a larger group than that covered by the usual<strong>in</strong>ternational def<strong>in</strong>ition of youth, which refers <strong>to</strong> that age group of 15-24years which constitutes 18 per cent of the <strong>Nepal</strong>ese population”. 5For the purpose of this chapter, the term ‘militarisation’ is def<strong>in</strong>ed asa social process of engagement <strong>in</strong> coercive activities, use of threat ofviolence, creation of fear <strong>in</strong> society, carry<strong>in</strong>g out the activities that areprevented by law, systematic denial or obstruction of basic rights of otherpeople <strong>to</strong> fulfil own vested <strong>in</strong>terests and abuse of political power andresources <strong>to</strong> ga<strong>in</strong> personal benefits. Contrary <strong>to</strong> what many scholars onmilitarisation do, this chapter has def<strong>in</strong>ed ‘militarisation’ from the societalperspective rather than from the military one.Geyer (1989, p 79) def<strong>in</strong>es militarisation as “The contradic<strong>to</strong>ry and tensesocial process <strong>in</strong> which civil society organises itself for the production ofviolence”. Militarisation is a discursive process, <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g a shift <strong>in</strong> generalsocietal beliefs and values <strong>in</strong> ways necessary <strong>to</strong> legitimate the use of force,the organisation of large stand<strong>in</strong>g armies and their leaders, and the highertaxes or tribute used <strong>to</strong> pay for them (Lutz 2007). Kumar (2006) has def<strong>in</strong>edmilitarism as a situation <strong>in</strong> which the propensity <strong>to</strong> use military power, orthe threat of it, for political settlement is prevalent. These def<strong>in</strong>itions aremore focused on state militarisation (use of official armed forces).4National Youth Policy-2010, M<strong>in</strong>istry of Youth and Sports, Government of <strong>Nepal</strong>.5National Action Plan for Youth Employment <strong>Nepal</strong> (2008-2015), National Plann<strong>in</strong>g Commission,Government of <strong>Nepal</strong>.194