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

The Remake of a StateThe concept of militarisation is often used to refer to the military use bythe states, not much focused on the non-state or civilian sphere. Oftenmilitarisation from the state-led perspective is a step-by-step processby which either all the state and the societal institutions are under thegradual control of military or the wellbeing of people are believed to beshaped from militaristic behaviour.In this chapter, we are discussing not the state-led but the non-state ledmilitarisation of youths. In the context of Nepal, a country just emergingform decade long insurgency, societal militarisation is fatal for the processof achieving security, justice and enabling state because militarisationcauses impunity, violates rule of law and implants societal fear andnervousness.2. Status of the youth in NepalIt would not be wrong to state that Nepal’s major political history hasalways been framed by the youth. King Prithvi Narayan Shah startedunification of Nepal at the age of 20. 6 Similarly, when Nepal lost one-thirdof its territory in the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, the then King Girvan YudhdaShah was 17 years of age. 7 Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana cameinto power at the age of 29 which initiated the autocratic Rana Regimethat lasted for 104 years. 8By looking at the discussed events in the history of Nepal, the role of youthcannot be undermined. Major changes observed in Nepali socio-politicshave been related with the contribution of the youth. Political partiesin Nepal have always massively mobilised the youths during all politicalchanges such as in the abolishment of the Rana Regime and the politicalchanges of 1980, 1990 and 2006.Political parties have created youth wings to mobilise this cohort forpolitical activities. This phenomenon is further expanded and now-adaysthe parties are (mis)using their youth outfits in coercive activitiesand have turned to militarise the youth groups. Even armed groups areformed by such youths. Regrettably, during the post-conflict transition6King Prithvi Narayan Shah was born in 1723 and had started the geographic unification of Nepal on1743.7King Girvan Yudhda Shaha (1799-1816) ascended the throne when he was only 18 month old and theSugauli Treaty was signed in March, 1816 and he died on 20 November 1816.8Jung Bahadur Rana born in the year 1817 assumed the Prime Ministership in the bloody aftermath ofthe Kot Massacre in 1846 at the age of 29.195