Interrogating the “post” in Post-Conflict and Post-Disaster Nepal

• In Event: Studying Post-Disaster Politics in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Japan

Abstract

On 25th April 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central part of Nepal and killed more than 9,000 people. The earthquake occurred at the time when Nepal was going through an extended period of post-conflict, peace-building process after a civil war that ended in 2006. The post-conflict process involved disarmament of the Maoists and the elections of the constituent assembly. However, the drafting of new constitution had been delayed for many years due in part to disagreements over the nature of federalism, on whether and how the new structure of the state should reflect the socio-cultural diversity of Nepal. However, after the earthquake in 2015, major political parties suddenly agreed to finalize constitution through a ‘fast-track’ procedure. The promulgation of constitution on 20th September was hailed by political leaders as ‘historic’ and as marking the ‘final point of the peace process’. While many in Kathmandu and other hill areas lit lamps in the evening to welcome the constitution, protests by Madhesis and Tharus escalated in the plains creating new political and social crises. In this presentation, I will consider the works of activists and intellectuals involved in Madhesi and Tharu movements as struggles to redefine the very terms ‘conflict’ and ‘disaster’, so that the processes of ‘reconciliation’ and ‘recovery’ would not result in the production of more violence.

Author

• Tatsuro Fujikura, Kyoto University