ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an account the patterns of interaction between different groups from the unification of Nepal. While there was no reference to ethnicity or even caste in the new code, predominance was given to Hindu religion – and while Christianity and Islam were tolerated, proselytism and conversions were totally forbidden and severely punished. Buddhism, like other Indic religions including Sikhism and Jainism, and religious beliefs of the janajati were considered part of the Hindu dharma. Ethnicity is not inherently derived from the use of a particular language, the sharing of songs and dances, the common religious rituals or beliefs, but from an active process that confers a particular meaning to all these elements. Toffin has formulated a critique to the autochthonous paradigm, arguing that contradict democratic ideals, which presume escaping from all sorts of ascribed links inherited from the parents, and the freedom of all citizens to settle wherever they like throughout the national territory, except in restricted areas.
