ABSTRACT
Contemporary Nepal is a space for polyglossia, a multiplicity of voices flowing through the public spaces after the breaking up of the monarchic framework. These voices, some of them emerging from silence for the first time, concomitantly talk about several topics, from indigeneity to secularism, from inclusivity to federalism. To underestimate the role of indigenous peoples in Nepalese political life of at least the last three decades is impossible. One of the reasons is surely to be found in the percentages. When indigenous peoples of Nepal manage to concert their actions, and multiply their force, they reach around 36% of the total population, according to the 2011 National Census. Besides federalism, the other major debate of contemporary Nepal is the issue of federalism. The debate about indigeneity revolves around an analytical and operative empirical dichotomy between the hegemonic groups of the Nepalese society, i.e. the bahun and chettri, and the marginalized non-Hindu minorities.
