ABSTRACT
The rulers of Nepal had always been guided by the idea that the assimilation of all minorities and social groups into a broader Gorkhali culture would be the bedrock of the modern Nepali state. Indeed, the conquest of Nepal valley by the Gorkha kings laid the foundations for uniculturalism (monoculturalism) and the absorption of all other cultural and social groupings into the so-called unified nation-state. Yet, whatever exercises Nepal went through during the 1990s and in early 2006, made Nepalis more agile and politically conscious. Such exercises also prompted Nepali intellectuals, political leaders and others in favour of a paradigm shift for an inclusive democracy. Democracy, as has been borrowed from places outside Nepal has certain universal features, however, many of the changes that need to be made to make democracy inclusive, people-centric and just, are based on Nepal’s own ground realities, with which foreigners might not be completely familiar.
