Thicker than blood: political parties, partisanship, and the indigenous identity movement in Nepal

The Nepalese indigenous identity movement took the nation by storm during the tremulous politics of the 2000s and toppled the status quo, paving way for a series of legal changes in favour of Nepal’s many minority communities. However, the movement has suffered setbacks since 2010 as various minority communities have denounced many of its objectives, including its most prominent demand for ethnic/identity-based federalism. The study draws on empirical observations and in-depth interviews with 21 participants to examine these setbacks. The findings reveal that partisanship has played a significant role in discouraging the indigenous movement. Partisanship has an inimitable presence in many Nepalese people’s lives, as it provides emotional, ideological, and instrumental support and is a powerful source of self-esteem and self-identification. The indigenous movement, therefore, began to lose momentum when it pitched a strongly resistant partisan identity in direct opposition to the newly discovered/recovered indigenous identities.