Caste System in Nepal and the Maoist Rebellion

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia. This country lying between India and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Nepal is a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi religious country. The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma and Yunnan via Assam. The main religion of Nepal is Hinduism (80,6%). while, Buddhism was the second religion here (10,8%). One integral aspect of Nepalese society is the existence of the Hindu caste system, modeled after the ancient and orthodox Brahmanic system of the Indian plains. In this social system, there are four main castes into which everyone was categorized. Each caste included many hierarchical subcastes divided by occupation. At the very top were the Brahmins (the priests, scholars, and philosophers). The second highest caste was the Kshatriyas (the warriors, rulers, and those concerned with the defense and administration of the village or state). Third came the Vaishyas (traders, merchants, and people involved in agricultural production). While, the lowest caste was the Shudras (the laborers and servants for the other castes).

Caste was determined by birth. However, in Nepal people sometimes erroneously use word Caste to mean their race or ethnicity. The ethnic groups such as Rai and Magar (physically Mongoloid) are a different race from Hill Indo-Aryans (Khas), who are themselves distinct from Plains Indo-Aryans (Madhesis). In the past, when Brahmins and Kshatriyas came in contact with Sudras, they used to bathe. When the Brahmin marry with Kshatriyas or Vaishya , their offspring were placed in the Kshatriyas caste. This was due to the fact bravery was thought to be a dominant character and cleverness a recessive one. Similarly, while a Brahmin, Kshatriyas, or Vaishya married a Sudra caste, their children became Sudra caste. High-caste groups shun and keep their distance from the lower castes. They can economically exploit or plainly discriminates the low castes.

Maoist political party in Nepal founded in 1994. Maoism is a retooling of communist philosophy for a rural setting. Nepal's Maoists not only are able to tap into the economic resentment felt by poor, rural Nepalese, but also the class resentment they feel. They fight against Nepalese society which has an oppressive caste system. They also fight against feudalism. As we know, feudalism is the main source of Nepal's problems. The Feudal Hindu religion system has rather marginalized social, political, and economic rights of ethnic communities, people of lower Hindu caste and women. The Maoists, on the other hand, want to eliminate the caste system. Thats why, Maoists were exploiting the lower castes.

During the Maoist rebellion, more than 12,800 people were killed (4,500 by Maoists and 8,200 by the government) and an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people were internally displaced as a result of the conflict.