MULIKI AIN: An Invisible Burden for Nepalis in India
Muliki Ain or Legal code of Nepal {1854} has politically transformed the ethnic and demographic configuration of Nepali society. Historically, this code has become a watershed moment in the formation of Nepali Hindu social hierarchy marked by the religious fundamentalism of Hinduism. It encompasses the entire population of (present day) Nepal into Hindu centric model of hierarchy irrespective of caste, ethnicity and geographical variation. To encapsulate this phenomenon, it can be said that the ‘forceful incorporation of hills tribes and many other non–Hindu groups under Hindu hierarchy to make Nepal a Hindu nation was one of the silent features of Muliki Ain (1854)’. However, over the course of history, there emerges a contending force to discard the political hegemony of the Hindu kingdom. It impounded upon the religiosity of ethnic groups in Nepal society and created a new notion of religious practices which didn’t completely fit within the popular Hindu category. Though the contemporary dynamics shows different picture of federal and secular Nepal fracturing the Hindu politics through anti Brahmin agitation trolled by janjati politics; the psychological impact of Hinduism still haunts the everyday negotiation of people’s living. This psycho- legacy of Hinduism as created by Muliki Ain has a deep cutting impact even on the minds of Nepali diaspora. One such case is found in Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal India, where community even though have settled generation ago has to negotiate still with Hindu practices which they carried along with their migration history from Nepal. These communities in India are fighting for recognition as Indian subjects through various mechanisms ranging from statehood to affirmative action (Schedule Tribe) policy in India. Thus this article is an attempt to show how Hinduism became a way of obstacle for communities from becoming “tribe” in post colonial India. Drawing data mostly from literature on Nepal history and muliki Ain as well as some informal interview with ethnic members in Darjeeling Hills West Bengal, this article would try to show “what Nepal means for people in Darjeeling today”.