WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE NEPALI? EXPLORING NATIONAL IDENTITY IN A DIVERSE
The question of Nepali national identity is profoundly complex, situated at the crossroads of ethnicity, language, religion, geography, and political history. Nepal’s identity is not singular but is rather constituted by a plurality of peoples and cultures that have coexisted for centuries. According to the 2021 census, Nepal is home to over 125 ethnic groups and more than 120 languages (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2021). This cultural and linguistic diversity inherently challenges any monolithic notion of what it means to be Nepali, raising fundamental questions about inclusion, representation, and belonging. Historically, the construction of Nepali national identity has been shaped by the dominant socio-political groups, especially the high-caste hill Hindu elites—primarily the Khas-Arya community—which has had outsized influence on the state’s identity formation processes. During the Shah and Rana regimes, and more explicitly under the Panchayat system (1960–1990), the sta...