Nepal: The Different Interpretations of Crime

Abstract

Nepal has developed a lot in the past few decades though the definition on development is subjective. A few years back Nepal was under a monarchy and everything was thought to be running smoothly until June 1, 2001. The day of June 1 has been marked a dark day in Nepalese history as it is the date of the Nepalese Royal Massacre. This led to a chain of events occurring and eventually in 2005 the country of Nepal became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Though democracy was established in Nepal a decade ago, the Constitution has finally entered into its final phase this year. The decade has been marked with a lot of political turmoil as there have been numerous changes in the formation of Governments and riots due to their manifestos not being for the benefit to the entire populace. The country has seen different types of protests from boycotts to demonstrations to hunger strikes. But the main form of protest that has been seen is “bandhs”. Bandhs are general strikes and it is a powerful means of civil disobedience. During bandhs everything is closed down and only official cars such as police cars and ambulances are seen on the streets. Schools, offices, shops, restaurants, etc. remain shut. Bandhs are meant to be a peaceful form of protest but it does not take time for the strike to turn violent. The country that had been adversely affected by the recurring earthquakes in April 2015 and it now faces a political crisis which has its roots deeply invested within the sociographical divisions found in Nepal. The landlocked has been facing an “unofficial” blockade for the past 5 months from three of the four sides which are neighbored by India. This led to protests occurring in the Terai(plain) region of Nepal however, it only started catching up to the Hilly regions a month after it started in the Terai region.

Each article has portrayed the news of the Nepal bandhs to bring reforms in the Constitution. Each of these articles show the stark differences that are eminent between the stances taken by each group. These articles have questioned the terms that everyone refers to as crime and hence, the paper will focus on their interpretation of crime. This has become necessary as every political party has been resorting to violence and by justifying such violence in the name of Nepal bandhs they have considered the defiance of following such Nepal bandhs a crime. The public have started to look at such acts in a different perspective and consider the political parties’ acts crimes. The struggle for democracy is only seen as a struggle for institutional power but also as a quest to frame certain grievances as legitimate, then it is pertinent to answer the question of what the definition of a crime really is.

Keywords: Nepal, Crime, Society, Media

JEL Classification: K00, K14, L82, N45, N75