New Nepal
The Fault Lines
- Nishchal N Pandey - Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu
While there is no disagreement over the issue of state restructuring itself, New Nepal: The Fault Lines deals with possible spin-offs of the failure to address the questions of identity, ethnicity, language, religion, region, and culture in "New Nepal". Security sector governance, the structure of the political system and the relations between various organs of the state are yet to be determined while the law and order situation, supply of daily essentials, and immediate economic relief to the rural hinterlands is already testing the patience of the people. Political parties are once again resorting to the same old addiction of forming and dismantling governments, knowing well that this will be disastrous to the nascent democracy. The writing of the new Constitution will only be a small step towards producing a stable country.
The book will be of immense interest to academics in the fields of politics, international relations, and South Asian studies, and international think tanks, research institutions, and diplomatic communities interested in studies on Nepal and South Asia.
This is a good book for anyone interested in Nepalese politics. Nischal Nath Pandey has carefully considered all aspects that one needs to understand while learning about a country, like the political culture of a society…the reader would get a sound knowledge of the political situation in Nepal from this book.
The book focuses on the contemporary Nepali politics, and explores, in the last two chapters, Nepal`s relations with her two immediate neighbours-India and China… It will give the readers a deeper understanding of the country`s history and historical factors, leading to the turning of an over two centuries old monarchical state into a republic, barely six weeks after the Constituent Assembly election in April 2008. It will be of immense interest to academics in the fields of politics, international relations, and South Asian studies, and international think tanks, research institutions, and diplomatic communities interested in studies on Nepal and South Asia.
Nischal Nath Pandey, provides in depth research into the gut political, social and economic issues facing Nepal and points to their considerable gravity in the continuing search for political normalcy in the intricately pluralistic state. As a study of the `New Nepal`, the book is frank, factual, lucid, concise, and, to the general reader`s relief, free of specialist jargon. Accordingly, it makes for easy reading and by virtue of these `pluses` would prove an invaluable tool in South Asia`s efforts at ushering democratic polities in the truest sense.
