Caste system in Nepal
Despite the forceful integration by the state into the pan-Hindu social structure, the traditionally non-Hindu groups and tribes do not necessarily adhere to the customs and practices of the caste system.
[1] The Government of Nepal legally abolished and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability" (the ostracism of a specific caste) - in 1963.
[5] The ancient tribes living around the northern territory of modern Nepal seem to have been less influenced by the fourfold Varna system of Hinduism.
Even Khas/Parbatiyas who are today overwhelmingly consolidated into the four Varna structure, have been following Masto tradition since ancient times whereby Masta tutelary deities known as bange-masta, bahiramasta, thado-masta, bahra-masta, athahra-masta are invoked and worshipped.
This form of Masto worship among the Khasas is apparently not related to any Vedic scriptures and tradition of the Gangetic plains of India, and seems more closer to pre-Buddhist Shamanistic Bon practice of Tibet.
[8] Among them, most notable migration was the advent of later Malla and Chathariya/Kshatriya and their Maithil Brahmins and others like the Khadgis (butchers), Dobhi, among others, with conquest of Karnat kingdom in 1324 CE by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty and Sultan of Delhi.
[9] Jayasthiti Malla's restructuring also converted celibate Buddhist monks to householder status and inside the hierarchic fold for the first time to form the caste of Vajracharya and Shakya.
Currently, Newars are divided into groups of over 25 occupational caste categories who share a common language (mother-tongue) Nepal Bhasa or speak Nepali.
As a result of occupational changes, increased education, their own efforts to emulate the upper castes and consolidation of political power, urban Dalits in the Terai have moved up in status.
It was an attempt to include the entire Hindu as well as non-Hindu population of Nepal of that time into a single hierarchic civic code from the perspective of the Khas rulers.
Most notable contradiction is the inclusion of previously non-Hindu tribes "Adivasi Janajati" groups, as well as non-Nepalis including Muslims and Europeans into the hierarchical fold.
After the Rana regime, caste rules relating to food, drink and intercaste marriage were openly louted but the Muluki Ain had not been abrogated.
The caste system conjoints a structural class divide which persists, in which lower castes/ethnicities are generally socio-economically are not equal like those of higher castes/ethnicities.
(Census, 2001) In recent times, following the overthrow of the Nepali monarchy and move towards a federal republic, ethnicity and caste have taken center stage – the indigenous peoples (Adivasi Janajati) who make up a third of the country having been guaranteed rights that have not yet been fulfilled.
Certain outside analysts have suggested that "seeking a balance in approach requires addressing both specific indigenous historical injustices while creating a common citizenship for all marginalised citizens regardless of identity, which remains a particularly challenging issue for Nepal".
[24] According to Professor Madhusudan Subedi, economic and political advancements have pushed the caste system to break its stagnancy and status quo.
In the rural context, the traditional subsistence agriculture system and age-old caste structure have significantly changed, and a relationship based on wage labour on land is being developed.
