Kennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects 7-2015 Identity-Based Conflict and the Role of Print Media in the Pahadi Community of Contemporary Nepal Sunil Kumar Pokhrel Kennesaw State University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd Part of the International and Area Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Pokhrel, Sunil Kumar, "Identity-Based Conflict and the Role of Print Media in the Pahadi Community of Contemporary Nepal" (2015). Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 673. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND THE ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA IN THE PAHADI COMMUNITY OF CONTEMPORARY NEPAL by SUNIL KUMAR POKHREL A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia March 2015 IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA © 2015 Sunil Kumar Pokhrel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Recommended Citation Pokhrel, S. K. (2015). Identity-based conflict and the role of print media in the Pahadi community of contemporary Nepal. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States of America. IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA DEDICATION My mother and father, who encouraged me toward higher study, My wife, who always supported me in all difficult circumstances, and My sons, who trusted me during my PhD studies. IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great deal of thanks to my gurus who gave light to my knowledge. I acknowledge with sincere gratitude the members of my dissertation committee who supported, encouraged, and guided me through this process, particularly, Dr. Brandon D. Lundy, Dr. Jeff DeWitt, Dr. Debarati Sen, and Dr. Mari Fitzduff. I have been extremely fortunate to have them as my supervisors who provided me diverse sets of supports on both the professional and personal levels. My committee chair, Dr. Lundy, has provided insightful suggestions, concepts, connections, specific references, and remarks in deepening my knowledge and understanding, and contributed to gaining new insights into this enquiry. Dr. Lundy has always provided quick suggestions, whether I was in the United States or in Nepal. I am heartily grateful. I would like to thank Kennesaw State University for supporting me in the first three years of my Ph.D. study in the United States. Because of their support, I was able to maintain my full- time student status and could bring my family with me. I am grateful to the opinion leaders such as those from the political parties including Nepali Congress, Nepal Communist Party (United Marxist-Leninist), United Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), university professors, school teachers, members of Parliament, bureaucrats, and trade union leaders who spared their valuable time for focus group meetings and interviews. I appreciate the support I received from the International Conflict Management program at Kennesaw State University (KSU), particularly the Ph.D. program coordinators, for their continuous logistical and informational support. I also would like to thank all my colleagues and peers in the first batch of the Ph.D. program who encouraged me through difficult times during my studies and shared ideas for moving ahead in the program. I am also grateful to Shiva Hari Dahal and Komal Pokhrel of the National Peace Campaign for supporting me in my field work. I v IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA would also like to thank Ram Chandra Paudel, Professor at Tribhuvan University for his editing support and Keshab Adhikari, Associate Professor at Tribhuvan University, who gave me an opportunity to conduct classes in the Master‘s program on population studies. Thanks are also due to Mr. Narayan Thapa and Sailendra Ghimire for helping me on developing the GIS maps. Finally, I am profoundly indebted to my mother and my father for their kindness and encouragement. Most importantly, thanks to my wife Nabina and my sons Sunishchit and Subham for their continuous support during my whole study period. Without them, this study project could not have been completed. Also, I am grateful to my brothers and sisters and their kids and my sister-in-law Sabina and her husband and sons, who believed in me during this endeavor. vi IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA ABSTRACT Despite the formal abolishment of the discriminative caste system in Nepal in 1963, caste still influences social, economic, and political sectors of Hindu society. Indicators and existing research suggest that caste-based discrimination remains one of the major sources of unrest in a Hindu majority nation such as Nepal. Questions remain, however, about the media‘s role in caste-based identity conflict. This dissertation seeks to answer the question: How do various print media outlets (i.e., public vs. private) depict Pahadi identity-based conflicts in contemporary Nepal? In this study, I employed focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with Nepalese opinion leaders. Further, I conducted content analyses of national newspapers in order to examine caste identity conflict and media coverage in contemporary Nepal, specifically among the Pahadi community. Results indicate that private print media correlates with reported events-based data on caste-based identity conflict to a higher degree than public print media. Opinion leaders‘ views were partly influenced by print media, which helped shape and reshape their opinions on caste identity conflicts in complex ways. Ultimately, this study found that both the private and public media outlets seem to help manage caste-based identity conflicts more than aggravate them, although variability between media outlets is expected. The media can play a role as a ―voice of reason‖ or as a facilitator when identity-based conflict obstructs the process of reconciliation and cultural harmony; whereas its ability to influence more embedded cultural practices such as the non-acceptance of inter-caste marriages seems to be less successful in the Nepalese context. This study suggests that the media can play a significant role in creating social harmony by helping manage identity conflict. Keywords: caste-based identity conflict, print media, mass communication theory, Nepal, newspapers, opinion leaders, Pahadi community vii IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT PAGE ii SIGNATURE PAGE iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v-vi ABSTRACT vii LIST OF TABLES xii-xiii LIST OF FIGURES xiv-xv GLOSSARY xvi-xviii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION 1-8 Introduction to Nepal 8-16 History of Different Castes and Cultural Groups 16 Origins of the Caste System 16-18 Caste System in Hindu Religion 18-19 Origins of Madheshi, Pahadi, Dalit, and Other Indigenous Peoples 20-29 Issue of Language 29-32 Issue of the Hindu Kingdom and Secular State 32-35 Territorial Issues Related to Caste, Culture, and Language 35-37 2. CONFLICT HISTORY OF NEPAL 38-52 3. IDENTITY CONFLICTS IN NEPALESE SOCIETY 53 Specific Identity Issues in Nepal 53-55 Madheshi Identity in the Plain 55-57 viii IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA Pahadi Indigenous Peoples‘ Identity in the Hill Areas (i.e., Newar, Tamang, Limbu, Magar, Sherpa, and Gurung) 57-60 Madhesi Indigenous People: Tharus in the Eastern and Western Plains 60-63 Maithili Language Identity 63-65 Pahadi Identity in the Plains 66-68 Akhand Sudurpaschim Identity 68-70 GIS Map Showing Six Identity Conflict Areas in Nepal 70-73 4. MEDIA PERCEPTIONS OF AND IMPACTS ON IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT THROUGH FLOWS OF COMMUNICATION 74 Overview of Mass Media 74-75 Media in the Present Context 75-77 Print Media 77-78 Radio and Television 78-79 New Media 79-81 Identity Theory 81-82 Ethnic Identity 83-84 Cultural Identity 84-85 Social Identity 86 Caste Identity 86-89 Communication Theory 89 Mass Communication Theory 89-90 Roles of ―Opinion Leaders‖ in Information Landscapes and Two-Step Theory 90-94 ix IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA Caste-Based Identity Conflict and Print Media: Theoretical Perspectives 94-97 5. METHODOLOGY 98 Research Questions and Hypotheses 98-99 Sample 99 Selection of the Research Topic and the Nepalese Case 99-104 Public and Private Print Media 104-107 Selection Criteria for Focus Group Discussions 108-110 Area and Participant Selection for Focus Group Discussions 110-113 Selection of Opinion Leaders for Interviews 114-118 Use of the INSEC Dataset 118-120 Analysis of Focus Group Discussions 120-122 Approaches to Analysis 122-123 Content Analysis of Public Media 123-125 Content Analysis of Private Media 125-127 Semi-Structured Interviews 127-129 Research Ethics 129-130 6. THE NEPALESE CASTE IDENTITY CONFLICT REPRESENTED IN NEWSPAPER CONTENT 131 General Findings of Caste Identity Conflict in Print Media 131 Content Related to Caste Identity Conflict Found in Public Print Media (Gorakhapatra) 131-135 Content Related to Caste Identity Conflict Found in Private Print Media x IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA (Kantipur) 135-137 Public versus Private Media: After the Kantipur FM Radio Seizure 138-145 Caste Related News Analysis during the Termination of the First Constituent Assembly (CA) 145-156 7. CASTE-BASED IDENTITY CASES 157 Content in Public versus Private Print Media 157-161 Opinion Leaders‘ Roles 161-168 Five Cases from the INSEC Dataset and Newspaper Coverage 168-174 Social Conflicts such as Inter-Caste Marriage 174-180 Internal Migration 180-189 Quota Issue 189-202 8. GENERAL FINDINGS OF THE PAHADI-BASED IDENTITY CONFLICT ISSUES IN MADHESH AND THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA 203-215 9.