Women's Question in Nepal's Democratic Post Conflict Transition : Towards a Policy Research Agenda

In Nepal's elected Constituent Assembly sit 191 women – the wives and daughters of former Prime Ministers next to Dalit and janajati (indigenous peoples) women who came to politics during the Maoist ‘Peoples War'. The lofty Maoist vision of a revolutionary Nepal was said to have opened up spaces for poor, illiterate, rural women to ‘join' as agents in a potentially transformative politics. Is that agency being carried over into the democratic transition or is Nepal too succumbing to the historical trend of the marginalization of women post conflict. The article explores the changes that occurred during the Maoists ‘Peoples War' that redefined women's roles and gender consciousness and paved the way for the socio-political ascent of the women to the CA. It will flag the contradictions and challenges that are emerging in the post conflict landscape in the re-envisioning of the women's question in a new Nepal as it confronts the exigencies of governance and power politics.