Its stated aim was to consolidate all legislation related to Guthi, nationalize all Guthi (both public and private), regulate religious sites and propose a powerful commission, a Guthi Authority, replacing the current Guthi Sansthan to manage all Guthis efficiently in the days ahead. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, the Nepal government tabled a highly controversial Guthi Bill in the National Assembly on April 29, 2019. Then, the question here is: what are the lessons from the ‘Guthi Bill Crisis’ for the Nepali government and the indigenous movement going forward?
This attack cannot be easily forgotten or forgiven, neither there is a guarantee that this nature of attack will not come back to haunt the Indigenous peoples, not just Newars but also other indigenous peoples, given that Nepal’s central government and bureaucracy is driven by non-indigenous leaders, holding the neo-liberal developmentalist agenda at heart and mind. For the indigenous Newar communities, the Bill was a blatant attack on their indigenous culture, religion, and heritage by a neo-liberal state.
It was the first time an incumbent Nepali government had withdrawn a bill it introduced to parliament, following a period of sustained and widespread street protests by the Newar community in the Kathmandu Valley. Yes, the government of Nepal officially withdrew the highly controversial Guthi Bill on 25 June 2019. But for many indigenous peoples, it is still an underlying threat and a moment in history that cannot be easily forgotten. Key lessons from Guthis’ resistance to the State’s neo-liberal developmentįor many people, the indigenous people’s protest in Nepal against the Guthi Bill in 2019 is now done and dusted.
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