Evolving Inclusive Societies Through Constitutions: The Case of Nepal (Case Study‪)‬

I Inclusion is an idea whose time has come. The need for inclusion arises only if exclusion exists. There is no guarantee of the existence being recognized; humans are hugely capable of subjecting any phenomenon to cognitive blackout. The fact is that exclusion is as old as hills. City-states of ancient Greece were famous for their direct democracy. And yet, of the three broad social categories only patricians were fully-fledged participants, the plebians were allowed to participate but nominally and the slaves were totally excluded from participation. Similarly, in the much praised village republics of ancient South Asia, only the twice-born upper castes were full participants, the Shudras above the ritual pollution line could not have been fully-fledged participants and those below the pollution line did not have even access to public places. In fact their caste panchayats could not settle even intra-caste and inter-caste disputes; those needed to be adjudicated in assemblies presided over by uppercaste men.