Topic: Containing and De-Escalating Sectarian Conflict
Country: Nepal
Delegate Name: Pearl Chapman
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Nepal position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Sectarian conflict in the world has existed since humankind had strong ideologies and the means to contest others over which way of thinking and acting was the correct one. Throughout the world today, many countries are rife with sectarian conflict; Syria is divided in a civil war, Boko Haram is rebelling against Nigeria, ISIL is attacking people of Iraq, Syria, and other countries, to name a few present examples. Though ideology, often religious, appears as face of conflict, inequality, be it social, economic, or political, usually festers under the surface, pushing opposing sides toward dangerous clashes as a true cause of strife. Nepal, a country comprised of various ethnic and religious groups that for the most part have existed in harmony, recognizes the importance of coexistence as a major principle of a functioning world and encourages that the members of the United Nations collaborate to propose solutions for the underlying problems causing sectarian conflict.
In the realm of bilateral or multilateral sectarian conflict, Nepal has a clean record, as most of its conflicts with other countries in the last couple centuries have involved land or resources as opposed to conflicting ideologies. However, for most of its existence as a country, Nepal has remained Hindu and has functioned societally under a caste system, leading to some conflict from those with less societal power or those discriminated against by the current order. Currently, Nepal itself is, on a somewhat major scale in comparison to the recent past, experiencing incongruity in the strong attitudes of its people. Since the shift in the Nepali government from operating officially under Hinduism to a governmentally secular structure, there has been significant protesting done and some violence committed by Hindu extremist groups. Nepal, despite its not currently being a completely perfect example of harmonious existence within a country, is presently learning to function under a new constitution which has established new principles drafted to create a more fair and functional government and congruous life for its citizens.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has formally established a fundamental law in its constitution (in effect as of the 20th of September, 2015) that is particularly relevant to this topic: “no person shall disseminate hatred, contempt or create enmity between people belonging to different areas, or between different classes of people, castes, and tribes.” Nepal recommends that all members of the world community work to uphold this ideal in the face of majorly peace-threatening violent or oppressive activity and calls upon the members of the United Nations to facilitate mediation, the passing of legislation, or the creation of other strategies guided by principles of coexistence to prevent further violence.
