Nineteen Days in April: Urban Protest and Democracy in Nepal

Abstract

For 19 days in April 2006, Nepal witnessed a popular uprising against the royal-military coup staged by King Gyanendra in February 2005. The Jana Andolan II (People’s Movement II) demanded a return to democracy, the establishment of a lasting peace in Nepal and more political and economic inclusion for the various ethnic and caste groups historically marginalised in Nepali society. Through an analysis of the Jana Andolan (particularly within the urban space of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu) and the subsequent peace process that has unfolded in Nepal, this paper will consider how and why the city was a key terrain for the prosecution of conflict by the people’s movement, and how such protest entailed the articulation of particular democratic rights discourses. The paper will also consider the role of civil society within urban protest in order to reflect upon debates concerning liberal and radical democracy, and the ‘politics of the governed’.