Religious Belonging, Representation, and Resistance: Muslim Responses to the Double Bind of Minoritization and Misinformation in Nepal and the Himalaya

Abstract

This paper discusses issues of representation, (mis)identification, and regimes of belonging and exclusion in Nepal, and the Himalaya more broadly, that have long existed for Muslims but that have taken new shape in recent decades. These changes have come about through increased global flows of capital, labor, and education, through changes within global Islamic discourse and pan-South Asian Muslim institutions and cultures, and in the throws of marked shifts to local political and legal mechanisms. To investigate key inflection points for Nepali Muslims amidst these changes, this paper discusses efforts of Muslims to mitigate the double exclusions to which they are subjected in the legal and cultural regimes of Nepal against the backdrop of an increasingly strong regional Hindutva milieu. I will give particular attention to the ways Nepali and Himalayan Muslims resist the multiple forces that both represent and exclude them, as they seek social mobility through religious travel, religious organizations, and religious practices in the 21^st century.