BATTLES OF THE NEW REPUBLIC A CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF NEPAL

It is a meticulously researched and deeply passionate book. Generations of readers will turn to it to understand Nepal’s fraught transition to democracy’ Manjushree Thapa. In the past decade Nepal has undergone arguably one of the boldest political transformations in South Asia. Identity-based politics has brought long marginalized social groups into the mainstream and upended the bulwark of Nepali nationalism the Hindu monarchy. Yet the process of change has repeatedly broken down and Nepal’s fragile polity under stress from various forces has continuously fragmented the first Constituent Assembly failed to draft a Constitution the Maoists who sparked the transformation with an armed insurrection and once represented hope have been co-opted into the very political culture they once challenged never-ending political negotiations have chronically paralyzed the governance initiatives needed to address Nepal’s problems; and India the country’s powerful neighbour has played an overwhelming role in national politics choosing to intervene or stay away at crucial junctures In exhaustively analyzing all these issues Prashant Jha covers extensive territory in the corridors of power in Kathmandu and New Delhi as well as on the ground in the Tarai and forges a narrative that is as comprehensive in its overview as it is detailed in chronicling the minutiae of day to day politics. An unprecedented account of the re-birth of a nation Battles of the New Republic celebrates the deepening of democracy despairs at the death of a dream and seeks answers to a fundamental political dilemma who exercises power to what end and for whose benefit?Interesting factsPerhaps the most important book on Nepal to ever be published Battles of the New Republicwill be required reading for anyone with an interest in Nepali politics and in Indo-Nepal relations.In clinically exposing the extent of India’s interference in Nepali affairs Prashant Jha breaks new ground in journalism in the subcontinent.Prashant Jha also explores the links between the Naxalites of India and the Maoists of Nepal laying bare the linkages between the two.Battles of the New Republic chronicles the politics of the Tarai region of Nepal in minute detail perhaps for the first time in the English language.The book focuses unsparingly critical light on the lives and careers of both Baburam Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda arguably the most vital agents of transformation in modern Nepal.