Women’s participation in post-conflict peace processes in Nepal and north-east India: A comparative study

Nepal and some parts of India (North-East) have been the site of most protracted intra-state armed conflicts in the region. Women have been affected severely in both these regions, mostly as victims or survivors but also as warriors or as peace agents. In Nepal the decade long Maoist insurgency ended in 2006 with signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Subsequently, by accepting the United Nations regime (UNMIN), Nepal became party to the implementation of the Women Peace and Security (WPS) obligations, UNSCR 1325 (2000) and the post 1325 resolutions being the most outstanding manifestations of the same. Though women were not invited to the formal peace talks, but at the non-formal level women played a very important role. The armed conflict in the North-Eastern (NE) region of India triggered off since 1949 currently has ongoing 17 formal peace talks (Women Peace Conclave, 2016), but there is no women participation in these peace talks. Here too women have been victims as well as peace agents. Yet, unlike Nepal, the Government of India has constantly denied the existence of an armed conflict, and has maintained that the region is only a disturbed area. This makes it interesting to compare the two situations. The present paper is a critical analysis of the impact of implementation of 1325 in Nepal and India, and compares gender activism in peace process in Nepal and India’s North-East region.