Real Nepal asserts itself
By Sandhya Jain
The result is that in hilly areas a constituency may have just 5,000 voters, while in the Terai region, a constituency could have over five lakh voters. This has naturally led to gross under-representation of the populous Terai in the public arena.
In January this year, Maoists joined the interim parliament. Though their promise to surrender arms is supposedly being monitored by the United Nations, media and other reports suggest that in the countryside, the armed goons are continuing to badger and intimidate other political parties.
In one of the most promising developments in Nepal in recent months, the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, which represents the thirteen million people of the Terai region, has succeeded in getting Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to agree to future federal government and fresh delimitation of constituencies on the basis of population and geography. The Forum, which sacrificed eight lives in the course of a tumultuous two week protest for adequate representation in the forthcoming June elections for a new constituent assembly, had been agitating against the gross under-representation of the nation’s food basket in the country’s elected bodies.
Its struggle has forced the beleaguered Shri Koirala to announce that the eight parties in the interim government (seven party alliance plus Maoists) have agreed to restructure the state within a federal framework, and that the existing 205 constituencies will be freshly delimited on the basis of population and geography.
This will be no mean triumph for the Madhesis, who comprise as much as 35 per cent of the population of the Himalayan kingdom, but lack commensurate presence in Parliament as also the political structure of all parties. On the one hand, Nepal’s politics have been traditionally dominated by Brahmins and Kshatriyas (Bahuns and Chhetris), and on the other, the delimitation of constituencies has largely ignored the population layout. The result is that in hilly areas a constituency may have just 5,000 voters, while in the Terai region, a constituency could have over five lakh voters. This has naturally led to gross under-representation of the populous Terai in the public arena.
The announcement is a blow to the Maoists who despise the Maithili, Bhojpuri and Awadhi-speaking Madhesis on account of their affinity with Indian (read Hindu) culture, and a victory for the royalists who took the campaign for retention of the monarchy into the Terai region. But it is not yet a complete victory for the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, as Shri Koirala has not so far invited the Madheshi leadership for negotiations on the issue. Instead, he has only made an appeal to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations and has directed Home Minister K.P. Sitaula to talk to the agitators. The latter detest Shri Sitaula and want him to resign. The Home Minister, however, enjoys the support of the Maoists, who do not want the interim government to recognise the pro-monarchy Forum.
The Forum is also angry that so far the regime has not expressed any regret for the loss of eight lives in the agitation by the Terai people for recognition of their political rights. The Madhesis intensified their agitation after the peace deal brought the Maoists right into parliament with as many as 83 seats, without prior surrender of weaponry, and without any assessment or testing of their ground strength.
But it was the 48-hour wild cat strike last December, when Maoists resorted to violence and highway blockades to protest against the SPA government’s appointment of envoys to fourteen countries, including India, that alerted other groups and communities in the country to their menacing potential. At that time, the cadres walked out of the camps with impunity, displaying their arms in public in a show of strength that rattled the regime and put the appointments on hold.
Seeing the writing on the wall and rightly assessing the weakness of the Koirala regime, the Limbuwan Liberation Front, a formation of the Limbu community in the Himalayan kingdom’s eastern and northern regions, has joined the clamour for autonomy raised by the Madhesis. The Front’s three day general strike (February 1-3) may trigger off similar claims by other groups feeling sidelined by the easy walkover afforded to the Maoists by the weak Koirala regime, and thus bring altogether unexpected results in the June polls.
Much will depend upon how developments unfold in the coming weeks, as the Maoists join the interim government this month, as part of the so-called peace process. In January this year, Maoists joined the interim parliament. Though their promise to surrender arms is supposedly being monitored by the United Nations, media and other reports suggest that in the countryside, the armed goons are continuing to badger and intimidate other political parties. Some foreign observers have also observed that the Maoists are purchasing cheap local weapons from the Indian border and submitting these for lock-up, while retaining the sophisticated weaponry, ostensibly for election time.
The growing power of the Maoists has caused alarm to other groups and communities residing in Nepal, especially after the peace deal gave them a significant parliamentary presence and access to huge resources. Last December, the interim government released Rs. 110 million for the management of the cantonments were the rebels are residing, with the UN ostensibly monitoring the arms and the armed cadres.
King Gyanendra has not been slow to fish in troubled waters, especially in view of India’s virtual betrayal of such a close ally and neighbour. The pro-monarchy Lok Janshakti Party of former prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa; both factions of the Rashtriya Prajatantrik Party led respectively by Pashupati Shamshere Jang Bahadur Rana on one hand and Kamal Thapa and Rabindranath Sharma on the other; as also the Sadbhavna Party, are active in the Terai. For the Madhesis, the election of the new constituent assembly and the writing of a new constitution is a heaven-sent opportunity to assert their claims for political justice. Given Maoist hostility to their legitimate aspirations and the weakness of the Seven Party Alliance, a tacit alliance with the monarchy may yet be their best bet to gain fair political representation and retain cultural identity in Nepal’s emerging political system.
2 comments:
Dear Bhupal Dai,
Nice writing. Thanks for sharing. If I may, I would like to share my thoughts with you all.
I am not an expert and may have been unaware of several facts being far away from what is happening in Nepal. But I equally consider those involved and the victims of this communal violence which is driven by invisible sources and being fought for the cause that doesn’t exist to be uninformed.
My parents moved to Biratnagar from Bhojpur, and then to Kathmandu, married at Kathmandu to girl of Kathmandu descendent. While at Biratnagar, my friends were madvari, maithaili, chhetri, bahun, newar, and all and every kinds of ethnic background. During my high school, I had my very good friend who was Muslim from Butwal. None of us, ever even thought of belonging to different ethnic background, and I am proud, Ali was one of my best friend. We would enjoy eid for him, and he would come for Tika during dashain for us, and we still do without any religion differences in our minds.
On the basis of my story, I feel terribly hurt to witness how people are crazily following the lead of politically motivated steps of losers who are ready to turn Nepal worse then ever. Maoist responsible for killings of over 13,000 lives now enjoys freedom of killing and threatening even more, even after coming into the government. Prachanda said he doesn’t feel that government should talk to criminals, because talk is possible only with parties. While, in the name of madesh and pahad, innocents including policemen continue to loose their lives. So called Madeshi movement leaders demand responsibility for loss of 8 lives of their movement, forgetting how many they killed and tortured.
I love Mechi equally as much as I love Mahakali, because it is mine, and I belong to them. My ancestors are from Bhojpur. Does that make them pahadi? I was born and raised in Biratnagar and other villages of Morang, does that make me madeshi. And, my parents then lived in Kathmandu – what does that make them? Madvari people of many parts of Nepal, moved from India- and their children now born and raised in Nepal, with whom I spent my childhood as my Nepali brothers and sisters, does that make them Indian? If it’s not just me, but none of you agree to these non-sense slogans
of few uneducated, cheap people who are behind the scene and igniting violence with non-sense demands everyday misleading millions, when will this change?
Today, almost every ethnic group has their own demands for state, law, army, police, education, jobs and everything. I have not yet seen chhetri and bahuns with their violent groups. What if even these groups start? It seems at the end, whoever raises weapon, victory to them is self-declared.
If constitution is to be changed on population based representation, wouldn’t hilly region get fewer representatives in the government? What would this lead to? Development of hilly region would fall behind causing isolation of ethnic groups rather than uniting all ethnic groups from all regions as Nepalese. At a time Gyanendra was connected to Maoist, today Maoist connects Madhesis to Gyanendra. And we as Nepalese still don’t get it. I am sad. I feel bad for everything that victimizes innocent Nepalese people.
India and Palace have their own story of that has and will always keep Nepalese people in suspense. India that could be a big brother to Nepal has never had good intention towards Nepal. On the other hand, Nepal has a whole remains crushed in between the two giant countries developed in such a fast pace in technology, industry, education, culture, resources, and to attract the attention of the rest of the world.
May God Bless Nepal.
Pritaz.
Also, I want to bring to your notice about one more article of Ms Sandhya Jain in Poineer,India
Please go through this article below
American pie in Nepal
On January 28, Delhi's unpretentious Paharganj locality played host to thousands of Nepali Maoists, almost half of whom crossed over from the neighbouring country, while the rest were already residing in India. Held under the banner of the Nepali Jan Adhikaar Suraksha Samiti (Bharat), the 4700-strong gathering included representatives from each of the Himalayan kingdom's 75 districts, most being the cadre of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist).
Hitherto reliable sources report that the chief guests who blessed the gathering were two White men, respectively introduced as Comrade Peter and Comrade Mangoli, both from the United States. The Indian VIPs included Prof Vijay Sharma of Delhi, Ms Ravi Varvar (Andhra Pradesh), Mr Prakash of the People's War Group (Jharkhand), Mr Manohar Lal Tiwari (Delhi) and Mr Fateh Anwar (Jammu & Kashmir).
The Nepali contingent was led by Gaurav, better known as Mr CP Gajurel, missionary preacher, gun-runner, and ideologue of the Nepali Maoists, not to mention 'guru' to Comrade Prachanda. He was recently released from a Chennai jail by the ruling UPA dispensation, for reasons unrelated to the Indian national interest. Mr Gajurel descended on New Delhi specifically to attend this conclave, the purpose of which was to win over every Nepali resident in India to the Maoist cause, and ensure that they return to the country to vote for Prachanda's party in the forthcoming June election. He did not, as media reports would suggest, come here to whine about alleged RSS-BJP activism among Terai Hindus.
Other important Nepali delegates included Mr Mohan Baid (Kiran), Mr Raju Nepali, Ms Rekha Sharma and Ms Sushila Biswakarma, one of the new Maoist MPs in Parliament. The meeting, convened by Mr Laxman Pant, was inaugurated by Mr Ishwari Bhandari, a well known Nepali missionary preacher. Its purpose was avowedly political, focusing particularly upon fund-raising for the forthcoming election for a new Constituent Assembly, and mobilising public support for the polls. In the closed session, organisational elections of the Nepali Jan Adhikaar Suraksha Samiti were held and tasks allocated.
Essentially, four zonal chiefs were elected, and entrusted with the responsibility of wooing the Nepali population in their respective regions. Delhi has been assigned to Mr Shankar Biswakarma, the person in-charge of church-Maoist links in India. Mr Vinod Dhakal has been sent to Punjab and it is said that his job is to take care of the Maoist weaponry which is not going to be surrendered to the United Nations. Mr Amrit Thapa has been given charge of Kolkata, and he is reputedly responsible for the tickets and transportation of Nepalis in India to the country in June. Mr Dilip Kesri has been deputed to Bangalore to maintain links with the Andhra Maoists.
Given such an overtly political agenda, to be implemented on an all-India canvas with the explicit involvement of foreign agencies, it needs be asked if the Delhi Government and the ruling UPA had officially permitted such a meeting to take place on Indian soil. The State Government cannot plead ignorance, since the meeting was held in the immediate vicinity of the Paharganj police station, and the Nepali delegates were also housed in buildings nearby. And while it is true that Mr Gajurel probably does not require a visa to visit India, the Centre must explain how the American visitors entered the country and what kind of activity they were permitted to engage in against their visas.
The question is particularly relevant in the light of the anti-Hindu activity the guests (who are probably Christian missionaries) reportedly indulged in. Sources say that Comrade Peter blessed the gathering and gave a clarion cry: "Brahmanvaad, Hinduvaad, Murdabad" (down with Brahmin and Hindu values). Since Nepali politics has long been dominated by Brahmins and Kshatriyas from the hills, the slogan seems to indicate a missionary bias against the Hindu ethos of the till-recently Hindu kingdom. A comprehensive anti-conversion law, on the lines of Sri Lanka's aborted legislation, is clearly the need of the hour.
Interestingly, a banner displayed at the meet proclaimed: "Bharatiya vistarvaad murdabad" (down with Indian expansionism). This is also the title of a book written by Ms Hisila Yami, the Christian wife of Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai, and a new MP in the interim Parliament. The writing on the wall clearly suggests that an open assault upon the cultural and civilisational values of Nepal is already underway.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh owes the nation an explanation if the ruling UPA endorses these vicious anti-Hindu and anti-Indian views of the Nepali Maoists and their Western patrons, and if New Delhi is going to permit their political activities on Indian soil. Is that the reason why the Government of India extended the red carpet for a supposedly private visit by Comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai to New Delhi recently?
At a more fundamental level, India needs to know why the Sonia Gandhi-dominated regime has thrown the Himalayan kingdom to the mercy of the American church and its Maoist collaborators. What is India gaining from severing historical and civilisational ties with Nepal and promoting a phony democracy movement that is intolerant of genuine people's power and seeks to deny agency to nearly 40 per cent of the population living in the fertile Terai plains?
Within Nepal, it is becoming increasingly apparent to the intelligentsia that the rent-a-crowd movement that succeeded in ousting the monarchy is actually a coup against democracy. There is growing awareness that the interim Constitution, implemented from January 15, excludes all political parties from power, barring a privileged group of eight (Seven-Party Alliance plus Maoists), and seeks to repress the legitimate aspirations of myriad ethnic and regional groups in the country.
India must lend moral support to the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, which is seeking a federal set up in the proposed new Constitution, with proportional representation for the Terai in the new Constituent Assembly. South Block's silence at the death of at least seven people in police firing on this issue is shameful. What is more, India will be a loser if more parties refuse to kow-tow to Prachanda; the Nepal Sadhbhavana Party has already quit the interim Government over the Terai question. There is no way India can permit an emerging political structure in a sister civilisation to ignore legitimate regional and ethnic aspirations.
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