Madesh In Turmoil : Still No Political Understanding

Vijaya Chalise

The Eastern Terai covering Mithila, the centre of ancient civilisation, has been facing constant turbulence since January this year. A number of armed groups claiming to fight for the rights of the Madheshi people have emerged, disturbing social cohesion. Despite a series of protests across the country against such violence, these armed rebel groups in the Terai continue to kill and abduct people, including government employees. With the emergence of various armed groups there, the security situation has deteriorated. The Goit and Jwala Singh factions of the Terai Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) have not only issued threats to the civil servants from the hills but even been involved in killing them. The local administration remains a mute spectator to all this.

Solution

The government has been trying to bring all the groups concerned to the negotiating table in a bid to find a peaceful solution to the problem. The eight-party coalition government even made changes in the interim statute-2063 constitution and agreed to increase the number of constituencies in the Terai region. Unfortunately, none of the groups, many of them splinter factions, has responded positively to the government's goodwill. Thus, questions are being raised as to whether the constituent assembly (CA) elections will be held as scheduled in November. Now that the CA elections are only 110 days away, it has become urgent to resolve the Terai problem to create a conducive environment for the CA polls. Political parties and parliamentarians have yet to forge a political understanding from the centre to the local level so that their presence can be felt in the troubled areas. Even the consensus reached on forming a unanimous voice regarding violence in the Terai has not yet translated into practice. The high-level Inter-party Co-ordination Committee (HLPCC) had recently reached a consensus to address the issue in one voice.

The government, too, has not been effective in initiating effective steps to bring the situation to normalcy by interacting with the locals in the region. Paradoxically, members of the council of ministers themselves have different views on how the problem should be tackled. While Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula gave a 15-day ultimatum to the various agitating groups in the Terai to come to the negotiating table, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel dubbed the Home Minister's ultimatum as something personal. Political observers say the Terai issue has two dimensions: first, it is political in nature; second, it is non-political, in that some of the activities are instigated by internal regressive forces and Hindu fundamentalists from across the border. If this observation is true, obviously, the first one should be settled through political negotiation. However, the second one will need to be dealt with from a different approach. In such a situation, where certain elements are also trying to fan communal violence by creating division between the Terai and the hills, the government and the eight-party political leadership should address the Madesh issue without bias or using it to secure votes during the election. Irrespective of the geographical region they represent, nobody would dispute the fact that all the people living inside Nepal are Nepalese. Therefore, there should be no hesitation in fulfilling the demand of the Madhesi people, who are still searching for their identity. Indeed, if their demands for an autonomous federal structure and an election based on proportional representation are addressed, one can hope to win the confidence of the Madhesi people. But noone would tolerate or compromise any act aimed at endangering national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At a time when the government is holding negotiations with the Terai Jana Adhikar Forum, Madhesi intellectuals during an interaction with the Gorkhapatra said that the Madhesi people's rights be guaranteed by addressing their genuine demand before the constituent assembly (CA) polls in November. Their demands, among others, include an election based on proportional representation, reorganisation of their identity as Madhesi Nepali and an autonomous federal structure for Nepal. Professor Dr. Mohammad Habibullah said that the monarchy was an obstacle to inclusive democracy, so a new system should address the social, political and economic problem of all ethnic, linguistic and regional communities. Likewise, Jeetendra Dev, General Secretary of Loktantrik Madhesi Sangathan, said that the root cause of the Madhesi problem lay in the eight-party alliance's failure to stick to their earlier commitment to establish the Madhesis' right to autonomy and proportionate representation in the national parliament. He suggests calling a round table conference of all the Madhesi and indigenous groups and asking them for a solution. Secondly, he says, the eight political parties should issue a joint statement with a political commitment to establish an autonomous federal system and agree to a proportionate election to ensure the Madhesi people's greater representation in the constituent assembly. If the agitating groups are fighting for the rights of the Madhesi people, then they should be ready to settle the dispute through dialogue and create an election-friendly environment for the November poll that alone would consolidate their rights. Obviously, the Madhesi people should be treated at par with the people of the hills. For this, the political leadership should be visionary and handle the situation with care to protect the Nepali culture of tolerance.

Reactionary forces

Since the election to the constituent assembly is the only option for fully empowering the Nepalis, including the Madhesi and indigenous people, all should actively participate in the election for securing their rights. The possibility of the reactionary forces impending the constituent assembly elections will continue to grow if national harmony is not restored. No one should ignore the fact that royalist feudalistic forces are actively working to derail the constituent assembly polls, and all should unite to defeat such regressive forces. The country must move towards declaring itself a republican state prior to the constituent assembly poll. Besides, removing the racial hatred seen in the Terai at present and cultivating goodwill and good understanding in its place is essential.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007