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Nepal: On The Verge Of Ethnic Division

Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/31/2007

“This is a country tarnished by Sati’s curse. Nothing can ever go right in this country”, the saying has become a habit for the Nepalese people. They are fed up with never ending turmoil that has engulfed the nation in recent years.

Nepal, it seems, is out of the frying pan into the fire. For more than a decade this Himalayan nation was blown apart by the Maoists insurgency which finally came to an end with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the Government of Nepal and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

But, unfortunately now, to sink Nepal further into the abyss of uncertainties, Nepal is now completely taken over by communal hostilities and ethnic division. For those Nepalese, who long to see lasting peace and stability and for those well wishers of Nepal, all this is proving paralyzing.

Nonetheless, many in Nepal hold king for a range of ills affecting the country during his direct rule but there are many in Nepal who hold the present political parties, the Maoists and the community equally ? if not more- responsible for the political instability, ethnic division, corruption and deterioration in law and order that have substantially increased.

Ethnic quarrels have erupted from various districts of Terai, and there are no sings of it declining. In the chilly winter, Terai is burning.

Two factions of Terai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha (JTMM), a breakaway faction of the Maoists, have intensified their activities in Terai. They are carrying out abductions and extortion at their will and are also announcing general strikes frequently of late.They want Terai to be autonomous.

And more recently, The Madheshi Peoples' Rights Forum (MPRF) and other groups have intensified their protests against the recently promulgated interim constitution, which, according to them, failed to address the demands of Madhesi community.

Communities such as the Madhesi communities in a democratic Nepal have every right for peaceful protests to make their voices heard but analysts say the timing is not right because Nepal is on the transition phase and events such as these might hinder the progress of Nepal. After all, there are yet huge gaps to be filled between the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance.

Moreover, most importantly, Nepal already seems to be about as republic as you can get. But unfortunately, apart from bit of stuffiness and an occasional whiff of communal unity, Nepal is far away from being a classless society, where “brotherhood and sisterhood” is valued above all.

Communal conflicts in Nepal have taken a drastic turn. They gave attractive slogans of autonomy based on community (Limbuwan, Magar etc.) during their protests and from the beginning of peoples’ war. And there are those who are advocating for division of Nepal into various autonomous regions that would be named after certain community.

Is this good? No certainly, it is not because country based on communal ideology rather than the national ideologies are more likely to suffer in the long run. But saying so, one must not disregard the idea of empowering suppressed communities, and giving them ample space in the authority.

All responsible Nepalese must take up this challenge and balance the equation of the society. A system has to be put in place where all feel a part of the ‘mainstream’ and no one is left out in the vacuum. If nothing is done soon, then one communal uprising will trigger another and another by various groups and will soon engulf the nation.

Observer’s fear that the fight between communities will be worse and uncontrollable than the one started by the Maoists because it will be a sectarian war, one like in Iraq between Shia and Sunni’s. So considering this, it is time we Nepalese start talking about these issues seriously.

Nonetheless, experts say that a mathematical distribution of power by caste and ethnicity has eroded the principle of merit in Nepal since Nepal’s problems are the problems inherent in the mosaic approach.

They say, by giving each faction its own voice, you tend to perpetuate division and make people think in terms of their own narrow interest group. As a result, belief in a higher, national, ideal probably becomes harder. Without some such firm support in the background, the mosaic will come apart.

Likewise, take this for instance, whenever people have different answers to the questions “what is your land?” and “Who are your people?” there is room for division. Largely because of a drastic political change, those divisions are erupting in Nepal. Looking at Nepal, it is easy to think that they will succeed in breaking up multiethnic societies, as they have so often done before.

On the other hand, it is not that multi ethnic societies are impossible. It is just that they are often rather delicate. Divisions of race, language, of class, of religion can be accepted, tolerated and even enjoyed; they add to the complexities and the possibilities of life.

But they also make a society more fissile, especially when the divisions all line up the same way, and one group can be racially, religiously and economically distinguished from another. Societies with such internal divisions seem not to stand up well to external shocks.

Instead of mathematical distribution of power by caste and ethnicity and other discriminatory policies, it is necessary to empower people through education and knowledge. At this critical juncture, Nepalese must look out from their window and learn from India. For all its many faults the Indian system has kept some semblance of peace while offering an element of democratic choice in a country whose population is more diverse than any other country’s.

There is no solution on the cards for nepal's myriad problems. Will a common man be able to understand what the communities are doing for Nepal? The immature and irresponsible behavior of the communities’ and coalition partners of the government shows that the country’s major populations are not yet ready to play a constructive role in the national arena.

Communal leaders should put back parochial interests, at least for a while, and help the government. By pulling the government in different directions they are not only harming national interest, but are also doing an injustice to the people they represent.

Those who favor the idea to o divide the country along ethnic lines are irresponsibly playing with people’s emotions. In practice, such a division of the country merely paves the way for civil war. Furthermore, global experience shows that community-centric politics has not provided positive benefits, as it was anticipated.

And historical glofacts shows that only a few within a community, especially those who are well educated and those near the ladders of the ruling elite has vastly benefited, whereas majority are left to be ruled by emerging neo-elites within that very community.

Thus, the community centric politics does not address the problems of the ordinary people but saying so, we mustn’t ignore the voices coming out from the communities too.

Hence, it is time we Nepalese must start talking about these issues seriously. Instead of ignoring the communal fire, we must stand up and solve this crisis by healthy national discussion or by whatsoever other legitimate means.