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Nepal's

Prakash Bom - 7/16/2008

World has witnessed over a year Nepal Terai's marginalized ethnic and indigenous people's movement for the federal government system to secure their right to self-governance for their different indigenous nationalities, Indian origin Hindu ethnic group known as "Madhesi" and "Dalits" by restructuring the Nepal's unitary state.

Basically, the current unitary system has failed big-time in everyway, which was established under the autocratic feudal Hindu system that was first enforced in late sixteenth century by the Hindu rulers who had fled northern India to escape Muslim rule of Moguls.

Prior to this Hindu dominated period Nepal was composed of multi-states of multi-ethnic, multi-culture and multi-religion predominantly as indigenous societies. These elements still exist in the contemporary Nepal except for people of different ethnicities to run their states with the right to self-governance such as under the federal government system.

Since Nepal remained one of the poorest nation of the world Nepali nationalities were concerned from their capacity around the glob that even in twelve years of democracy Nepal could not make substantial socio-political and economic change. One of the fundamental elucidations for change has been the restructuring state.

During twelve years democracy international donor communities had questioned the legitimacy of the political appointment of chief district officer (CDO) by the central government with far more executive power than popularly elected district chair (Governor), which has demoralized and violated people's electoral right. Therefore, donors made mandatory for local people to take substantial role in the projects that they had sponsored. It is because of such a contradiction in the district executive structure the corruption skyrocketed nationwide.

The Nepali Congress led government tried to introduce the idea of decentralization of power. But it did not fly that far because in democracy elected representatives can only take the legislative and executive power of the state from local to the central. Therefore, the need of the federal government system has become necessity for the nation.

Maoist has been the first political party, which has indorsed restructuring of the state under federal government system based on ethnic, cultural and linguistic factors of different regions of the nation in its party policy. The demand for the federal government system was first claimed by the hilly indigenous organizations. But the movement was intensified on the street first by all Teraians – Madhesi Hindu ethnic group, Dalit and indigenous communities. However, the upper caste Hindus Madhesi leaders, who had been affiliated mainly with NC and UML political parties, have all of a sudden, taken the charge of the movement dominantly, ambitiously against the national interest of Nepal.

Upendra Yadav, the coordinator of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, for example, had many occasions tried to disassociate from the Maoist in order to associate with UML is one of the leaders of the movement who is responsible for fabricating the demand for "One Madhes one province." Therefore, none the main political party knows his factual agenda that is ambitiously associated with Madhes and Madhesi nationality apart from Nepali.

Anthropology of Diverse Ethnicity, Culture and Linguistic of Nepal:

The indigenous nationalities of Terai existed since Neolithic period are composed of diverse communities of culture and linguistic identified as Tharus and Rajbansis of northern delta of Ganges of South Asia. Whereas Madhesi Hindu ethnic group of Terai Nepal as Pahadis of Hills' Hindu ethnic group are the Caucasians of Indo-Aryan race, which had migrated in the northern region of South Asia in 5th century BCE with the diverse Vedic ethnicity, culture and Sanskrit linguistic group that evolved with diverse regional dialects by intermingling with the idioms of native aborigines. The examples of such dialects are Bhojpuri, Maithali and Avadhi.

As a result, the populations of native aboriginal "Adhibasi" with their ethnicity, culture and linguistic from entire delta of Ganges of northern India have been marginalized if not wiped out by the new migrations of Caucasians of Indo-Aryan race that migrated through the corridors of ancient Persia to the delta of Ganges.

It is Nepal in 21st century in entire South Asia where native aborigines have survived with their diverse ethnicity, culture and linguistic as indigenous nationalities and it has become international communities' responsibility to save their ethnic identity in the socio-political and economic development of a new democratic Nepal.

Nepal's native indigenous nationalities which existed since Neolithic era are still living in their communities with their diverse ethnicity, culture and linguistic and among them the most predominant groups are Kirat, Magar, Tharus and Rajbansi.

Even though the modern official language is Nepali, which evolved from "Khasboli" of Khas ethnic group known as product of X-chromosome of indigenous and Y-chromosome of Caucasians that migrated through north western corridors of Himalayan foothills of modern Kashmir and Afghanistan to Nepal during the agricultural revolutionary era of Neolithic period.

Madhesis History and Politics:

The official language of India "Hindi" is a modern dialect of north India that evolved from the blending of Bhojpuri and Mogul Persian dialect, which dominated northern India since 16th century. However, if the basis for restructuring federal state are ethnicity, culture and linguistic then Madhesis' Madhes is composed of three different ethnicity and linguistic – Bhojpuri, Maithali and Avadhi.

The two northern states of India – Bihar and UP have by far greater percent of Bhojpuri, Maithali and Avadhi ethnic and linguistic group than in Nepal. These ethnic groups were forced to be part of Nepali nationalities due to the Anglo-Nepalese war (1815-1816) that ended in the "Treaty of Sugauli", compelled Nepal to cede Sikkim and vast territory of Terai to British Inida.

The similar consequences were true to Tharus and Rajbansi communities. However, there are far greater population of Tharus and Rajbansi living in Nepal than cross the boarder of India. But how all of a sudden leaders of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Upendra Yadav and JP Gupta demand a greater Madhes out of entire Terai for "One-Madhes One-province" should neither be acceptable to Nepali nor to the international community if the world community is concerned about the anthropology of indigenous nationalities of Terai of Nepal for protecting their ethnicity, culture and linguistic.

Equally, it is purely Nepal and Nepali nationalities right to protect our national protocol that the use of Hindu language in Constituent Assembly is objectionable on the basis of linguistic that leaders of Terai can speak Tharu, Rajbansi, Bhojpuri, Maithali, and Avadhi dialects in Constituent Assembly of Nepal. It is to express the interest of India to speak Hindi in Constituent Assembly of Nepal. Therefore, it is both violation of constitution and national integrity of Nepal

If these leaders have concern for the interest of national integrity of Nepal they would in the first place learned from the members of "Association of Nepali Teraian in America" not to call their movement "Madhesi", which is politically incorrect and is connotatively derogatory. Therefore, at the transition political period of Nepal, it is obvious that those Nepali Teraians who insist to call themselves "Madhesi" in confrontation with other Nepali Teraians then they are expressing Indian interest in order to convert Terai into "One-Madhes one-province" to make it part of greater India.

Conclusion – Revival of the Unique Nationality of Nepal:

It is clear at this point in the democratic evolution of Nepal that the national integrity of Nepal solely depends on the state restructuring, which can preserve the diverse ethnicity, culture and linguistic of all ethnic communities. The uniqueness of Nepali nationality is the diversity of its indigenous nationalities and their diverse culture and linguistic. Both Pahadis' and Madhesis' political propaganda for their homogeneity and power over diversity can never guarantee the national integrity of Nepal.

It is time for the anthropologist and think tanks of indigenous nationalities Dr. Krishna Bhattachan and Om Gurung to speak out for Teraian indigenous nationalities' aboriginal existence since Neolithic era and against Madhesis' forceful attempt to mass homogeneity of entire Terai with the interest of India. They must be able to make the point to the nation that without the independent identity of Teraian indigenous nationalities in the socio-political and economic development of Nepal there can be no national integrity of Nepal.

Therefore, based on ethnicity, culture and linguistic criteria Terai should have at least Tharu, Rajbansi, Bhojpuri, Maithali, and Avidhar federal autonomous states. It is politically incorrect if not derogatory to use such term as "Madhesi", or "Pahadis", or "Bhotias", or "Pravates." It should be unconstitutional for Election Commission to register political parties' named with these anti-nationalistic, anti-ethnic, anti-culture and anti-linguistic terms. It is necessary for Constituent Assembly to pass a bill against the use of these terms as politically incorrect and therefore unconstitutional in order to protect the national integrity of Nepal that sustains on diverse ethnicity, culture and linguistic.

It is absolutely necessary for all Nepali nationalities and political parties to redefine their sense of nationality with the richness of our diverse ethnicity, culture and linguistic of our different indigenous communities that have been sustained since Neolithic era. It is the renaissance of our national integrity to politically relocate autonomy for diversity as opposed to the homogeneity of one ethnicity that can plot in attempt to disintegrate nation.

Therefore, it should be immoral to join such a political party as "Madhesi Janadhikar Forum" as a member of Teraian indigenous community, which has clearly represented Indian interest in Constituent Assembly both by the obstruction of Constituent Assembly meetings violating the right to assembly and by utterances of national language of India "Hindi" in Constituent Assembly meetings despite their own ethnic languages – Maithali, Bhojpuri and Avadhi.

Those Teraian indigenous leaders such as Bijaya Kumar Gachchhedar Tharu who have been misled to join Madhesi Janadhikar Forum must immediately quit the party for the sake of national integrity that can only be maintained with the right of diverse Teraian indigenous communities to have their autonomous federal states. There will be no Nepal without Terai and its diverse indigenous communities' right to self-governance.