Round The World

New Delhi, 18 February 2009

Troubled Tarai Region

CHALLENGE TO NEPAL MAOISTS

By Promod Jaiswal, Research Scholar, South Asian Studies
School of International Studies, JNU

The Tarai, a long-neglected borderland from east to west, now occupies the centre of Nepal's political stage. It offers direct challenges to the present governing Maoist government. Violent clashes have left the Tarai districts in a fragile state: people are angry and have lost trust in the State; politics is in flux as new groups emerge; demands have become more radical; and constructive talks have yet to get underway, even though the outlines of a negotiable agenda are clear.

The Tarai is mostly the low-lying land along Nepal's border with India. It forms about a quarter of the country's total area, in an 885km strip stretching from the Mahakali River in the west to the Mechi River in the east, with a width varying from four to 52km. It also includes some low hills (the Siwalik range) and valleys to their north (the inner Tarai).

The Tarai is now home to around half the country's population while Madeshi residing there is one third of the total population. Migration has also taken place from the southern plains (present-day India) into the Tarai in earlier periods as well as in the 20th century, though to a lesser degree. Even as they accept that some migration did take place, Madhesis take offence to being called outsiders and see themselves as people who have always lived in the region.

The Tarai has great linguistic and social diversity. Madhesis speak Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Hindi, while ethnic groups such as the Tharus have their own languages. Agriculture is still the basis of the Tarai economy but the region has slowly emerged as an industrial belt, especially between Birgunj and Biratnagar. Academia and the media have paid scant attention to Madhesi concerns. Human rights organisations did not take up the issue of discrimination against Madhesis either. This lack of interest was one of the spurs to the establishment of organisations such as the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum which is now a major political party of Tarai.

Some of the major issues concerning the Madhesis are: Citizenship. The 1964 Citizenship Act and 1990 constitution imposed stringent criteria based on descent. Already perceived as Indians, the absence of birth certificates and other documents to prove their Nepali origin made it almost impossible for Madhesis to acquire citizenship. Local officials often demanded land ownership titles before granting citizenship, which trapped Madhesis in a vicious cycle, because they could not get land titles without citizenship certificates.

The naturalisation process required fluent spoken and written Nepali. A government commission in 1994 reported that almost 3.5 million Nepalis did not yet have citizenship certificates. Those without citizenship could not apply for government jobs, register births or marriages, get a passport, stand for elections, register a business, get bank loans or access government benefits. In November 2006, the citizenship law was amended, making anyone born in Nepal before 1990 and permanently resident eligible for citizenship. Naturalisation is now open to people who can speak or read any language used in Nepal.

Language is another issue. State mono-lingualism has contributed to Madhesi marginalisation, be it from not benefiting from Language. Madhesis are under-represented in all areas of national life. They occupy less than 12 per cent of the posts in influential areas, including the judiciary, executive, legislature, political parties, industry and civil society, and less than five per cent in international organisations and multilateral donor projects. The security forces are most actively discriminatory, in particular the army, which has no senior Madhesi officers.

Then there is economic discrimination in the region. The Tarai is the backbone of the national economy, containing more than 60 per cent of the agricultural land and contributing over two thirds of the GDP. Investment in some infrastructure has been significant but the focus has been on developing national communications rather than serving local populations. For example, the east-west highway, a vital transport artery, does not link even one Tarai district headquarter directly – all are on poor feeder roads. Madhesis are poorer and have lower education and health indicators than hill communities.

Since the 1950s, the government has encouraged hill people (pahadis) to migrate to the plains. Facilitated by malaria eradication programes, clearing of forests and land resettlement schemes, the pahadi proportion of the population in the Tarai has increased five-fold from 1951. Hill-origin migrants even constitute the majority in several districts. Madhesi activists complain that with their relatively privileged background and extensive contacts in local administration due to cultural links, pahadis wield disproportionate influence. Many in the Kathmandu establishment have harboured fears that India would use Madhesis to increase control or take over Nepal; encouraging hill migration was a move to keep Madhesis, perceived as sympathetic to India, in check.

The Madhesis have been systematically under-represented in the electoral system. The number of parliamentary seats in the Tarai does not reflect its population. The constituencies have been delimited to dilute the Madhesi vote (many on a north-south strip pattern that introduces a sizeable hill electorate) and a disproportionate number of pahadis are selected by the main parties for their most winnable seats (in the 1999 elections, pahadi candidates won a majority of Tarai seats).

The Madhesi dissatisfaction had been rising since the April 2006 people's movement, which did not address their grievances. Federalism emerged as a key demand of all Madhesi groups; armed outfits increased their activities; and Maoist-Madhesi tensions escalated, in some cases violently.

The promulgation of the interim Constitution spurred 21 days of protests in January-February 2007. On 16 January, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) leaders were arrested while burning copies of the document in Kathmandu. Three days later, MJF activists protesting the arrests in Siraha district, clashed with Maoists, who shot dead Ramesh Kumar Mahato, a young MJF activist. On 20 January, as the MJF demanded action against the perpetrator and compensation, Maoist cadres seized his body and cremated it. The MJF stepped up protests and then MJF emerged as the movement's leading group but the protests lacked clear planning.

Mahato's killing was the spark for prolonged agitation. Madhesi activists called for a general strike in the Tarai and organised widespread protests; the government responded with curfews and an increased police presence. On 25 January, the MJF announced it would continue the protests indefinitely until the interim Constitution was amended. Activists looted government offices, police posts, banks, mainstream parties' district offices and media organizations. The State response was harsh: police shot dead more than 30 people and wounded 800. The protests initially centered around Lahan and Janakpur but soon spread to all other major Tarai towns such as Malangwa, Birgunj and Biratnagar. In some cases, agitators turned their ire on journalists, blaming them for not covering the movement sufficiently.

The Madhesi struggle for autonomy is divided. The MJF, Nepal Sadbhavana Party-Rajendra Mahato (NSP-RM) and Terai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) demand an autonomous Tarai region within a Federated Nepal as per the Eight-Point Agreement signed on February 28, 2008. There are 14 radical groups – who seek an independent Tarai – are still actively involved in armed campaign. The most prominent among these are the Akhil Terai Mukti Morcha (ATMM), the Jwala Singh faction of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM-J), the Prithviraj Singh led Liberation Tigers of Terai Elam (LTTE), and the Pawan Giri led Samyukta Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (SJTMM).

On October 3, the 'talks team' comprising Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardan Sharma as the co-coordinator, and the Minister for Local Development Ram Chandra Jha and Minister for Education Renu Yadav as members appealed armed groups to negotiating table to resolve grievances. First, the Government is yet to decide the criteria for extending invitations to the various groups. Sharma, said the Government would invite the armed outfits after determining whether or not they are 'political groups' through consultation with the Home Ministry. Second, it is also not clear whether separate rounds of talks will be held with each outfit or with groups of such outfits. Third, the present Government claims that, as it is yet to resort to use of force against the armed Terai groups, the question of declaring cease-fire does not arise.

Critically, the room for maneuver for either side is currently limited. The Government has almost nothing to offer in terms of a 'settlement' beyond an autonomous Tarai region, a proposal that has already been accepted by United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) in the Eight-point Agreement. Any further concessions would hurt the 'moderate' Madhesi groups, such as the MJF, which are already in the Government.

Unless a majority of the armed groups – including all the most prominent among them – can be brought to the negotiating table, any alternative scenario of a dialogue with the few groups who are available and willing, would have little impact on the prospects of peace in the Tarai. –--INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)