Are We Helping Nepal Unite?

 

  Prologue

Our country is on the verge of a new dawn. However slow the transition may be, the new day shall come one day. There is an enormous potential of prosperity in this country teeming with natural resources waiting to be tapped in. Add  to that the advantages of being in the region of  most booming economic region of Indo-China to it. There is real hope.




And as the clauses of progress are carefully drafted in the constituent assembly, our society has seen some of the most gripping discussions and debates in the restructuring of the state apparatus. Some of the ongoing debates in our country in the political and intellectual circles coinciding with the debate on these issues inside the Constituent Assembly include those of issues regarding Federalism, Secularism, the use of regional languages for official purposes. The debate is not limited only to the concerned lawmakers and intelligentsia obviously, and the spill overs of that debate has gripped the whole nation. The general people are also strongly advocating their own views in close circles, in local tea shops and in social media all over the country and beyond.

These issues are generally not talked to depth in heterogeneous groups but these issues do find their relevance and time amongst familiar friends usually of the same interest group. And Social Media with options of privacy and anonymity provides them with such platform: Tens of thousands can be reached in an instant. Now a days social media has suddenly become a stage for spreading messages of hatred. Pseudohistory are the order of the day, and pseudofacts boil up the aggression in the hearts of the targeted audience that the power-hungry politicians desperately need.

National unity is a dynamic concept which we are expected to better, with our words and work, every passing day. But when we see a new generation that is talking differently in different circles, we realize that although on the surface it may be calm, there is a tsunami underneath. Strangely, we are asking questions like who came to this land first and who second  and who last, when rather we should be asking  how can we all move ahead and fight the challenges like lack of proper education, lack of affordable healthcare and lack of infrastructure, so that we all can benefit as a people. There is no doubt, only when we put our real voices and engage in  meaningful discussions, we can get rid of this zealous and ruthless cycle of fear and hatred and emerge as a united, thriving and progressive society.
  

Earlier;

Around 200 years back, as the expansion of the Gorkha(Nepal) State moved South and eventually clashed with the imperialistic ambitions of the British East India Company, the battleground was Madhesh: a land recently annexed by the Gorkha Kingdom to the south of the Mountains. The then Madheshi rulers chose to fight the Northern enemy by siding with the richer and mightier Southern forces. This decision became the turning point in the lives of Madheshis and continues to affect millions of them even today. 

Sugauli treaty was signed in 1816 AD through which Madhesh was ceded to the British. As the British held ownership of the Madheshi land, the treaty of Sugauli was revised and within 2 years a large part of Madhesh was handed back to Nepal to compensate for Nepal's economic loss. However, since the Madheshi army had sided with the British against the Gorkha forces, the British felt it necessary to protect the Madheshi people by adding a clause that the Nepal shall not take revenge against them.

But contradictions remained. The Madheshis were required to apply for visas to even enter Kathmandu until 2007 BS. The Madheshis were not allowed in the Army. Following introduction of the King's Panchayat System all languages other than Khas Bhasa was dis-institutionalized. The experiment to homogenize richly diverse cultures of the country under the Eutai Raja Eutai Desh, Eutai Bhasa Eutai Vesh proved to be a huge mistake. Obviously, dissent rose and the system fell due in part to its own inherent weaknesses. Later during the  decade long bloody insurgency the same issue of ethnic disparity would allow the the rebel forces to enlist large masses of disadvantaged people  into their agenda and their 'peoples' army'.

Recently, another episode of the King's direct rule; which had many parallels with the previous non-partisan Panchayati system; angered the masses and eventually paved the way for the Second Janaaandolan. And as the issue of institutional discrimination against a vast majority of Janajatis and the Madheshis seemed to be still unaddressed, the disadvantaged revolted once again for recognition and pride during the Madhesh Aandolan; and the less concrete but equally vocal Janajati Aandolan.

Today;

The Madhesh Aandolan and the Janajati Aandolan brought to surface the unspoken and unattended issue of ethnic discrimination prevalent in administration and politics of our society. It gave voice to the intellectuals who were silenced by the aura of indifference so pervasive in the nation. Respect to the Madheshi culture and Indegenous Culture in general, has risen. The state has tried to be more representative ever since.

But things have not progressed the way they should have. The political change has not been synchronized with a cultural change, a change in the national attitude has been agonizingly slow.The fact that Madheshis are still seen as 'Run aways' by a significant and vocal segment of the Pahadi populace is seen by some Madheshis as an invitation of intimidation, and the fact that the aggression with which the issues of inclusion have come up, sometimes breaching the customary calm, has angered those who believe in gradual reform.   These both trends have polarized the general people and has made it difficult for all who want stronger national unity.

The media still asks silly, irrelevant questions: Asking whether one is first a Madheshi or a Nepali is the height of mockery.


Personally speaking, I love Nepal and take pride in my ethnicity at the same time. There is nothing more nationalistic or less communal in a Dhaka topi than in a white Dhoti. The New Nepal should be able to give equal respect to a  Dhoti-wearing Awadhi-speaking Joginder in Nepalgunj or a Ghalek- wearing Gurung-language speaking Astaman in Ghandruk or a DauraSurwal-wearing Khas Bhasa-speaking Shiva Prashad in Syangja.

We can not  afford to miss this chance.

These are defining moments in the history of our nation. As the Constitution is being written, as the lawmakers rewrite policies to make this nation more inclusive and more vibrant; we the general populace should also redefine our own concepts. 

A youth grown in a disadvantaged community is repeatedly told that his failures can not be overcome even if he works  hard because the 'old Ruling Class' would not allow him to; and eventually he starts to see 'Bahunbaad' everywhere. Similarly a poor student in the traditionally advantaged group gets frustrated when he realizes that he did not get a Government job he deserved because a new quota system was introduced for those who had been marginalized and an apparantly weaker candidate got the position he worked hard for. And power hungry politicians see 'vote-banks' in their frustrations and exploit their emotions and eventually  cloud their dreams and ruin their future.

Getting rid of these prejudices wont be easy. No, we should not be so impractical as to think that our mindsets would change overnight. But we can try and appreciate someone who has tried. Because if we miss out at this defining moment to achieve true national unity we run into a danger of running into a long and tiring cold-war of ethnic unrest that will push us further back into the vicious circle of poverty and violence.

The words on a piece of a paper are surely powerful but even more powerful are the hearts of the people.     

When we start taking to heart that the difficulty a Musahar youth in Rautahat faces in getting a land to eat just because the citizenship laws are too strict as our difficulty, if we believe that the feeling of failure in the face of a father in  Jajarkot to feed his children are our failures, if we perceive that the pain to a mother in Achham whose baby died during childbirth  as our pain ,if we believe that the racial  insult to a hardworking barber from Birgunj is the insult to our society, our country only then can we be one people. Even the greatest Constitution ever written can not teach us that. We have to  change ourselves, in fact we only have to leave our prejudices aside.

Imagine mutual respect not because the laws say so, but because you feel the person next to you as your brother. Imagine empathy not because it looks nice to do so, but because the tragedies of the person next to you really hurt you as well. Imagine the happiness when you won and he/she danced his/her hearts out in your success.

As a united people we can fight the negative trends that plague both sides of the divide, and we shall surely come out triumphant. As a united people we can all be free and all be stronger. The choice and the future is all ours.

Epilogue

Unity despite Differences is what makes societies richer and respected. As C. Joybell writes: "We are not the same! We are made of different colours and we have different cultures. We are all different! But the key to this door is to look at these differences, respect these differences, learn form and about these differences, and grow in and with these differences. We are all different. We are not the same. But that's beautiful. And that's okay. In the quest for unity and peace, we cannot blind ourselves and expect to be all the same. We are not on a journey to become the same. But we are on a journey to see that in all of our differences, that is what makes us beautiful as a human race, and if we are ever to grow, we ought to learn and always learn some more."

Jay Desh!