By imposing economic blockade at the main custom points between Nepal and India in protest against the newly promulgated and allegedly discriminatory Constitution in the Himalayan State, the United Democratic Madhesi Front and Tharuhat Struggle Committee have paralysed the entire economy of the country. People in Terai have been agitating for the last three months to pressurise the country to meet their demand for the formation of two undivided federal provinces in the region to preserve their identity. Their other demands include population-based electoral constituencies for Parliament, proportionate representation in the civil services, and the removal of discriminatory clauses in citizenship rules.
As a result of the economic blockade, there has been acute shortage of essential commodities like food, medicine, and cooking gas. life of the common man, both in Terai and Kathmandu Valley, has become miserable due to escalating prices of essential goods and also due to crippling transport services. In Terai, all shops, industries, Government offices, educational and health institutions, agriculture and tourism sectors, banks and other sectors of the economy have been badly affected. All those who depend on daily wages for their livelihood have suffered the most.
The present crisis was caused by a handful of ruling elites of Nepal when they decided to prepare the Constitution on a fast-track basis from June 2015 to serve their vested interests. In haste, the Constitution that could not be drafted in seven long years earlier was “accomplished” in just four months to enable certain people to come to power and retain it for long. In the course of Constitution-making process, the Madhesis, which comprise over half of Nepal’s population of 28 million, were deprived of several rights given to others. For centuries, they have been victims of exclusionary policy of the State. Even today, Nepal administration has the least trust in these people, and therefore their presence in various State institutions is pathetically low.
The Madhesi people have reasons to be angry over the new Constitution because the agreement that was made in 2008 with the Government for the formation of single undivided Madhesh (Terai) province with right to self-determination was discarded in it. In the new Constitution, there is a provision for a province in Terai covering only eight districts; while the other fourteen districts in the region have been clubbed with the hill States with the intention of marginalising the Madhesis further.
As if this was not enough, the Constitution violates the fundamental principle of democracy of “one person, one vote and equal weight to all votes” to the great disadvantage of the Madhesis. Accordingly, the weightage of voters in Terai has been reduced as compared to the same in the hill region. For this, the electoral constituencies for both the Houses of Parliament i.e. the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, were fixed on the geographical land area, rather than on the basis of population. On this basis, a provision was made for only 65 electoral constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Terai region which constitutes 51 per cent of Nepal’s total population; while 100 electoral constituencies were fixed for the hills with only 49 per cent of the country’s population.
During the agitation by the Madhesi and Tharu people, dozens of protesters, along with one Indian national, were killed; while many others sustained critical injuries. Thousands of protesters have been forced to take asylum across the border in India. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have given the details of the police excesses in dealing with the protesters.
Unfortunately though, none of the ruling hill elites in the Government and major political parties expressed any grief over the loss of lives of the Madhesi people. On the contrary, they tried to play “China card” by blaming India for the troubles in Nepal. There is hardly any evidence of India supporting the Madhesi protesters. India merely desisted from welcoming the Constitution on the ground that it was not inclusive.
However, a section of the people in Nepal burned Indian flags, apart from burning the effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express their displeasure with India. On the other hand, a section of Madhesis burned Chinese flags for the only reason that China outrightly supported the Constitution that was biased against them. They also burned Chinese flags when their northern neighbour agreed to grant 1,000 metric tonnes of oil to Nepal. Perhaps, it was for the first time that the Chinese flags were burnt in Nepal. However, what is intriguing is that the elements who were involved in burning Indian flags were rewarded as if they were the “nationalists”; while those who burnt Chinese flags were harassed by the local administration.
In another development, Nepal and China signed a memorandum of understanding to open seven new customs points along Nepal’s northern border for trade purposes, which include Kimathangka of Sankhuwasabha, Korala of Mustang, Olangchunggola of Taplejung, larke of Gorkha, Yari of Humla, lamabagar of Dolakha and Mugu customs. The Kiyrung–Rasuwagadhi custom point that was blocked by the April 25 earthquake has already been made operational. Tatopani custom point is likely to reopen soon.
All possible efforts have been made by the Nepalese Government authorities to spread a canard that China would supply all essential goods to Nepal in the hour of crisis. But China has, so far, provided no substantial support to Nepal. Oil granted to Nepal by China was merely enough to meet Nepal’s requirements for a day or two.
The Nepalese authorities fail to accept the fact that the supply of essential items, including oil and cooking gas, from India has only reduced but it has not stopped. Each day 400 to 700 commercial cargo vehicles come to Nepal from India. Nevertheless, people’s demands for essential goods have not been met simply because the Birgunj-Raxaul custom point — which accounts for 70 per cent of imports from India — has been closed by the Madhesi agitators. Thousands of such commercial cargo vehicles are awaiting safe passage at different custom points in India as transporters and drivers are afraid of their safety in Nepal due to deteriorating law and order situation in the country.
All these have heightened the tension between Nepal and India. It further escalated when Nepal blamed India for the economic blockade at the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva on November 4, 2015. India not only denied the charge, but has also convinced the world about the reasons for the blockade and has duly exposed human rights violations in Terai, including the brutal killing of an innocent Indian youth in Nepal.
Interestingly, the Madhesi and the hill elite groups are polarised in foreign countries. The Madhesi elites opposed the undemocratic and biased Nepalese Constitution in New Delhi, Geneva, london, Washington DC and Australia; while the hill elites opposed India in various capitals for the troubles actually caused by them in Nepal. War of words has continued unabated between the Madhesh and hill elites on various social media platforms, like the Facebook and Twitter, apart from writings in national and international print and electronic media. As if this was not enough, the hill elites made demonstrations in london against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to the UK on the issue of economic blockade of Nepal.
However, there is a silver lining in this moment of polaralisation of political forces in Nepal. There is now a growing pressure on the Government not only from the Madhesi community but also from the hill people to settle the Madhesi issue. This is due to the fact that the ordinary people in the hills like that in the Terai have been facing immense hardships on account of indefinite strike and economic blockade. Nepal’s $20 billion economy has been badly affected as the Madhesi uprising has caused loss of $6 billion so far. It is besides the loss of over $7 billion due to the earthquake. Also, the rate of economic growth in the country is likely to fall to 1 per cent this year from the earlier estimate of 4 per cent.
If the Nepal Government fails to address the grievances of the Madhesis, the protests against the Government are likely to intensify not only in Terai, but also in the hills. Yet, the ruling elites of the country appear to be silent spectators with little concern about the plight of the common man of Nepal. The Madhesi uprising cannot be resolved on foreign soil as it is a fight for democracy within the country.
Blaming any other country without keeping its own house in order will only complicate the matter. If at all the problem is to be resolved, it would be possible to do so through negotiation with the Madhesi and Tharu leaders. Failure of the Government to enter into serious negotiation with the agitating groups makes it responsible for people’s suffering.
In order to promote democracy and ensure long-term peace and stability in the country, it is essential to amend, if not re-write, the Constitution in a way that it accommodates the aspirations of all the marginalised groups, including Madhesis, Tharus and other indigenous ethnic communities.
(The writer is Executive Director of Centre for Economic and Technical Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal)