Irony is that Madheshi leaders fighting and protesting for dignity and acceptance in Kathmandu are now seen as traitors. When the rest of the country has come together to promulgate the constitution despite many differences, Madheshi leaders, essentially calling their fight—a fight to be accepted as a Nepali—have done just the opposite by alienating themselves from what they desperately want to be a part of: Nepali identity.And unfortunately, in the process, they have become the so called "voice" of Madhesh—without other alternatives for the Madheshi youth to consider. The problem first is with a group that defines an ethnicity—and whether one agrees to their political leanings or not, by identifying as Madheshi, you are automatically entrenched to this group. It's like an international club—if you are studying abroad. You don't necessarily have to be an active member to claim admission to the club.
If such political parties had just gone with names like Sadhbhawana party, or any random name, Madheshi youth may have had a way to escape this polarized dialogue. Doesn't help that this allegiance of Madhesh based parties calls itself a "Madheshi Morcha" like no voice exists for them outside this group.
In reality, of 106 Tarai/Madhesh members only 17 were missing on the first day of the CA voting process—a few others trickling back in later—but the Morcha talks as if they are the only, exclusive voice of Madheshis. These other members were parts of more diverse, larger parties: Congress, UML, etc.
Dear Madheshi youth, ask yourself, what sort of fight for dignity and citizenship is this where you alienate yourself and threaten your brothers—sometimes stating that autonomy is next and that people will go the radical route if demands aren't met? How will this make you more Nepali when people begin to perceive you as traitors to this nation state?
Think. If leaders wanted to truly make you feel more Nepali, why didn't they sit in a conversation with the government? Why didn't they act civil and agree to promulgate the constitution before the RPP did? Mind you they are the fourth largest party in the CA and were also against the majority government for a long time. There would have been no better slap on the face of people who think of you as Indian or "dhoti".
Is this really a fight for dignity, a fight for a Nepali identity? Question your leaders. Ask them, how are they making you more Nepali by continuing violence and refusing to guarantee non-violent protest, while also refusing to talk to the ruling parties.
You must be thinking, what about the deaths in Madhesh? Why should the Morcha negotiate with the state that is killing people? You Kathmandu people are the ones who treat us as unequal. When a policeman dies, you express outrage but when a Madheshi dies in protest, you are quiet.
Truth be told, Kathmandu can be often ignorant and may not know of the intensity of these attacks, but how can the leaders of Kathmandu withdraw armed forces when Morcha leaders won't guarantee non-violent protest? The terms are simple: guarantee non-violent protest, army withdraws. And if that is not for the leader to control, isn't there need for security forces?
The people of Kathmandu read news, watch footage of old mothers fainting and fathers with greying hair stare aimlessly unable to make sense of their loss. I care. I have tears in my eyes and often say: this is wrong. It is always the poor and helpless who are pawns of these ridiculous politicians. It is the same for many people around me.
But when you accuse us of being anti-Madheshi, I am hardened. What have I done to you? I have not enslaved you, beaten you, and snatched food from your mouth—the way some in the extreme side of this debate make it to be. I cannot end decades of discrimination in one night but I can talk about what we think is the best option to move forward. Isn't that what the government is asking too? Come sit with us, talk to us. We may not agree on everything and I can't promise you all that you ask for, but I can try.
We are an educated bunch in Kathmandu—we know prejudice, we understand history, we read, we write and we challenge. You are throwing us out, kicking us out of discourse by labeling us before knowing us. Of course, I am nobody to speak for Kathmandu and this is a city of varied identities and opinions—none of which I can encompass, just the way your leaders must not be the only voice of reason for the Madheshi youth. Same with mine!
And why do you point fingers at me without knowing me? Because some radical leader or thinker has popularized such a discourse where the concept of an evil Pahadi is actually set in your head. I cannot be a voice of Kathmandu, your leaders cannot be a voice of Madhesh, and Pahadis cannot mean evil.
This discourse teaches you to essentially vilify a term—almost as a revenge strategy for the discrimination you felt when someone called you a dhoti. How is it different when you say those Pahadis and others call you those dhotis? Stop. Think. Is this how you want to address systems of inequality—through revenge?
Do you know why Kathmandu cries loudly when a police officer dies but not when a Madheshi in protest does? Aside from ignorance, it is because violence to many like me means instability, attack on the cushy life of Kathmandu, a threat of looming anarchy. A policeman represents law, order. Think of this: on one hand your leaders say, we want to be equal citizens of this nation, and on the other, we want to attack the nation (represented by our law enforcement). These things cannot coexist.
You have to choose—be equal to Kathmandu by treating it as a friend, or endorse and support these violent attacks and demands—a major one of a "Madheshi state" not based on any concrete evidence about how it will be effective or work at all without destabilizing other ethnic groups. We have already seen this in the history—Madheshis began chasing the so-called "Pahadis" out of their homes in Tarai not long ago. Think: ethnic cleansing. That is a possibility, and I'm afraid we will see more of this in federal state number 2: deemed the current Madhesh.
The last I checked we have more than 100 ethnicities. If other leaders can look past the gazillion conflicting agreements with different groups, why can't your leaders? (Number actually close to 40). Besides being Madheshi isn't restricted to a caste or a surname or an ethnicity. Forty percent of the population is Madheshi by demographic—a bahun, a chhetri, a newar, all are Madheshis. How many of these people's aspiration do Morcha leaders represent? And if all are Madheshis, how exactly are marginalized groups within these superfluous groups of their varied caste systems going to get equal rights?
Think of the message this sends to the rest. Every other group: disadvantaged, poor, with associations to ethnicities have agreed to vouch for the constitution. Youth of Madhesh, you are not pawns of a political party. To battle discrimination, you do not have to believe in a one-size-fits-all box—that is the Madheshi Morcha today.
There are many things you can do without allegiance to a political group. Change systems of discrimination every day. If you feel victimized by derogatory terms, stand up and raise your voice. Use a civic platform, educate and write about this discrimination so people like me in Kathmandu can understand you so we can join you in this long battle for equality. Change does not come overnight as much as these leaders want us to believe. Even if these leaders were right, and the government tomorrow gave into the demands of the Morcha, there is no overnight end to this discrimination.
You may say nothing has changed in the last 100 years, which is why we want something, but I disagree. Our society is more educated, more aware. It was not perfect but it is better than it was before. Battling discrimination takes time, not a ridiculous stubborn allegiance to the concept of ethnically based states that 90 percent of your CA members, elected in a democratic process, are against. Accept the democracy but don't stop battling discrimination. I don't know a single democracy in the world where they aren't still fighting for rights and amendments to the constitution—but that is the beauty of democracy. We can always fight.
Twitter @ShiwaniNeupane
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