Though some political leaders claim that they are serious about the issue, independent observers say the parties have done nothing in practice. Women activist Manchala Jha said that none of the political parties was serious about the social concerns of Tarai. “The issue of dowry was merely raised in the election manifestos of Madhes-based political parties in the last Constituent Assembly (CA) election. But, they could not do anything more than incorporate the issue in their manifestos,” Jha said. [break]
She said that dowry was a horrific part of Tarai-Madhes culture and expressed concern that Nepal´s constitution was not so effective in countering it. “Inter-caste marriage and investment in the education of one´s daughtes has to some extent played a role in limiting the deep-rooted dowry tradition.”
She admitted that parents these days were a bit more conscious about investing in their daughters´ education. “Now a days parents are investing heavily in medical and other technical education for their daughters,” she said, maintaining that a day would come in Madhes when parents would not discriminate between son and daughter.
General Secretary of Sadbhavana Party, Manish Suman, however, claimed that women themselves were trampling the rights of women. “Mothers-in-law force daughters-in-law to bring a huge amount of money, furniture, vehicles and other items as dowry. In Madhes, the bride is not tortured by the groom, but rather by the mother-in-law, who makes life terrible for her,” said Suman adding, “I accept that dowry is a big blot on the social structure but the amount of dowry is not revealed either from the bride´a or from the groom´s side.”
He said that his party´s political document has categorized dowry as a social evil. “We strongly oppose dowry and we will make the issue part of the agenda for the CA election.”
Central member of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Pushpa Thakur has meanwhile said that her party was also one of those that were not taking the dowry issue seriously. “Dowry is a cancer of Madhes society,” she said, maintaining that women represent 50 percent of the vote bank but none of the parties was serious over an issue that affects them.
“I personally take dowry as an absurdity and I´m sure that this time my party will raise its voice against dowry as a main agenda item in its manifesto for the November poll,” she maintained. She accused Madhes-based leaders of being patriarchic in their attitudes. “None of the male leaders are serious about women´s issues.”
Political commentator Pashupati Nath Madhesi said that women had to face violence because of dowry-related issues. “There is a wide gap between what Madhes-based parties say and what they do. INGOs and other organizations just secure funding in the name of fighting the dowry system but they actually do nothing,” he said, adding, “Both Madhesi parties and non-Madhesi parties take women as just a vote bank.”
He further said that unless the intelligentsia and the mass media strongly oppose dowry, its horrors would not come to an end. “I am socked to find that Madhesi parties, which did nothing for women, claim to be representing them,” he said, accusing the government also of not being serious at all.
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