Now it's no longer a conspiracy theory. According to a report of a taskforce under Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Human Rights, the Kailali incident, which led to the loss of lives of nine police personnel, was criminally motivated. The protestors, says the report, were forced to participate and were paid Rs. 500 each.Surprisingly, the international community—which claims to be a messiah of law, order, stability and human rights—is mum. The members of intelligentsia, who claim to be Madhesh experts, do not accept this fact. Instead of understanding inherent dynamics of Madhesh unrest, the international community is melodramatically acting as if it knows nothing. The New York Times editorial "Slipping Backward in Nepal" was biased. Most editorials and news reports from Indian newspapers were no different, with some openly calling for direct Indian intervention.
To them, Nepali state is the sole culprit. India is not to be blamed. Indian state has actively sought to co-opt and cultivate Nepali stakeholders including its bureaucrats and intelligentsia to work in its favor. There is a design to provoke and divide people. In this cruel and dangerous game, Nepalis are suffering.
Events unfolding in the recent times make clear what India intends. During his visits to Nepal last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reminded us that the bonds of friendship between Nepal and India went back a long time. Modi encouraged leaders to draft the constitution with rishiman (heart of a sage) and had reminded us that ballot always prevails over bullets. Today India is opposed to the mandate of ballot in Nepal. Besides this, there are various factors increasing violence is Tarai. I am going to deal with some.
Pandemonium in Tarai is the outcome of our tendency of institutionalizing violence for political purpose. Whether it was the armed struggle of BP Koirala-led Nepali Congress and Ram Raja Prasad Sing or Jhapa struggle or Maoist war and Madhesh Movement, we used violence as a weapon. Violence has been structured in Nepali psyche. It has acquired a kind of legitimacy.
Every person residing in Madhesh is a Madheshi. Co-existence is a rule there despite contestations and disagreements. But politics of hatred has been sown, creating a fault line between Madheshis and Pahadis. This divide has triggered massive violence and the loss of many lives including of hill people living in Tarai. How did this violence emerge?
People have been organized and trained for armed struggle in eastern and central Tarai for more than a decade. They were trained to hate hill people there. Maoists supported Madheshi organizations and abandoned them when they joined power.
Madhesi Rastriya Mukti Morcha was formed in West Bengal in 2000 which later split to form Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha. Later, it split into several other factions. These factions engaged in bombing, killing, extortion, kidnapping, intimidation, vandalism, ransoming and arson and are spreading anti-hill sentiments across Madhesh. People of hill origin have started to flee their homes.
Rivalry between Madheshi and Maoist party made the situation worse. Maoist's paramilitary force, Young Communist League (YCL), killed Ramesh Mahato in Lahan in 2007. This triggered violence which ended in killings of 38 people in Gaur. This established a culture that the more lost lives mean more political space and legitimacy. Newspaper reports of the time claim a large number of arms were imported to Tarai from across the border.
According to Human Rights Watch (2010), about 800 people have been killed since the beginning of armed struggles in Madhesh. More people could die in the future.
Recent unrest that started from Far-West has taken more than three dozen lives so far. The protestors are projecting the dead as martyrs of Madheshi cause. They will politicize the deaths and use them as a political weapon. Others will use it as a source of bread and butter.
Needless to say, this series of violence has given immense pain to those who are living. Their hardship and suffering will multiply. Nobody will be there to help the families of the dead. Shamelessly, this collective brutality will be carved from the line of political narrative and will be written exaggeratingly. Our posterity will read it as a 'Liberation Movement' for equality of Madheshis.
Impunity, which has become a norm, needs to be uprooted in order to rebuild trust between the state and Madhesh. Nothing else will help.
The author teaches sociology at Kathmandu School of Law
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