On Thursday evening the agitating Madheshi Morcha put out a statement. In it, they took note of the acute shortage of vital medicines in the country, and vowed to allow vital drugs into Nepal unhindered. But less than 12 hours after the decision Morcha cadres set ablaze a truck carrying medicines that had entered Nepal from Raxaul. This was not by accident. The truck, belonging to National Trading Corporation, carried a big banner with 'medicine' clearly written on it. Despite this the protestors set fire upon it. When Republica got in touch with Upendra Yadav, one of the leaders of the two-month-long protests in Madhesh, he said he was 'unaware' of the widely-reported incident. The more likely explanation for Yadav's feigned ignorance is that there was no way he could have justified such a dastardly act of his cadres. To be on the safe side, he decided to dodge the question.But leaders like Mahant Thakur and Uprendra Yadav who have willed people to come to the street on their behalf must be answerable for the behavior of these assembled people. Or they have no moral right to lead the protests. But what if Messrs Thakur and Yadav really have no control over the protestors in Tarai-Madhesh, as seems increasingly to be the case? If so, there is no point in holding dialogue with these leaders since they don't represent the people who are out on the streets making political demands. Maybe things really have gone out of the control of the top Madheshi leaders who have so far been negotiating on behalf of the Madheshi people. This is a troubling prospect for it indicates that criminal elements have taken over the protests in the Tarai and they are determined to wreck any hint of trust that is built between the government and the protesting parties. And if they are indeed criminals—it is hard to characterize those involved in setting fire to vital medicines, attacking ambulances and vandalizing homes of top political leaders, all of which took place on Friday, any other way—then the only credible response will be cracking down on them with brute force in order to restore law and order. Things, then, could really get ugly.
This is why solutions to the problems in Tarai have to be found through dialogue among the moderate voices on both the sides, at the earliest. But such solutions can emerge only if the two sides are ready to engage in a spirit of meaningful give and take. For this the Big Three parties must be ready to redraw federal boundaries just as the Morcha has to rethink its bottom-line of two Madhesh-only provinces. This will, by necessity, entail chopping and changing existing demarcations inside the country. This should not be a problem; only the country's external boundaries are inviolable. The longer the violent protests in Tarai continue, the greater will be the loss of credibility of mainstream political actors. It is not in the interest of any political party represented in the Constituent Assembly to let extremists hijack the Madheshi agenda. It would be suicidal of our mainstream leaders, on either side of the divide, not to see the writing on the wall.
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