After the promulgation of the highly-awaited constitution of Nepal, the dream of people's constitution through the Constituent Assembly has come true after 70 years. The fear of collapse of second CA without delivering the constitution is also over. The promulgation of new constitution, it was expected, would ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the country by addressing the issues of oppressed communities such as Madheshi, Dalit, indigenous ethnic groups (Adivasi/Janajati), Tharu, minorities, Muslim, women, etc which were not addressed by previous constitutions.Unfortunately, the new constitution could neither ensure peace, stability and prosperity nor could it address the issues and concerns of oppressed communities. Rather it has destabilized social harmony and created extreme polarization in the country.
The region of Nepal where approximately 51 percent of population resides is badly affected by recent agitation, hampering the daily lives of people there. The situation is getting worse by the day. The only feasible solution is constructive negotiation with the agitating groups by creating a favorable environment, in which the state has failed completely. We must first recognize that the agitators are also people of Nepal and the affected regions are also territories of the country. So their genuine demands should be addressed without delay. Every citizen's sentiment has the same value and it should be recognized as such. If not, serious problems can result.
Timely intervention is most important. If the intervention is delayed and not done properly, it will be meaningless. First of all we needed new constitution not because there was no constitution. It was rather expected that the new constitution would institutionalize the post-2006 changes in line with the spirit of empowerment of oppressed communities and easing of their access to state resources. They should experience the changes through the new constitution. Unfortunately the Nepali constitution could neither ensure the rights and representation of those communities nor make them perceive the change.
The new constitution is based on restructuring of the state that comprises federalism, forms of governance and election system. State restructuring is the most important component of new constitution and its most important agenda is federalism. Common people do not bother with the principles and procedures of federalism; rather their concern is regarding formation of provinces, their demarcation and the likely merger and division of existing districts. Still, the proposed seven provinces do not have any scientific or theoretical basis.
The seven-province model is based on bargaining among top leaders of three major parties. It violates the principle and spirit of formation of federal provinces as it completely ignores the earlier-agreed five basis of identity and four basis of capability. Formation of federal states does not only mean demarcation of electoral constituency, district, zone or developmental region. Moreover the new constitution should ensure the right and adequate representation of oppressed groups. Until that happens these groups cannot own the constitution and there will be a big question mark regarding its implementation and sustainability.
Prior to the promulgation of new constitution on September 20th, we (a few CA members from Nepali Congress) had tried to draw the attention of our top leaders to the ongoing agitation. We had asked them to halt constitution making for at least one week and create a favorable environment for constructive dialogue with agitating forces. Moreover, we also demanded delimitation of electoral constituencies as provided in the Interim Constitution. Similarly, we also asked for the participation of oppressed communities and groups in all state structures on the basis of principles of proportional inclusion, again as per the Interim Constitution.
It was agreed that if these things were addressed, the task of demarcation of new provinces would then be undertaken by a high-level independent and inclusive state restructuring commission. Things would have been so different if our advice had been heeded. But our advice was ignored because our leaders either didn't have good intensions or because they lacked the willpower to make the right decisions.
Nepali citizens are being deprived of fuel, gas, and other basic necessities for almost three months now, but the government is still not in a position to formally declare what India is doing in Nepal as a blockade. Is this how an autonomous, sovereign state reacts? It's the responsibility of the state and the government to meet the basic needs of its citizens.
Now the agitating parties have set immediate redrawing of state boundaries as their bottom line. This is because the sentiments of Madheshi people have been badly hurt. They are thus agitating to ensure their dignity, identity, rights and representation at any cost. They are frustrated at being treated as second class citizens in their own land.
Madheshi people are not in a position to listen about even good aspects of the constitution. Once people's sentiments are hurt, it's difficult to convince them to do anything. But it's still possible if leaders show the commitment and guts to address these issues. This is high time for our leadership to demonstrate good intention and strong political will to do the right thing.
The implementation of new constitution is as tough as its promulgation, which is not possible without strong participation of people from all regions. Nepal is a country with great diversity in terms of castes, languages, religions, cultures and geography. It's not possible to address individual demands, but it's the right of every citizen to lead a life of self-respect, honor and dignity. Already 50 people have died in the ongoing agitation. But the government has not been serious to address the demands of agitating groups.
It would be dangerous to believe that agitating people will exhaust themselves with time. This is rather the time to think about political resolution to our problems and collective nation-building. The ruling parties must do more to take the opposition into confidence and the agitating parties must also be flexible. We should all be ready to accept the hard facts, acknowledge our mistakes, be aware of our duties, and together, look to build a strong, peaceful, stable and prosperous nation.
The author is a Member of the Parliament from Siraha-6
mandalg34@yahoo.com
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