The shocking deaths of seven policemen and a toddler in Kailali's Tikapur during a Tharuhat rally have galvanized the country's attention. The prime minister has renewed his call for dialogue with the agitating parties. But opposition parties would like to see something concrete like suspension of the ongoing constitutional process before meaningful talks can begin.
Meanwhile, many Tarai districts are still tense; curfew has been imposed in places. So what's the solution to this stand-off between government and protestors? How do we make sense of Tikapur killings? And what do the protesting indigenous communities want in new constitution? Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal caught up with Chairman of the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) and CA member Nagendra Kumal and Tharuhat Tarai Party-Nepal CA member Gopal Dahit for their insights.
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What are your reservations with the ongoing constitutional process?
The draft constitution has failed to accommodate our recommendations. We had lodged a 53-point charter of demands. It has been ignored. Even the agreements signed with us in the past were ignored. The government of Nepal is party to several international conventions on rights of indigenous communities. The draft constitution goes against them. This is why we have been protesting.
What are your major demands?
To be specific, proportional representation and inclusion are our big demands. Second, we believe secularism should be retained in the new constitution. State should not treat one religion as superior to others. The Interim Constitution has already mentioned secularism. If we backtrack now, it is likely to create more problems. We are already polarized between Hindu and non-Hindu faiths. All Hindus have come together on one platform. This polarization is bad. Third, Janajatis account for 40 percent of population, even though they are scattered right across the country. Their languages, cultures, religions and traditions should be protected. They are the wealth of the nation. Indigenous communities such as Raute, Kusunda, Santhal and Chepang are on the verge of extinction. The state should protect them and their culture. There should be a separate constitutional commission for this.
But there is a provision for Inclusive Commission in the draft statute.
Yes, there is. But it is vague and it has very broad mandate. Inclusive Commission alone won't be able to address all concerns of Janajatis. Nepal is a country of great diversity in the form of different languages, cultures and traditions. This diversity is a major point of attraction for tourists. If we can tap this, it can boost our tourism. To preserve this diversity, there should be a separate commission on Indigenous Nationalities. The mandate of this commission will be to ensure proportional representation of indigenous people in state agencies so that they can feel ownership of their state. Indigenous community remains neglected. There are about 80,000 Chepangs near Kathmandu. But there is not a single doctor, lawyer or engineer from that community. Is this not a result of state neglect?
These are the issues we have been raising for a long time. We are not asking for anything new. We are simply reminding the state to honor its past promises. We realize we won't be able to push our agenda only from the street. So we will fight from within the CA as well. The deliberations on constitution bill have only just started. We will air our differing views in the CA.
How do you interpret the gruesome killing of seven police personnel in Kailali on Monday?
This is the result of ignoring genuine concerns of minorities like Tharus and other indigenous nationalities. What happened in Kailali is sad. But now that the unthinkable has happened, the government should find out why such a bloody incident took place and act with restraint. Government made a mistake by deciding to mobilize the army. It should not have done so. This won't solve problems. There are reports of clashes between 'undivided' Far-west and Tharuhat camps. There are reports of security officials taking sides. What will happen if communal clashes spread throughout the Tarai belt? Top leaders should immediately sit down for talks with agitating parties and try to find solutions. We are ready to offer all kinds of assistance from our side.
Have you talked to government representatives of late?
Yes, we met the Prime Minister and drew his attention on this issue. We told him that suppression cannot be the answer to ongoing protests. Tharus are fighting for recognition and identity. Their concern should be addressed. Identity has become a national issue now. The state cannot ignore it anymore. We have reminded the PM to take it seriously and also asked top leaders to exercise restraint and refrain from hate speech.
How in NEFIN's view should the federal states be demarcated?
We are often accused of demanding for ethnic states. We are not. We only want future provinces to reflect the identity of the people living in a particular region. Existing administrative units failed to address identity aspirations of Janajatis. This is why we needed to restructure the unitary state. Provinces should be delineated in such a way that it does not break existing clusters of ethnic communities. If we consider five basis of identity and four basis of capability, as agreed in the first CA, we can still have a viable federal model. The State Restructuring Committee of first CA had recommended a 14- province model. The State Restructuring Commission came up with the 11-province model. These two models tried to address identity concerns. Thus they should be made the basis for province demarcation.
There are many misunderstandings on Janajati demands. Unnecessary fears have been spread in the name of 'identity-based federalism'. Extremists within our communities may also have contributed to such fears. But we are clear on this. We are not in favor of taking away rights of other communities in the name of empowering ourselves. All communities will have equal say in identity-based states and they will be entitled to their rights. We Janajatis are not saying to non-Janajatis: "You ruled us, oppressed us and denied us our rights in the past. Now we will come to power and do the same to you." We have been misunderstood. We are only asking for representation based on our population strength.
Janajati demands for single identity states may have contributed to this misunderstanding.
This is not our demand. We can have multiple-identity province as well. What's wrong in naming a province Newa-Tamsaling-Bagmati or Tamuwan-Magarat-Gandaki? This issue is not complicated. It has been made to appear so.
Madheshis and Tharus demand east-west provinces. How is it compatible with your multiple-identity model?
We have stood against 'One-Madhesh' from the very beginning. We are still opposed to it. We don't agree with all the demands of Madheshis/Tharus as well. But we support their demands for proportional representation and inclusion.
But you need to evaluate the demands of Tharus a little differently. They are among the oldest indigenous communities which lived in the plains battling malaria. Their identity concern is genuine. The state can address this by creating autonomous zones. The state should have discussed with them how their concerns could have been addressed before deciding on province boundaries. The government should have convened a meeting with Tharu CA members and sought their views on the violence in Kailali and how this conflict could be resolved. But Kathmandu didn't try understanding the real problems of Tharus. So it should reach out to them, even by putting deliberations on constitution bill on hold. It is important to heed Tharus and take every possible measure to address their grievances. If not, the flames in Kailali could engulf the entire country.
This is the time for top leaders to show their big heart. Think of Mandela. He would not have become a world leader had he treated his predecessors as rulers with hate. Our leaders should learn from him. But the way top leaders are hurrying the constitution process, they seem intent on bringing a constitution at any cost. But this won't ensure lasting peace and stability. Perhaps we need a cross-cultural dialogue between Janajatis and non-Janajatis to build confidence. This has not happened yet.
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Over 100 Tharus missing: Gopal Dahit
The gruesome killings of seven policemen in Kailali have shocked the country. How do we make sense of it?
Tharus are known for their honesty, hard work and gentle nature. The ongoing Tharuhat movement, under the umbrella of Tharuhat-Tharuwan Joint Struggle Committee, has been largely peaceful. In the last 15 days hundreds of thousands of people have actively participated in our rallies. So the incident in Kailali was something we had not expected.
According to our reports, a few days before the Tikapur incident, supporters of 'Undivided Far-West' movement had pelted stones at Tharus from behind police barricades. They seemed to be enjoying police protection. But nothing serious happened that day. Earlier, Tharus had staged protests in Bardiya and Gulariya as well. We participated in those protests and had appealed protestors to keep calm. We believe all protests should be peaceful.
A week ago, UML leader Bhim Rawal had organized a program in Tikapur. The program couldn't live up to the hype since it was being held in a Tharu stronghold. Maybe Monday's gruesome incident is related to this. Following Rawal's program, the Undivided Far-West campaigners didn't seem very pleased with Tharus.
But what exactly happened that day?
On that day, there were protests in various areas around Tikapur. Protestors had kept themselves some three kilometers away from prohibited areas. But police advanced even to the areas that were not prohibited. If the police had not gone there, perhaps this incident could have been avoided. Police baton-charged protestors and fired tear gas shells. There was indiscriminate firing from police. This was when the seven policemen were killed. We are sad about what happened. But according to our reports, over 100 hundred Tharu protestors are still out of contact. We don't know about their whereabouts. Even before Monday's killings, undivided campaigners had set houses of Tharus on fire but the police would not intervene. So I take Monday's tragedy as a culmination of all injustices on Tharu people. But let me tell you, this was not a planned attack. It happened all of a sudden. We have formed an investigation committee from our side as well. We will get to the bottom of it and make our findings public in the near future.
But there had been threats of violence from Tharus lawmakers and some Madheshi leaders.
You must be hinting at Rukmini Chaudhary's speech in CA. But she is not from Kailali and her statements alone are unlikely to have provoked protestors there. There are also speculations about infiltration. But like I said, we are yet to get to the bottom of this. I agree that speeches of some Madheshi leaders were objectionable. But Tharus were not swayed. We have had a number of differences with Madheshis in the past. We are aware that they have their own interests to protect. But even more objectionable than these speeches was the statement by a former prime minister [Sher Bahadur Deuba]. He had said a few days before Monday tragedy that not an inch of land would be given to Tharus. Such a statement from a big leader disturbs communal harmony. It is possible that his statement provoked Tharus. But the ghastly incident on Monday is something we had never imagined.
Some Tharu lawmakers have hinted at infiltrations from across the border.
It's hard for us to find the truth. Like I said, we are investigating. The government also has formed a committee for the same purpose. We will soon make our findings public.
The government has called Tharu agitators for talks. What's your bottom line?
We are not against provincial assemblies deciding on province names. On demarcation, there should be an autonomous Tharuhat province from Chitwan in the east to Kanchanpur in the west; another from Parsa to Dhanusha; and a third province from Siraha to Jhapa. Names may be decided later. These three states may accommodate some parts of Chure, but not hills and mountains. Otherwise, the new federal model would be no different to the failed five development region model. This is our bottom line. There may be some room for compromise. For the moment, if big parties agree to a separate province from Chitwan to Kanchanpur for Tharus, this will create a favorable environment for talks.
We learn that you met the prime minister on Tuesday. What did you talk about?
Yes, we had a meeting with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. Bhim Rawal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Baburam Bhattarai, Bijay Gachchadar and Tharu lawmakers from NC and UML were also there. We briefed the meeting about unfolding events in Kailali. We told them about police highhandedness. The police allow undivided protestors to roam about during curfew hours, but Tharus cannot come out of their homes. We told this to the prime minster. We reminded him about the five basis for identity and four basis for capability for province delineation. After all, the state had agreed to the same in the recent 16-point deal among four parties. The PM expressed his commitment to honor our demands and called for more dialogue. That's a good gesture but we want such an invitation in writing. Our other condition is that during our talks the likes of Sher Bahadur Deuba and Bhim Rawal should be present because unless they are there talks on Tharuhat province won't be meaningful.
What brought Tharus and Madheshis together?
Like I said, we have our differences with Madheshis. But the state seems intent on sidelining both Madheshis and Tharus. We had warned them not to force us to forge an alliance with Madheshis. The moment that happened, we had told them, things would get out of their control. But they ignored us. But this alone is not the basis for our alliance. We have other things in common with Madheshis. The big parties isolated and victimized Tharus and Madheshis in constitution process. So you may call our alliance an outcome of isolation and victimization by big parties. Now Madheshis are more flexible about our demands than any other parties. That said, we are not in favor of delaying the constitution. We want a constitution as soon as possible. We only want our legitimate demands met.
