The Madhes too has been a hot button issue for the past few years. Lumping many different ethnic groups residing in Madhes into one large mass and seeking to position this mass of heterogeneous populace against the rest of the country seems to be inimical to Nepali nationhood. This must be seen as an attempt to alienate one Nepali from another. Marginalization and conflicts arising from caste, religion and class differences among the Madhes residents and the burden of dowry are stark realities of exploitation in Madhes. Neither the State nor the regional leaders and elders have attempted to address these important issues. Unease and hardships felt by the hill and mountain people in Nepal as a result of such alienation are bound to spill over to all aspects of life. The ensuing ire among the hill and mountain people in the region could have consequences not imagined by many of the regional leaders trying to frame the fate of this country. [break]
The issues cited above are important questions that need to be discussed before advocating one form of federal identity over the other. There is therefore a strong need for a system that ensures full participation of minority groups within the federal units. Without such a system, the whole purpose of federalism—which is to allow proportional participation of all ethnic groups both at the federal and central levels—will be defeated.
Redefining Nepali nation
It is the integration of various ethnic groups we are seeking, with each one helping the other, for us to emerge as a strong and independent nation and not as fragments of the Nepali state which is dominated by foreign interest groups. For this, the principle of unity in diversity must prevail at every federal unit. This is paramount. Every ethnic group must respect and support the existence and progress of other groups. The willingness to live together can only manifest if each ethnic group recognizes and respects the right of other groups to exist on an equal footing. Segregation has to be interpreted as a manifestation of denial of national unity. From here on, ethnic politics in the country has to be able to build enough momentum at respective federal units for total integration of ethnic groups both at the federal and central levels, with the common purpose of once again establishing a country that can assert itself in the international arena.
From the current state of subjugation we have a duty to take our peoples from various ethnicities towards complete independence, both political and economic. For far too long we have been dependent on others, and now is the time to roll our sleeves and engage in nation-building ourselves. Let us reject those among us who accept dependency and domination. Political groups that pursue their vested interests at the expense of common national agenda of unity in diversity, and at the expense of solidarity among the national ethnic groups, pose a serious threat to this nation and must be rejected. We should thus choose the federal course but discard the fragmentation of the Nepali state. But the federalism that we choose must be based on plurality, multi-ethnicity and plural rights and opposed to mono-ethnic domination.
The constitution must ensure that every ethnic group, however weak, gets full voice and opportunity to participate in the country’s governance and at no time becomes subjugated by another. There must be constitutional mechanisms at the center to protect the interest of minorities, both at the federal and central levels. We must reject the notion of one domineering ethnic group. We are all born equal. Let us support each other and at the same time compete against one another. This alone can bring peace and prosperity to this nation.
This is the second of a two-part article. The first part wa
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