Majhi community in Tarai condemns govt apathy

Jhapa, October 23:

The Majhi community in the eastern Tarai complain that the government is not extending any support to them for their uplift and that they are being discriminated against.

Jogendra Bahadur Majhi, president of the Nepal Taraimul Majhi Kalyan Samiti and Dharma Raj Majhi, the general secretary said: “The state has not listed us as an ethnic community though we have our own language, costumes, culture and traditions. The state is indifferent towards us and our problems. So we, the Majhi people of the Tarai origin, have organised ourselves to prove that we are distinct from the Majhi community of the hill origin to safeguard our rights.”

They said they formed the organisation in Jhapa in 2000 because the government did not recognise them as an ethnic community but said they were people from the hills.

They lamented that they were more backward in every sector as compared to other communities of the Tarai region.

Majhi settlement spreads across Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts with a population of around 22,000.

The Majhi community from Tarai region are mistaken for Rajbanshi or Gangai community, they said, adding that playing music during social and cultural functions and rowing

boats were the main occupation of the Majhi community.