Last week, the government signed a separate agreement with two fronts of the various Tarai-based outfits. On Thursday, it formalised an eight-point deal with the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), a front of three parties led by Mahantha Thakur, Upendra Yadav and Rajendra Mahato; and, on Saturday, it entered into a five-point agreement with the Federal Republican National Front (FRNF), a combine of seven parties and organisations based in Tarai. Under the deal, a ‘complete federal system of governance along with scientific autonomous guarantee shall be established based on the historical background, language, geography, region and economic resources and viability of the Limbuwan, Khambuwan, Tamangsaling, Tharuhat, Madhes and nationalities”. The two accords are being billed as having cleared the deck for the election to the Constituent Assembly on April 10.

Though government leaders, including Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, rejected the demand for ‘a single ‘Madesh province with the right to self-determination”, the accord with the UDMF is being criticised for its alleged indirect recognition of this demand, again, allegedly because of the intercession of ‘troubleshooters’ who had been reported to have advised some change in the language of the demands to pave the way for agreement. At least, front leaders appear to be interpreting the accord along their preferred lines, given the wording “the aspirations of the Madhesi people for autonomous Madhes Pradesh …” But the phraseology will lend to other interpretations, and it may therefore cause future confrontation. Other communities in the Tarai, particularly original inhabitants like the Tharus, have taken exception to the description of the Tarai as Madhes. Some of the smaller SPA partners have registered their protest against Thursday’s accord.

While the government is alleged not to have accorded due importance to the voices of the original communities, it has drawn the charge of yielding to groups who are more vocal and more violent and who allegedly enjoy the backing of power centres. Sadly, the SPA and the government have made no discrimination between those who have been living in the Tarai for centuries and latter-day immigrants, particularly when it comes to granting special privileges, such as proportional participation in all areas of governance, including entry into the Nepal Army. Various Madhesi outfits lump all plainspeople together and have tended to make the people of hilly stock the target of their intolerance. But, the government, and the bigger of the SPA constituents, have been found wanting in the resolve to act firmly in national interest on the vital issues. Moreover, when fairness principle demanded lowering the existing 20 per cent threshold level for the political parties to be exempted from having to include other communities in their proportional lists, the limit was, on the contrary, increased to 30 per cent for these Madhesi groups. Let’s hope, despite all this, the CA provides a constitution that is fully democratic, provides a fair deal for all, leads to good governance and communal harmony, and avoids the mistakes of the past.