I feel uneasily fulfilled that what I had said some 28 months ago has come to be true (THT 13/9/2004). There would be “an uprising of the Madhesis” and there is one now in 2007. I am however sad that, as a consequence, I am going to lose my country and national identity. The Madhesi movement is the beginning of the end of Nepal. It is not because the Madhesis want to break the country into pieces but mainly because our leadership is too insensitive and incapable of keeping a diverse people united.

I had said nothing extraordinary then. It was pointed out that “there is increasing consensual demand for state re-organisation with recognition for a right to self-determination, federal system of government with utmost autonomy to indigenous communities and fair representation in national legislature, executive and judicial branches. The Madhesi leaders clarified that the uprising is for the fulfilment of these aspirations.” What was extraordinary was complete oblivion of obvious facts on the part of agitators-turned-rulers criminalising the agitation.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is incapable of dealing with an extremely volatile situation that has obtained in the eastern and middle Terai. That is clear from his address to the nation. He has failed to understand the tumult of Madhesis as King Gyanendra was unsuccessful in grasping the public rage of Jana Andolan II. Both are equal in their intelligence, rather the lack of it. Both are bound to face the same fate sooner than later.

That the Terai residents need a rightful share in state machinery, government paraphernalia and respectable national identity is undeniable. Instead of addressing them directly, the government is trying to find a scapegoat for the trouble in the Terai. Some are blaming the palace for instigating demonstrators and vandalising public property, some, India for destabilising Nepal, some, Hindu fundamentalists of India for restoration of Hindu kingship, and some, a variety of “criminals”. When there is an incendiary situation it is immaterial who sets the fire. Instead of taking the main issue by the horns and resolving it, it is very unwise of our leaders to divert public attention to peripheral factors abetting it.

If blame should be given for the rising mess in the Terai, we must, first, blame Prime Minister Koirala for turning a blind eye to the “fast building of the uprising” and not addressing “the basic grievances of Madhesis in terms of unequal political participation, discrimination in civil and security services and economic exploitation”. Blame should further be heaped on him for resisting declaring Nepal a republic and closing the issue once and for all, and for excluding the issues of federalism and proportional representation from the comprehensive peace agreement and interim constitution.

He should be blamed for asking the Madhesis to wait till the Constituent Assembly is constituted to get their rightful claims over state power whereas he himself did not have to wait to appoint his daughter, cousins and henchmen in the legislature, diplomatic services and political positions. Should he not be blamed for creating the largest confusion in political scenario as the leader of the acclaimed largest party, the Nepali Congress? Where does the party stand on the question of monarchy, federalism, and regional autonomy? The party does not know, let alone the people who look at it with hope.

If blame should be apportioned to other leaders, the Maoists should share it too.

If they claim to have aroused public aspirations for equality, justice and freedom of Madhesis like other ethnic communities, why should they not support the current movement for the fulfilment of their demands for regional autonomy and federal set-up? Is it not wrong to criticise the movement simply because it was launched by Maoist dissidents Goit, Jwala Singh

and Upendra Yadav?

They might not have organisations as strong as the Maoists but they have grasped the Madhesi mood to agitate against suppression and injustice.

Chairman Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai should be blamed for aggravating the situation by using provocative language against their former followers now turned into their adversaries.

Blame should also be ascribed to the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) for triggering the trouble by calling Terai bandh while in power. It is the Sadbhavana bandh that fired the salvo of Madhesi movement. The Nepalgunj ethnic conflict could not but provoke a series of flare-ups. Is it not distortion of Loktantra to enjoy the decision-making power as well as decision-opposing rights?

With all these wrong-doing parties and leaders around, how can we expect the right thing to emerge? The ultimate victims are the people who will see their country breaking up and losing their national identity.

Shrestha is a freelance journalist