On Saturday, the SPA did the only right thing it could do on the demands for a single state of ‘Madhesh’ and the right to self-determination. It rejected the demands by concluding that neither it nor the government nor the interim parliament had the mandate to decide on such an issue as would impinge profoundly on national integrity. It left the decision, therefore, to the Constituent Assembly, which is slated for election only six weeks away, on April 10. Out of the six demands put forward by the United Madhesi Democratic Forum (UMDF), four could be addressed even before the election, according to SPA leaders. These two demands, they said, could not be met also because these required constitutional and legal changes just ahead of the election. The front’s demand for exemption from the requirement for inclusiveness on proportional representation from the existing 20 per cent to 30 per cent still needed agreement, it was reported.

The agitating Tarai groups did not submit their closed lists of candidates under the proportional representation system yesterday too — the date had been re-set specially with a view to enlisting their particiaption in the election, as they had ignored the original day). However, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala yesterday asked the public to rest assured

that the Tarai crisis would be resolved in a day or two. The nation would applaud any such

breakthrough so long as it did not compromise or threaten to compromise Nepal’s vital interests, such as its sovereignty and territorial integrity, or maintained the fairness principle in the political processes and a level playing field for all political parties. By these criteria, the two demands — one single Tarai state and self-determination — are out of the question — now and in the future.

Even the front’s push for greater non-inclusiveness privilege is an example of the heads-I-win-tails-you-lose approach. While it has sought ‘proportional representation of Madhesis’ in all areas of governance, the front wants itself to be exempted from this need to include others. Other communities in the Tarai seem to be slowly waking up to the dire implications of ‘one Madhes, one state’ and ‘self-determination’. For instance, the Tharus, who are among the original Tarai inhabitants, have staged protests, warning the government against yielding to these ‘separatist’ demands. Nepal has remained a unified nation for about two and a half centuries. While even those countries in Asia that became larger relatively recently through the union of separate states have not granted these rights to their provinces or states, raising these demands in Nepal has naturally raised general suspicion about the protagonists’ motives. Jana Andolan II has provided all the groups with undreamt-of rights and powers, and the approaching CA election aims to institutionalise these gains and provide more. In this context, continuing the agitation, which enters its 13th day today, appears to be directed against the CA election itself. The SPA and the government need to demonstrate that the election takes place on schedule, come what may.