Madhesi Movement Is April Revolution Part 2

(Sent to Kathmandu Post)

The wave of largely nonviolent street protests that have engulfed the Terai this past week has to be seen as the second act of the April Revolution itself. The April Revolution was for basic democracy and human rights, this has to be seen as one for social justice.

The Madhesis of Nepal are unique in that although we are half the country and contribute almost 70% of the state revenues, we have been by and large kept out of state power. The 1990 democracy movement did not much change that. The decade long civil war did not change that. The lesson has been that basic democracy is not enough. Power elites morph to take over the new design as well.

It all started in Nepalgunj where a Pahadi mob was given explicit police protection to go on a rampage and burn much Madhesi property. Then it headed to Kathmandu. The Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) burned copies of the interim constitution, and its leaders got jailed. The very act of jailing makes a mockery of the democracy in the country. Burning a constitution is an act of free speech. It is no crime.

I am glad for the nonviolent ways of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), because it is between that or the violent ways of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), both the Goit and the Jwala Singh factions. For some reason the Madhesis in the eight party coalition simply are not doing it. They are leaving a vacuum that the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) is having to fill.

It has been offensive to see the likes of Girija Koirala and Prachanda come out suggesting the royalists have been behind the protests. There has been a suggestion these protests might hurt the republican cause. It has been obnoxious of the eight party leaders to suggest that the lone gunshot that killed the 16-year old Ramesh Kumar Mahato is the sole cause of the tumult in the Terai. They forget Nepalgunj, they forget Kathmandu. They forget the hundreds of years of grievances of the Madhesis.

The Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) leaders know what a constituent assembly is all about. It is through that assembly that the country will get a new constitution that will hopefully have federalism. But the way the eight party leaders have ruled, and made appointments since April, the way they have come up with the interim constitution gives a lot of ground for suspicion. They are the same old, same old. There has been little good news for the DaMaJaMa, namely the Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati, Mahila. The Bahun men are going to continue to rule.

The street action of the April Revolution kind that is being repeated in the Terai is a powerful tool of non-violence. And it reaches its climax when it achieves a clear goal. In this case that means free, fair and inclusive elections to the constituent assembly. The arrangement in the interim constitution is not offering that. The interim constitution has been an insult to the DaMaJaMa. The fundamentals of the electoral process are flawed.

What were and are the options? One proposal floated by the UML and a few others was to have the entire country as one constituency, and have people vote for the party of their choice. Then the parties would get seats based on how many votes they earn. This would have been wrong. The party leaders would have ended up with too much power, for it is they who would have decided who would end up on their lists.

The parties came up with a mixed system. About half the seats would be directly elected. Another half would be proportionate. This sounds relatively better. But it has major flaws. A big flaw is that you end up with a legislature that is almost the size of the legislatures in India and America. India is over a billion people, Nepal is 27 million. I think this is reflective of the reluctance on the part of the entrenched party leaders to think in terms of power devolution and genuine federalism. If they will give you enough MPs in Kathmandu, why would you want separate states? That seems to be the thinking. Big parties like the Congress, UML and the Congress (D) have yet to come up with their proposed maps for federalism. That makes the Madhesi and the Janajati very suspicious. Are they postponing it as much as they can? Do they actually dislike the idea?

Another big mistake has been to retain the 205 seats as demarcated according to the 1990 constitution. It is interesting that everything else was ditched, but the 205 seat demarcation was retained as if that was the jewel of the 1990 constitution. This is a huge problem. You have to draw up 205 constituencies based on equal population. Democracy means one person one vote. The 205 constituency arrangement of the 1990 constitution is a conspiracy against the Madhesi. Only 80 of the 205 are in the Terai that has half the national population. And even those are perpendicular rectangles going north to south. That is designed to dilute the Madhesi influence.

Peace talks between the agitating Terai and the eight party government necessarily has to be about redrawing the 205 constituencies. Without that, there will be no peace.

That brings in the question of reserved constituencies. It is a very done thing. Ram Vilas Paswan of India launched his career through a Dalit reserved constituency. 33% of the 205 seats should be reserved for women, of those two thirds should be for Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati women. There will still be elections in those constituencies but there can only be women candidates. And we should have additional reservations for the Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati such that 50% of the total seats are reserved seats. Only such popularly elected DaMaJaMa leaders will truly speak for their respective groups. You have to be a little suspicious of those who get appointed. The appointed ones owe their primary allegiance to the party leaders, not to their people.

The idea of reserved constituencies will also provide a soft landing for the Janajati Movement that has engulfed the Eastern Hills in the wake of the movement in the Terai.

And then there is the central question of citizenship papers. 10 years ago a Congress government said 42 lakh Nepalis have been deprived the papers. Today the Girija Koirala government has come out saying they will give out the papers to 33 lakh Nepalis. That creates a huge deficit of people who will still be without the papers going into the constituent assembly elections. That is a fundamental human rights violation. These leaders in power could be taken to the international courts.

This uprising in the Terai has reminded the eight party leaders that it was the same way in April. They did not lead it. The people led them. Or they would not be acting so surprised today. And if they are democrats at heart, they should be happy. The people have spoken. Now it is for them to deliver and lead the country to free, fair, inclusive constituent assembly elections.

In The News

Cabinet meet decides to call two Terai rebel groups for dialogue Gorkhapatra, Nepal decided to call the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha for talks. ..... decided to provide Rs. 1 million each to those who died in the Lahan clashes. ..... the government has decided to bear the cost of treatment for those injured in the clash. ..... Madhesh Janadhikar Forum would consider the government's call at its party meeting. Upendra Yadav ...... Ramesh Mahato .... Pramod Sada and Bijay Sahani died ..... 11 injured persons, three attendants, two injured Armed Police Force personnel and a police .... Bechan Yadav, 32 died on the way to hospital while Mohamud Mudasin, 18, died while undergoing treatment. ..... Manoj Kumar Shah, 28, Appu Gupta, 24, Nandan Kumar Khetan, 21, Shekh Jam Ludhin, 31, Manoj Kumar Shah, 13, Kishan Shah, 27, Mohammud Bablu, 18, Bishnudev Raya, 40 and Mohammud Mumtaz, 18.

PM, Prachanda differ on talks offer to terai groups Kathmandu Post
Buddha to feature on Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes
CMDP for addressing Madhesi issue Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) said it had taken the ongoing Madhesi movement as a consequence of their being confined and suffocated for 238 years. .... CK Lal opined that non-madhesi people had never thought of Madhesi's problems as the problems of the nation till now
Locals without citizenship duped easily However, the locals are now jubilant following the arrival of citizenship distribution teams in their villages.
LAHAN UNREST Human Rights Organization-Nepal, Nepal Teachers' Union, Professional Alliance-Siraha, among others, urged MPRF to accept the government's call for talks. ...... Madhesi Lawyers' Society has requested the eight parties and the government to positively respond to MPRF's demands. Federation of Nepalese Journalists and NGOs Federation, Saptari districts too have made similar appeals.
Maoists hold on to guthi land, collect tax
Promote FDI

Maoist army registration process in Chitwan comes to halt Kantipur
Civil society urges all to exercise restraint
Let's talk, says PM; Prachanda sees hindu extremists behind unrest
8 hour curfew imposed in Lahan, tensions down a notch
Human Rights organizations in Lahan appeal to seek solution through dialogues
Transport strike cripples life in Sarlahi
Parties differ on electoral system, ballot paper
Indians trying for Nepali citizenship
NT to distribute 3.5m mobile lines by 2010
सरकारद्वारा वार्ता आह्वान सरकारले मधेसी जनअधिकार फोरम र आदिवासी/जनजाति महासंघ लगायतलाई शान्ति वार्तामा आउन मंगलबार आह्वान गरेको छ । 'संविधानसभाले राजनीतिक, आर्थिक, सामाजिक समस्या समाधान गर्न सक्छ भन्ने सरकारको विश्वास छ,' मन्त्रिपरिषद् बैठकपछि प्रवक्ता सूचना तथा सञ्चार राज्यमन्त्री दिलेन्द्र बडुले भने- 'संविधानसभा चुनावपहिले समाधान गर्नुपर्ने केही विषय छन् भने त्यसका लागि शान्तिपर्ूण्ा संवादमा आउन सरकारले मधेसी, आदिवासी/ जनजातिलाई आह्वान गरेको छ ।' ....... लहान घटनामा मारिएका पा“च जनाको परिवारलाई १०/१० लाख रुपैया“ प्रदान गर्न ..... सरकारको आह्वानपछि फोरमले भने वार्ताको वातावरण नबनेको टिप्पणी गरेको छ । फोरमद्वारा जारी विज्ञप्तिमा सरकारी दमन, गिरफ्तारी र हिंसाले वार्ताको न्यूनतम वातावरण बन्न नसकेको जिकिर छ । ..... आफ्नो आन्दोलन शान्तिपर्ूण्ा रहेको दाबी गर्दै फोरमले अन्तरिम संविधानमा मधेस, लोकतन्त्र, मानव अधिकार, आदिवासी/जनजाति र दलितविरोधी प्रावधान संशोधन हुनुपर्ने मागमा आन्दोलन जारी रहेको उल्लेख छ । ...... फोरमले जनसंख्या आधारमा समानुपातिक निर्वाचन प्रणाली माग गरेको छ । '२ सय ३८ वर्षेखि मधेसी आदिवासी/जनजातिमाथि कायम आन्तरिक औपनिवेशीकरणको अन्त गरी जातीय एवं क्षेत्रीय स्वायत्त शासन, आत्मनिर्ण्र्ााो अधिकारसहितको संघीय प्रणालीतर्फअन्तरिम संविधान उन्मुख हुनर्ुपर्छ ........ फोरमले प्रधानमन्त्री र माओवादी अध्यक्षले राष्ट्र र मधेसी समुदायसामु माफी माग्नुपर्ने र गृहमन्त्री कृष्णप्रसाद सिटौलाले पदबाट राजीनामा दिनुपर्ने माग गरेको छ । उसले सरकारद्वारा गठित उच्चस्तरीय न्यायिक छानबिन आयोग मधेसीको नेतृत्वमा गठन हुनुपर्ने माग गरेको छ । फोरमले आठ दलको सोमबारको निर्ण्र्ाा' अप्रजातान्त्रिक र न्यूनतम मानव अधिकारविरुद्घ भएको' आरोप ....... प्रधानमन्त्रीले शान्तिसुरक्षा कायम गर्ने नाममा उग्रता पर््रदर्शन नगर्न गृहमन्त्री कृष्णप्रसाद सिटौलालाई आग्रह गरे । ...... 'कुुनै बेला राज्यद्वारा आतंककारी घोषित माओवादी चार दिन राजधानी छाड्दा तर्राईमा यत्रो बबन्डर मच्चियो,' उनले भने । मधेसमा दंगा बढेपछि प्रधानमन्त्री निवास बालुुवाटारबाट आफूलाई पटक-पटक फोन आएको उल्लेख गर्दै उनले प्रतिउत्तरमा आफूले 'सामन्तवादी चलबलाइरहे गणतन्त्रका लागि आजभोलि नै तयार रहन' खबर पठाएको बताए । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्ड, नेताहरू बाबुुराम भट्टर्राई र रामबहादुुर थापा 'बादल' मंगलबार सा“झ गाडीबाट काठमाडौं फर्किएका छन् ।
समानुपातिक प्रणालीमा दलहरूबीच मतभेद समानान्तर पद्धतिमा मतदाताले सीधै पार्टर्ीीलाई मत दिन्छन् र त्यसैका आधारमा २ सय ४ सिट निर्धारण हुन्छ । मिश्रति सदस्यीयमा भौगोलिक क्षेत्रअनुसारको २ सय ५ र समानुपातिक अनुसारको २ सय ४ दुवैमा खसेको कुल मत जोडेर अनुपातका आधारमा सिटहरू निर्धारण गरिन्छन् । ..... कांग्रेस, माओवादी र मजदुर किसान पार्टर्ीी 'समानान्तर पद्घति' अपनाउनुपर्ने अडान राखे भने एमाले, विभाजित तीनवटै जनमोर्चा, वाममोर्चा, राप्रपा, जनशक्तिलगायत आठ दलले भने 'मिश्रति सदस्यीय' पद्घति हुनुपर्ने बताए । समानान्तर पद्घति अपनाउ“दा ठूला पार्टर्ीीई बढी सिट प्राप्त हुन्छ । मुलुकभर या धेरै ठाउ“मा मत पाउने तर प्रत्यक्ष सिट कम जित्ने साना पार्टर्ीी लागि मिश्रति सदस्यीय पद्घतिबाट बढी सिट आउने सम्भावना हुन्छ । दुवै कांग्रेस, राप्रपा एउटा मतपत्रको पक्षमा छन् भने एमाले, माओवादी, विभाजित तीनवटै जनमोर्चा, वाममोर्चा दर्ुइवटा मतपत्र हुनुपर्ने अडानमा छन् । उम्मेदवारको समावेशीकरण भए/नभएको पहिचान, समावेशीकरणको संयन्त्र कसरी तय गर्ने भन्नेमा पनि दलहरू निष्कर्षा पुगेका छ्रैनन् । अन्तरिम संविधानमा उम्मेदवारको चयन गर्दा समावेशी सिद्घान्तलाई दलहरूले ध्यान दिनुपर्ने र समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्वअर्न्तर्गतको सूची तयार गर्दा महिला, दलित, उत्पीडित जाति, आदिवासी/जनजाति, पिछडिएको क्षेत्र मधेसी लगायतको प्रतिनिधित्व गर्नुपर्ने र दुवै निर्वाचनमा गरी कम्तीमा एक तिहाइ महिला उम्मेदवार हुनुपर्ने व्यवस्था छ ।
गोलीले घाइते भएकामा रमिते र र्सवसाधारण बढी
र्सवसाधारणको गाडी नरोकी राजाको सवारी
जनतान्त्रिकद्वारा अपहरण
लहान घटनामा थप दर्ुइको मृत्यु
माओवादीलाई मानव अधिकार तालिम’
लहान घटनाको विरोधमा पर््रदर्शन
सात वर्षछि 'दलित' भन्दै पत्नी निकाला
तर्राईवासीको असहमति नारा जुलुस गरेर अन्तरिम संविधान जलाएकै कारण थुन्ने र मुद्दा चलाउने अधिकार सरकारले पाएको छैन । ....... नेपालगन्जमा केही दिन पहिले सत्ताधारी पार्टर्ीीद्भावनाले बजार बन्दको आयोजना गर्दा त्यहा“को एउटा सानो पहाडे मूलको समूहले अराजकता मच्चाउ“दै मधेसवासीको घर लुट्ने, जलाउने र यातयातका साधनमाथि भीषण प्रहार गर्ने वितण्डा मच्चाएको धेरै भएको छैन । त्यसबेला मूकदर्शक बन्ने सरकारले अहिले मधेसवासीले संविधान जलाउ“दा किन पुलिस उतारेर कारबाही गर्‍यो ....... अहिले मधेसवासी जनतामा देखापरेको आक्रोश केवल प्रायोजित मात्र हो भनेर वक्तव्यबाजी गर्नुभन्दा पहिले नेपालगन्ज र काठमाडौंमा उत्तेजनाको बीउ रोप्ने शक्ति र व्यक्ति खोजी गरेर अराजकताको किलकिले अ“ठ्याउनु उचित होला । ....... माओवादीले सम्पर्ूण्ा अवरोध पार गर्दै संसद्मा अहिले जुन हैसियत प्राप्त गरेको छ भोलि संविधानसभा चुनावमा बहुमत नै पायो भने सायद राजाको सम्पत्ति खोज्नेमात्र होइन नेताहरूको सम्पत्तिको पनि खोजबिन होला । ....... आफूलाई अपरिहार्य शक्ति ठानेर जनताको विमतिको अधिकारमाथि प्रहार गर्नमै लिप्त रहने हो भने माओवादीको पनि एमाले र कांग्रेसकै हालत हुने देखिन्छ । माओवादीस“ग गरिब जनताले ठूलो अपेक्षा राखेका छन् । आम जनताले यो नया“ शक्तिले सामाजिक न्यायको नीति निर्माण गरोस् भन्ने कामना पनि गरेका छन् ।
अन्तरिम व्यवस्थापिका-संसद्को औचित्य
राजनीतिका चार दृश्य

Nepal:MJF protesters shut down Biratnagar PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
Nepal:Eight-hour curfew imposed in Lahan PeaceJournalism.com
Nepal:Curfew clamped in Janakpur PeaceJournalism.com
CPN to apologize for cadre-villager clash in Nepal: CPN chairman People's Daily Online
Probe ordered as five die in Nepal violence Gulf Times, Qatar
Fresh curfew in Nepal towns The Brunei Times violent protests by ethnic Madhesis ..... protesters from Nepal's southern plains who say they have been sidelined by a deal to bring former Maoist rebels into the political mainstream.
Balkanization Threatens Nepal OhmyNews International
Curfews in Nepal as unrest clouds peace process China Post
UN urges Nepal war crimes trials BBC News, UK In her BBC interview, the UN high commissioner for human rights accused the country's political players of acting insultingly to victims of rights abuses committed during nearly 11 years of conflict. .... it would be catastrophic to grant amnesties on either side before the commission did its work. .... "The UN totally rejects any amnesties for very serious offences - genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity - and certainly war crimes here would be clearly applicable" .... people on both sides should be punished ..... "There should be prosecutions of those most responsible for these levels of gross violations of human rights, disappearances, killings, and torture" ..... post-conflict political environments are very fragile but "justice should not be held hostage" to that. .... many a times information provided by the government to human rights monitors were found not credible, while the Maoists were reluctant to cooperate. .... "Now we see what the conflict was hiding - which is much more chronic violations such as discrimination on a very large scale of all kinds of minority groups."
Nepal : The State/System Transformation PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
Hindu extremists spreading anarchy in Nepal: Prachanda Hindu, India
Nepal's new source of unrest BBC News What unites them most is the belief that they are marginalised in a country whose rulers, both royal and political, have always come from the hills. ..... The Madheshis say they feel internally colonised and that even simple matters, such as the way they dress, are looked down on. ..... Although one-third of Nepalis are Madheshis, they make up only one-tenth of those working in government and in the army they have near zero representation. .... many have been denied Nepalese citizenship, despite living in the country for decades. ..... Ethnically-based violence is new to Nepal.

Parties differ on electoral system, ballot paper NepalNews CPN-UML, three factions of People's Front Nepal, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi-devi), Rastriya Prajatantra Party favoured MMPR electoral system, while Nepali Congress, NC (Democratic), CPN (Maoists) and Nepal Workers and Peasant Party stood in favour of PS electoral system. ...... In the MMPR electoral system, total valid votes is divided by 409 seats. Each party's seat garnered in the first past-the-post system will be subtracted from the quotient to arrive at the final number of seats to be allotted to the party in question. ...... Whereas, in PS electoral system, 204 seats will be divided among political parties according to votes received in the election. ...... parties were also divided over whether to use single or double ballot paper for two different electoral systems; first past-the-post and second proportional electoral system. ...... UML, PFN, Maoists and Sadbhavana party favoured double ballot paper during the CA polls, while other political parties preferred two votes (each for the party and candidate) in a single ballot paper.

17 January 2007, Wednesday	191
	18 January 2007, Thursday	320
	19 January 2007, Friday	242
	20 January 2007, Saturday	32
	21 January 2007, Sunday	269
	22 January 2007, Monday	343
	23 January 2007, Tuesday	332
	24 January 2007, Wednesday	476