Thought On Minimizing Madhesh's Current Conflicts
Janakpurdham - the heart of Madhesh or Terai is disturbed since last three weeks. The markets remain closed. No signs of activities are being observed in markets. Excepts the mass of political rallists only the stray dogs are visible even around the Janaki temple. People have started pouring in on roads on daily basis expressing different demands. In spite of such a big protests on daily basis it is highly pleasant to not that there has been no destructive attempts either to physical properties or with common people from the side of ralliests. Instead the local administration, particularly the police have beaten people mercilessly, fired guns on innocent observers, a insulted and assaulted the human rights commission representatives etc. So far more than 300 people have suffered from these brutual attacks of the local police. Out of these 300 about seven are in critical condition. One has been referred to PMCH-Patna, another to DMCH-Darbhanga of Bihar (India) and one is Teaching Hospital Kathmandu for special treatment. Some are still in zonal hospital Janakpur.
The on going revolt by the people is a sign of spill over effects of suppression faced by Madhesies during the past 200 years. This revolution would get calmed only after getting the full due rights as claimed by Madhesies. If the genuine demands of Madhesies are not addressed immediately Madhesh may go for a complete but independent state away from Nepal.
To conclude existing revolution is hovering around in following two demands.
The decision to reallocate national assembly seats on the basis of equal proportional representation of people.
On the basis of geographical consideration the separate state of Madesh with full rights for self determination except suzerainty, Foreign policy & Physical policy of the country.
The conflicts being observed in Madhesh at present is completely a political one. There is not a trace of truth in the rumor that the conflicts have been due to communal feelings or infused by any vested interest. In fact the Madhesies are awoken for their political, economic, human rights etc as per the established principles of democracy all over the world.
Suggestion:
Roughly 50 percent of the country's population is residing in Madhesh. Hence as per the essence of Millennium Goal of the UNO the Donor Agencies should think in contributing their resources at par in Madhesh to educate for social justice and ameliorate the economic condition of Madesh and Madheshies on a sustainable basis.
Satya Narayan Shah
Executive Director
SODEP
In The News
Police firing leaves 3 dead in Malangawa, 21 injured in Birgunj Kantipur
Jwala Singh led JTMM cadres kidnap 10 passengers from Rajbiraj
MPRF will sit for talks if Sitaula resigns: Raya
All-party meet on Terai unrest today All the legislator of the eight parties including the Maoists, members of the government talks team and the members of civil society, who recently visited the Terai region, among others are expected to participate in the meet being held at the parliamentary secretariat later today. .... the meeting would focus on the Terai violence and will prepare grounds for dialogue as well as make concrete decisions to resolve the unrest. ...... leaders of the civil society who had visited different parts of the strife-torn Terai region recently have concluded that the Terai unrest was spontaneous and urged the government not to suppress the demonstrations. ..... amidst the ongoing Madhesi movement, Speaker Nembang today urged the eight parties to formulate an interim constitution amendment proposal as soon as possible. ...... Nembang today made an appeal to the government to address the problems of the agitating Madhesi community. ....... Minister Oli, meanwhile, informed that as per the High Level Probe Commission (Raymajhi Commission) report, some names of those involved in suppressing the April movement have already been submitted to the Prime Minister. ...... Oli, who is presently undergoing treatment at T.U. Teaching Hospital for typhoid and jaundice, is leaving for Bangkok today for further treatment.
Silver lining still eludes Terai; curfew clamped in Sunsari, Biratnagar
MPRF cadres thrash journos in Biratnagar brutally beat up five journalists who had gone to cover a goodwill rally organized in Biratnagar. ..... the cadres surrounded the press men in a tight circle before proceeding to beat them up. ..... Binod Bhandary of the Kantipur National Daily, Mohan Manadhar of the Nepal Television, Shambhu Bhandary of Nepal-1, Bikram Luitel of the Samacharpatra Daily, and editor of Birat Darpan, Bijaya Pathak. ...... The forum members beat the reporters, alleging them of not writing news stories in the favor of the MPRF.
Petrol crisis deepens Petrol crisis deepened in the Kathmandu Valley as leading transits through which the product is imported remained closed for the 18th day on Saturday, due to the terai unrest. ........ In the absence of sufficient stock, the corporation this week pumped out 60,000 liters of petrol in average every day in the market, a mere one-third of the effective demand. Distribution of diesel and kerosene was still less. ...... the supply situation could worsen further if the unrest is not addressed soon ...... the corporation currently has enough stock of diesel and kerosene to meet demand for 10 days. ....... consumers in the Valley have already started feeling the shortage of cooking gas. Some one-dozen gas companies supplying cooking gas in the Valley have shut down refilling plants as they have run out of stock. ....... a sharp decline in the number of three-wheelers and micro-buses (operating with gas) plying on the streets.
Nepal police fire on Madhesi protesters, two killed Reuters.uk, UK
Nepal police fire on Madhesi protesters, 5 wounded
1 killed, 12 injured in police firing in Nepal's Terai region
2 Protesters Killed in Sarlahi, Over 20 Hurt in Birgunj Police Firing Himalayan Times
Janakpur Protester Succumbs to Injuries According to Rabindra Thakur, central member of MJF, Pawan Kumar Shah, 20, a resident of Janakpur municipality – 2 of Dhanusha district succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Patna. Thakur said that dead body was being brought to Janakpur.
India Hopes Nepal Problem will be Solved
Curfew in Four Terai Districts Continues
NSP (A) Behind Failure of 8-party Meet: CP Mainali Tuesday’s eight-party meeting ended inconclusively after Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) insisted on “decreasing” the number of electoral constituencies in the hills and adding the number of constituencies in the Terai. ...... “The NSP (A) did not sign the statement, insisting that the number of electoral constituencies in the hills be decreased,” Mainali, who came down heavily on the party for fiercely pursuing its demands, said at a programme here on Saturday. ....... Criticising the party leaders for making a “childish” decision to boycott all eight-party meetings in which Terai does not figure, Mainali urged the NSP (A) to stop branding people as the Madhesis or Pahadis. “I urge the party to keep in mind that we all are Nepalis first.” ....... “It will be unwise to even think that the interim constitution should only meet your party’s demands,” he added. He added that he smelt rat in the ongoing Terai movement, saying the same could be a conspiracy to disintegrate Nepal. Terming the electoral system proposed in the interim constitution discriminatory, NSP (A) general secretary Rajendra Mahato said the country had to go for a federal system of governance to avoid any untoward incident. Uma Kanta Chaudhary of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) suggested amendments in the interim constitution, saying that holding elections to constituent assembly would be “meaningless” if demands of the Madhesis were not met.
Maoist People’s Revolutionary Council Reshuffled The Joint Revolutionary People’s Council, a political front of the CPN-Maoist headed by Dr Baburam Bhattarai, has reshuffled its central committee with a view to fighting “feudalism and imperialism”. ...... a 33-member central committee of the council. ...... Dev Gurung has been appointed member-secretary of the council while KB Mahara, Dinanath Sharma, Matrika Yadav, Nanda Kishor Pun, Lekh Raj Bhatta, Khadga Bahadur BK, Shivraj Gautam, Tilak Pariyar and Jayapuri Gharti are secretariat members. ....... Chiefs of all sister and other fronts affiliated to the CPN-Maoist have been made members of the council. ...... Prachanda, decided to “expose the conspiracy of the royalists who are inciting violence in the name of the Madhesis, indigenous people and nationalities”, but decided to support the just demands of the Madhesis, indigenous people and the nationalities. ...... The party also reinforced the need to immediately declare the country a democratic republic, go for a proportionate representation in the constituent assembly polls and take action against those indicted by the Rayamajhi Commission
Thakur Renews Call for Talks on Terai Issues Convenor of the government talks team and Minister for Agriculture and Co-operatives Mahanta Thakur today called those actively involved in protest programmes in Terai region for talks to see a peaceful solution to the problems facing the region. ....... "A decade-long insurgency ended recently. This is an opportunity for a peaceful settlement of conflicts," he said, adding, "Terai unrest can also be settled through dialogue and the government has already formed a team for the same." ...... Speaking at a programme organised by the Nepal Youth Society, Thakur said the team would proceed with talks once the agitating party come for dialogue. "Through dialogue we can attain what we cannot gain through violent means," he said.
Terai Unrest May Force Postponement of NSU Meets
Doing Justice Right Nepalnews.com, Nepal those born with silver spoons in their mouth just by the virtue of being hill- dwellers or the Pahadis, but also for the Madhesis for whom honor, human worth and dignity has been a far-fetched dream. ....... the most awaited interim constitution that everybody hoped would be fair and inclusive, appeared a sham - the final straw that broke the camel's back. ....... The demands of the Madhesis are simple and humble- right to self-determination, proportional representation in the constituent assembly, restructuring the constituencies based on population, federal system with regional autonomy, and elimination of all forms of discrimination practiced by the state mechanism. Yet, the response have been high-and-mighty: the news about casualties and violence against the Madhesis have been suppressed to keep the world unaware of such incidents; Madhesis have been killed, looted, attacked, vandalised and their houses have been burnt with the support of and backed by Nepal police; curfews have been imposed in Madhesi towns and their basic rights suspended to choke-off their voices; peaceful protesters are hurled into custody and tortured without any legal basis... and the torment continues. According to different sources, at least 10 Madhesis have already been shot dead, about 350-400 injured and dozens of them in serious condition, and the numbers are mounting each passing day. ....... the Prime Minister's address to the nation on January 31 st turned out a poem full of ambiguities. That “the federal structure of the nation will be created during the formation of new constitution after the election to the constituent assembly” is hard to pin one's faith on. Moreover, to say that constituencies will be added based on population increase seems to be merely an attempt to mislead Madhesi people. ........ In all this topsy-turvy and the circumstances where cards seem stacked against the Madhesis, one thing that seems intact and bound is the unity of Madhesis all over the globe. ...... Observing the Madhesi unity and the solidarity shown by some empathetic Pahadis, Madhesis can hope for light at the end of the tunnel.
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