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Society
Ethnic Issue Overtakes
Nepal's Class War?
by Rita Manchanda
In the tumultuous days of the April 2006 Revolution, the symbolic
assertion of people's power over autocratic monarchy was the hoisting of
flags on the defaced statue of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of the
Shah dynasty. The flag that flew higher than all others was that of the
Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), also known as the
'janajati'.
Om Gurung, NEFIN general secretary, explains the prominence of the new
group: "Generally, the 'janajatis' are not much concerned about
politics. But this time round the autocratic rule of the King had
directly affected their ability to pursue their life cycle rituals."
While the Jana Andolan I (1990), the first democratic uprising
that resulted in a constitutional framework, was essentially
Kathmandu-centric, this time round there was a countrywide mobilization
and convergence on Kathmandu, and the 'janajatis' came in huge numbers.
The dominant wall graffiti in Kathmandu is all about ethnic assertion,
and particularly the Madhesia community's right to self-determination.
Newspapers have been quoting indigenous Madhesia and Dalit community
leaders demanding that their rights be reflected in the restructuring of
the state. They are convening mass meetings in the regions to mobilize
ethnic consciousness.
The consequences are manifest in the new assertions: The Chepang
community (52,000) wants 'self-determination with autonomy' in 29
village administrative units spread over four districts. The Tamangs are
claiming some of these districts. Maoist central leader and head of the
Madhesh republican government, Matrika Yadav, warns that if the Madhesi
people do not get citizenship before the elections to the constituent
assembly, they would boycott it.
Upper caste columnists decry the populist manipulation of identity
politics and blame the Maoists for promoting divisive ethnic federalism,
while ethnic rights activists like anthropologist Krishna Bhattachan
argue, "If you offer genuine autonomy, it won't bring separatism. In
fact it will prevent it." Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias
Prachanda, defensively states, "Ethnic struggle is also a form of class
struggle", and that self-determination is being advocated within a
federal structure on the basis of not only ethnicity but of regionalism
as well. Meanwhile, the Jantantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) that
splintered from the Maoists, is violently asserting a separatist agenda.
During the decade of 'Peoples War', the Maoists focused on mobilizing
the indigenous nationalities, women, Dalits, Madhesias - oppressed and
marginalized communities. The Maoists established people's governments
in nine ethno-regional autonomous areas. On the 10th anniversary of the
'Peoples War' in February, 2006, Prachanda proclaimed the dismantling of
"the unilateral structure of governance based on feudal Hindu
chauvinisms, by granting the rights of self-determination to the peoples
of oppressed class, caste, region and gender, and by forming regional
autonomous republican governments" as a significant achievement. He said
that this would be a prototype of a union of states with Nepali features
and that it would serve as the foundation of national unity.
A crucial goal of the April peoples' uprising, says political scientist
Krishna Khanal, was to restructure the Kathmandu-centric administrative
system of the last 237 years that "provided no opportunity for those
living outside the capital". Social scientist Mahendra Lawoti calls it a
system of 'institutionalized exclusion' of 84 per cent of the population
to privilege the Bahun Chetri upper castes or CHHEM -Caste, Hill, Hindu,
Elite Male, which form 16 per cent of the population.
In 1999, an index of power and exclusion estimated that the Bahun
Chettri castes make up 31.6 per cent of the population, and monopolize
66 per cent of positions of public, professional and cultural
institutions. The indigenous people, with 22 per cent of the population,
get only a seven per cent share in the power structure. And the Madhesis,
who constitute 31 per cent of the population, occupy a mere 11 per cent
space in the power sphere.
In the official narrative of the kingdom, Prithvi Narayan Shah united
the petty feudal principalities and nurtured "a garden of four castes
and 36 ethnicities". The reality was that more than 100 caste, ethnic,
religious, linguistic and regionally differentiated groups were held
together in a unitary, Kathmandu-centric, Hindu upper caste-dominated
state. The challenge for the new 'inclusive' Nepal is to accommodate the
aspirations of the officially recognized 21 caste groups, 59 indigenous
nationalities and 93 different language communities.
Politics is transforming regional identity into an ethnic one. The
tussle between the hill (parbatiya) and the plains (terai) is seen in
the denial of citizenship to more than 300,000 Madhesis. The Citizenship
Bill goes some way to meet this grievance despite its cut-off date of
April 1990, and its gender discriminatory provisions which specifically
impacts upon the social practice of Madhesi women seeking husbands
outside Nepal.
Restructuring of the state remains a hotly debated issue. The
Comprehensive Peace Treaty signed between the Maoists and the government
makes no mention of federalism, though it mentions "ending the present
centralized and unitary structure of the state", and the need to address
the problems of oppressed social ethnic groups, referring specifically
to 'janajatis' or indigenous groups.
But old anxieties have been raised by the adoption of the 'mixed system'
of elections for the constituent assembly. The first-past-the-post rule
and the 50 per cent of seats to be given to political parties on the
basis of a proportional representation system perpetuates the
distortions of the old system.. "Constraints have already been imposed
and you want to discuss inclusivity?" asks Sarita Giri of the Sadbhavna
party. She is skeptical of political parties demonstrating the political
will to transform the dominant patron-client culture.
Political analysts warn that failure to respond to the mobilized social
consciousness of the oppressed people could see the danger of a new axis
of conflict that could displace or redefine the old struggle between the
forces of the monarchy and democratic republicans. This time, the
struggle would revolve around dominant castes pitted against oppressed
castes and ethnic groups. The class war of classical Marxism is set to
become a caste and ethnic war in Nepal.
December 17,
2006
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Society
The Week of December 17, 2006
India: The Shining, The Suffering and The
Pampered by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Modus Operandi of Empires by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
China: Balancing Power Relations in South and
South-East Asia
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
Special Economic Zones: Boon or Disaster? by
Ramesh Menon
Manmohan Singh's Dangerous Declaration of 2006
by V. Sundaram
Health of Nations by J. Ajithkumar
Is there non-discriminatory Rule of Law in India?
by V. Sundaram
In Their Right Minds by Linda Light
Ethnic Issue Overtakes Nepal's Class War? by
Rita Manchanda
Looking Ahead in Gujarat by Manjari Sewak
Look Who's Talking! by Manisha Parekh
World Brotherhood: Love and Peace through
Poetry by Shernaz Wadia
Science, Arts and Literature for Human Culture
by TA Ramesh
River from the Land of Mystique Spells Doom
by VK Joshi
Keeping Thyroids in Order by Fehmida Zakeer
HIV/AIDS Bill -Pushing the Legal Envelop by
Kajal Bhardwaj
Papiya Ghosh: From JS to an End by Dr. Amitabh
Mitra
Hope for Battered Women by Marlinelza B. de
Oliveira
Homework for Men by Mini Sharma
The Perversity of Periyarana by V. Sundaram
A Shadow from Past Life a Story by Manasi Dutt
Romancing the Desert by Attreyee Roy Chowdhury
A Rebel of Innocence - 3 by Ashwini Ahuja
Roads in Chennai by Glory Sasikala Franklin
My God, What Have You Done! by Dhiraj
Bhimji Raniga
Sensationalism and the Media by Rajesh Talwar
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