Madhesees of Nepal: Position and Direction

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"
Dr.Martin Luther King
Madhesees of Nepal: Position and Direction

JAY PRAKASH GUPTA
General Secretary, Madhesee Peoples Rights Forum-Nepal



There’s a common proverb: "There’s a gloom under the lamp." We, the Nepalese peoples of Madhes have been facing the same shaky and ignominious situation. Moreover, it’s but natural that the political KHAS JAMINDARS and local or International press who are extremely busy for their own cause, it is obvious to quite ignorant of this fact.
Who are the Madhesees of Nepal ? How do we live in Nepal ? What are our living conditions ? How have we been deprived of the universally acclaimed human rights ? What are our expectations ? Here, I want to present them in brief.
Reality of Nepal
Nepal is a multicultural and multilinguistic country. It is divided into two types of landforms: hills (mountains) and plains. The native Madhesees Peoples, who belongs to plains speaking mother tongues common in Indian culture like Hindi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Urdu, Abadhi and some other indigenous languages. The Madhesees of Nepal are not non-resident Indians, who migrated to Nepal some decades back became seeking jobs. The Madhesees of Nepal origin show different characteristics of living here. 240 years ago, before Nepal took the form of a state, our ancestors enjoyed a distinct entity on this land. Very ancient Hindu scriptures like Purans, Mahabharat and Ramayana, etc establish and testify the existence of human life and ancient states. In past, there flourished such renowned Jan pads and republics as Mithila, Videha, Tirhuti, Shakya, Koliya, Kochila and Birat. Janakpur, the capital of ancient Mithila, carrying a unique culture, still exists the plains of Nepal. The birth of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, in another plain region of Lumbini, also evidences our ancient traditions.
Even before the unification of Nepal, there were many petty states in the present-day plains. Bijaypur state of the then Eastern Nepal spread in east up to Tista river of West Bengal, India, in west up to Koshi river, in north to Tibet and in south to Purnia district, Bihar, India. Its state language was Maithili, which is widely spoken in Bihar, and which has only recently been included by the Government of India in Section 8 of Indian Constitution. Similarly, Simraungadh was an important state of the Terai before Nepal transformed into a nation. The Muslim Emperor of India, Gayasuddin Tughlak, invaded it in 1334 AD. Consequently, many Muslims entered Nepalese territory, especially the Kathmandu Valley. Later, in the mid-15th and 16th centuries, they scattered from Kashmir to Lhasa, Tibet. Many more Muslims followed Begum Hajarat Mahal and Nawab Birjis Kadar of North India when they sought refuge in India following the 1857 sepoy mutiny of India. Thus the Madhesees of Nepal are native inhabitants of the land.
Historicity and Linguistic Facts of Madhes
The Madhes region is marked with linguistic and racial diversity. Out of 60 castes and ethnic people, 29 reside in the plains. Similarly, 48 out of 103 linguistic groups hail from the plains. This makes 32.2% of the total population of the kingdom. There is a great controversy about Nepalese census. This is not impartial. Freelance expert call it unreliable. Through population manipulation, recent censuses have shown gradual decline in the population of the Madhesees. State statistics prior to 1961 AD showed Hindi as prime language among all the languages of Indian origin. Then it was formally given a status of second nation language. It was recognized even in the Nepalese parliament. But later it was removed in practice and people of Madhes origin faced discrimination on national level. Very strategically, the linguistic data of the people of Madhes origin have been put at the lower rung of hierarchy. For example, 1971 census showed 5 million Maithili speakers. Thus it occupied second status in the nation language. It still retains the position, but 2001 census has reduced the number to 2.7 million only, almost half of the previous population. On the other hand, the number of Nepali-speaking people has been dramatically increased.
Madhes's [Terai’s] Contribution to Nepalese Economy
Terai people (Madhesees) have made significant contribution to the development of Nepalese economy. 60% of the total land of Nepal falls in the plains. Thus the plain people make 60% of contribution in the entire agriculture. Gross Development (GDP) made by the Madhesees is 65%. On the other hand, they contribute 72% to industrial inputs. They run about 49% of industries. Thus they contribute 76% to the revenue. All the major dry ports and transit points lie in plains on the Nepal-India borders. Indeed, the entire Nepalese territory north to India is inhabited by the Madhesees. They have intact relations with people of Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and those on northern Indian borders.
Problems faced by the Nepalese Madhesees
Nepalese Madhesees face different problems and undergo several hazards. I want to mention some of them.
Problem of Identity and Recognition: The state tends to recognize only hill natives as Nepalese citizens. On the other hand, it shows reluctance to recognize the Terai people as the native citizens of certain region [Madhes]. Rather it treats them as recent migrants of India, which is quite wrong and malignant. It has deprived them of due recognition on the basis of their distinct Indian culture, language and lifestyle. It has also deprived them of the rights universally accepted as the ideals and norms of United Nations Organization. Instead, they are regarded and hated as the followers of Indian culture, speakers of Indian languages and people of Indian race.
Problem of participation and representation in state power: The Madhesees people do not have due say, participation or representation in those constitutional bodies patronized by the state as legislative, executive, judiciary, besides court (palace) services, army and police. They are not given any opportunity for the same. There has been an undeclared ban on them against policy-making and power exercise in the state.
Consequently, there are only 2 judges among 17 from Madhesees community in the apex court (Supreme Court) of Nepal. Except one yes-man of King, no single Madhesees is atop any constitutional body. Even the present cabinet has few ministers from the same community. Only one Madhesees official of the Foreign Services has been appointed as the ambassador. Especially, no Madhesees has been appointed for the same post representing different sectors on political level. Only one Madhesees is promoted and posted for the post of Secretary in the entire Nepalese government. According to some government data, only 259 Madhesees held the post of Section Officers out of a total 2,500 officials about some years ago. In fact, the government has adopted a policy of keeping the Madhesees at a bay and away from the mainstream of the state on account of complex constitutional and legal provisions.
Problem of citizenship or nationality: It is mandatory to acquire Nepalese citizenship for entering all government and non-government services. Lacking which, a citizen is deprived of all state privileges as provided by the constitution and existing laws. But the reality is that 4 million Madhesees origin people out of the total population of 22 million have been deprived of the Nepalese citizenship. Even different commissions erected by different governments in past have accepted and admitted this fact. Thus the government has forced them to live in their own native land stateless floating people. If the problem is not addressed and solved immediately, then the majority will be forced to quit Nepal and migrate to India, a situation like mass exodus or Noah’s flood.
Problem of recognition of language and culture: The Madhesees of Nepal speaks different languages like Hindi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tharu, Rajwanshi, Santhal, Tajpuriya, Bengali and Punjabi. The state plays no role in their promotion, prosperity, practice and protection. It has given no award and incentive for their development. The state - owned printing or publishing houses do not publish any books written in these languages. Hindi has long been a lingua franca among all sectors of Nepalese society. But the state makes clear discrimination against them. It gives no recognition to the regional dress of the Madhesees like dhoti, kurta, pyjama and gamchha. They are denied entry to National Secretariat (Parliament) and major government offices in dressed in those traditional garbs. Similarly, no distinction and honor is awarded to cultural events and festivals based on Indian culture like Chhatha, Dipawali, Holi, Judsital, Chaurchan, Samachakewa, Maghi, Jitiya, Id, Bakra-Id, which are observed by the Madhesees community.
Problem of internal colonialization: After the king exercised direct rule in Nepal, the state made intentional and strategic attempt to inhabit the people of hill origin in territory bordering India that is plains, where native Madhesees used to live. They were non-Madhesees like Burmese migrants, those driven out from northeastern states of India, and Bhutanese refugees. Thus began internal colonialization in the plains. This resulted into rapid decline in the population of Madhesees in their own native region, as is shown in different statistics of the government. Till recently, this region boasted of having lush green vegetation and thick forests. But the internal colonialization has turned it into a desert. Different studies have shown its adverse effect on the people inhabiting the Indian borders.
Literacy and opportunities in Madhes: The state has shown no interest in educating and developing the Terai people. According to government data, the average literacy of the Madhesees castes is 6.3% only. On the other hand, 51.2% the hill castes are highly literate though their population is 40.3% only. Moreover, 66.2% of them take part in ruling or government. But the Madhesees having 24.5% population have only 17.7% of high literacy. This biasness on the part of the state will be detrimental in the long run, leading to heavy disproportionateness and final extinction of the community. The women of this community face the same lot or fate.
Problem of right representation: The Constitution of Nepal has a provision stating that the sovereignty lies in people. But the latest political scenario speaks against it. In no case can sovereignty lie in the hands of the Terai people. Thus the state has deprived them of the constitutional rights by depriving them of true representation in state and government. The constituencies have been divided strategically to keep them away from the mainstream. Thus they have deprived of true representation in the legislative and thus sovereignty.
Solutions
Judicial recognition of the Madhesees: The prime political will of the Terai people is to secure free and independent identity. The state should confer due recognition all the castes, tribal and linguistic groups of this community as the native or indigenous people as it has regarded their native place as the inseparable part of Nepalese territory. It should also recognize their languages. It should adopt a "multilingual formula" as a lingua franca. Above all, it should accept that fact that Nepal is a common nation of Terai and hill natives.
Provision of citizenship: The Terai people will renounce any political solution that does not address their judicial representation. So they must be given due right to citizenship. That is 4 million Terai people, who have so far been deprived of Nepalese citizenship, should be granted the same. This is possible only through fundamental change in the complex provision of the constitution.
Reservation for representation in state power: There should be constitutional provision for equal representation of all the castes and ethnic groups on the basis of their population. Until and unless there is a proportionate human development of all classes and castes as per the principle of positive discrimination, there should be a provision for the reservation of the rights of the Terai people in representative bodies of policy making. It is quite essential as they lead a very miserable life as oppressed (dalit) and backward people.
Controlling internal colonialization: The state should make a regional structure on the basis of geographic, ethnic, linguistic and racial accounts, and make a legal provision against acquiring land in thus formed provinces in order to stop and check internal colonialization. There should be constitutional provision against making and implementing any anti - racial habitation policies in such provisions.
What should be the form of such province as wished by the Madhesees?
Nepal at present is undergoing an ordeal. On the one hand, the Maoists have waged an armed revolution for a republic state on the basis of communism. In this regard, 12,000 people have been killed in past 9 -10 years. Their struggle is solely terrorist in nature. On the other hand, the king has seized all executive power and is working against the parliamentary political system. Political parties have launched agitation against royal regression. The entire country is inflamed against it for about a year and half. Thus the whole nation is struggling for restructuring the state. The change is inevitable. The Madhes people believe in multiparty democracy. Therefore, they want to establish their rights and say in any forthcoming changes on the basis of their population. They have put forth their demand for central and regional governments within an indivisible Nepal and holding adult franchise for multiparty system. They very much wish for a federal rule.
Federal system and regional autonomy: It is the wish of every Madhesees. This is not possible through present constitution NAD unitary thought. So there is no alternative to Federal System for racial equality, social justice and equal opportunities. The Madhesees of Nepal want to have a federal system within an indivisible Nepalese territory. It will not only solve the problem of national unification on emotional grounds but also tie people of diverse castes, regions, languages and cultural groups in the same fabric of nationality. This alone will lend them and other nationalities equal rights in economic, social, political and cultural sectors, and end social discrimination based on caste, class, creed, culture and language.
Legal way to acquire federal system and autonomy: Since the existing constitution has failed to achieve federal system and autonomy, the only solution is holding elections for constitutional assembly. Their declaration will end the present political imbroglio. Otherwise it will flare up to a great extent.
Today, the Madhesees Peoples Rights Forum-Nepal want to draw your attention to this grave fact.

"Long live our struggle against the racial discrimination to Madhesees people of Nepal"

Ahiraj

Constituent Assembly

Constituent Assembly

At present, Nepal is undergoing a complex transition due to the most dilemmatic and directionless situation in the history. The country has witnessed the failure of British-style multi-party, parliamentary monarchical system. The rule of state established by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 (AD 1990), that resulted from the People's Movement, 2046 and through mutual agreement of Nepali Congress, United Left Front and the King, has been inactive, directionless and almost defunct. But the future constitution and new rule of state that could replace it has not taken any form yet. This makes inevitable constitutional change on the basis of a lawful and fixed procedure. To achieve this, people have already commenced debate, discussion and interaction on a new structure of the state. The major issue in this regard has been deciding about the outline (form) of future state through the Constituent Assembly. No aspect or sector of modern Nepalese national life has been untouched by this issue.
Today, the civil society has taken a grave interest in this issue. How should be the new constitution? What should be nature of the elections for the Constituent Assembly? Such issues have been a matter ofcommon interest for the Maoists, parliamentarians, royalists (monarchists) and common people. In fact, after the King unilaterally breached the tripartite political agreement (understanding) reached upon after the People's Revolution, 2046, there seems to be no other alternative than the Constituent Assembly in order to restore a complete democratic system. The view that the sovereignty seized from the people can be regained only through the Constitutional Assembly is gaining momentum in the country. The Madheshee Janadhikar Forum, Nepal has presented some relevant issues feeling a dire need to hold widespread discussion, debate and interaction on these issues.
1. Background of the Constituent Assembly in Nepal
The issue of the Constituent Assembly has been raised in Nepal since BS 2007. But it is still an important political agenda without being concluded. Due to the pressure exerted by the armed rebellion of Nepali Congress in 2007, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru made a proposal. Accordingly, the Rana premier Mohan Shumsher addressed the nation on 24 Paush 2007 (ie 9 January 1951) and declared "to form a Constituent Assembly through adult franchise all over Nepal, and to hold the first meeting of the Assembly within 2009". It was first declaration about the Constituent Assembly in the Nepalese history. Soon after, King Tribhuvan made a royal declaration on 7 Falgun 2007 (ie 18 February 1951), "WE have wished and decided to have the rule of our subjects henceforth in accordance with the Republican Constitution drafted by a Constituent Assembly elcted by them." Accordingly, the Interim government of the Ranas and Nepali Congress drafted Interim Constitution 2007 for a provisional period till the Constitution was formed through the Constituent Assembly. But the elections for the same were not held as per the royal declaration. Later, after the death of King Tribhuvan, his son King Mahendra ascended the throne and began a direct rule of the king, and thus stopped the elections of the the Constituent Assembly. On 24 Shrawan 2012 (ie 8 August 1955), the King declared to hold elections since the Ashwin Poornima (Full Moon Day) of 2014 (ie October 1957). But many contemporary political parties protested saying that the elections should be held for the Constituent Assembly, rather than the parliament. So King Mahendra made another royal declaration withholding the said elections. Nepali Congress, Nepali National Congress and Praja Parishad jointly protested the royal declaration and decided to hold Civil Disobedience since 22 Marg 2014 (7 December 1957). It was also particpated in by Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). The Civil Disobedience mainly aimed at holding the elections for the Constituent Assembly. But the agitation was postponed when King Mahendra declared again to hold general elections on 7 Falgun 2015 (ie 18 February 1959). The parties abandoned their demand for the Constituent Assembly and started preparing for the general elections. Thus the national politics took a different direction. Consequently, the parliamentary elections were held in which Nepali Congress had a sweeping majority, and form a government. In 2017 King Mahendra dissolved the elected government through direct military intervention. Then the meeting of the Central Committee of agitating Nepali Congress raised its voice in 2026 for the necessity of the Constituent Assembly. Earlier, the communist leader Mohan Bikram Singh had proposed about the justification (relavance) of the Constituent Assembly in a plenum of CPN held in Durbhanga (India) in 2019. Quite later, that is in 2043, CPN (4th Convention) raised its voice in favour of the Constituent Assembly. It reiterated its demand right after the People's Movement, 2046. In this regard, its leader Nirmal Lama, and CPN (Masal) demanded that the new constitution should be drafted through the Constituent Assembly. Then Nepal Sadbhawana Parishad (later turned into Nepal Sadbhawana Party, NSP) also expressed its view in favour of the Constituent Assembly. But the allies of Nepali Congress and United Left Front did not give any importance to the issue of the Constituent Assembly. As a result, the king promulgated the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal at the recommendation of a Commission formed through the mutual agreement between United Left Front, Nepali Congress and the King. Later this constitution was neither discussed nor debated or endorsed in the elected parliament. It is in regard with this constitution that the people are raising different voices like "What to do to the Cosntitution - amend or reform, hold the elections for the Constituent Assembly or rewrite the Constitution?". On the one hand, different political parties like CPN (Maoist), NSP (Anandi Devi), CPN (ML), Madheshee Janadhikar Forum-Nepal, and other organizations have been raising their voices in favour of the Constituent Assembly. On the other, many leaders and workers (activists) of CPN (UML) and Nepali Congress have sided with the Constituent Assembly.
In fact, the issue of the Constituent Assembly is not unique and completely new in Nepal. It had already become the major agenda of the contemporary politics ever since the revolution of 2007 after which it gained efficiency. The revolution was postponed only after the royal declaration of King Tribhuvan that the future rule of the country would be guided and directed by the Constitution drafted by the Constituent Assembly. Then Nepali Congress, CPN, Gorkha Parishad and Nepali National Congress had also supported the issued of the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, the agenda of the Constituent Assembly is not a fundamental issue raised by the Maoists. This should be taken as a common agenda of all the groups fighting today for establishing complete democratic political system in the country. All the constitutions of Nepal have so far been promulgated by the king. No constitution has been drafted through the participation of elected representatives. Therefore no constitution could place the people's power over the power and influence of monarchy, nor could establish constitutional supremacy. No constitution established the people as the major source of sovereignty and state power. Therefore political exit (outlet) today means establishing the abovementioned norms and values in the constitution. This cannot be achieved by reviving the almost defunct constitution or reactivizing the power manifest in the king, nor can a democratic system and constitutional rule be established in the country in this way. Therefore, all the groups having faith and belief in complete democratic system should stand in favour of the Constituent Assembly.
e the rule of our s2. Examples of the Constituent Assembly in the World
The Constituent Assembly is taken everywhere as a democratic process of drafting new constitution, changing the existing one and amending the same. India, Sri Lanka, America, France, Kenya, USSR (after 1917 Revolution), and South Africa all held the elections of the Constituent Assembly for this purpose. Here are some examples for your perusal (study).
America (USA) : Till 1789 no European nation a written constitution. Then, for the first time in the world history, America propounded a unique rule through the Constituent Assembly that was more democratic than contemporary British rule. 13 colonies revolted against England and declared independence on 4 July 1776. Then they formed a federation on 15 November 1977. These newly independent colonies decided to draft a new constitution which could unite them within a stronger union. Thus the representatives of the previous colonies held a conference in 1787 in Philadelphia. This conference was termed as the Constituent Assembly. It was attended by 55 representatives from all the states. They were George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Maddison, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Dickenson, James Wilson and other dignitaries. Of them, 8 dignitaries had signed the Charter of the American Independence, and had taken part in almost all the revolutions. Jefferson even portrayed the Constituent Assembly as the "Assembly of the Avtars (Incarnations)". In fact, it was an assembly of extraordinary people. Despite prolonged debate and differences, they passed many proposals with a majority. The major ones were: Drafting a new republican constitution, provision of three organs in the state - Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, delegating more power to the states, providing the Congress a right to make laws, etc. The representatives of the conference made a coordination between principle and practice and drafted a constitution that established balance among different organs, and reduced the possibility of mutual disharmony among them.
The makers of the American constitution gave importance to 4 cardinal points in it:
1. To establish a system of good governance through the constitution. They made a provision of a powerful Executive for it.
2. To keep each organ mutually independent and balanced. For this, Legislative, Executive and Judiciary should be separated from each other while each exercizing check-and-balance.
3. To make the government responsible (accountable) to the people. This principle was implemented by making a constitutional provision to elect all the high officials of the administration, and holding periodical elections for the same.
4. The most important objective was: the question (issue) of individual freedom. Accordingly, Executive, Legislative and Judiciary were kept separate so that one could not make a tie (an alliance) with another and encroach upon individual freedom. Besides, the constitution safeguarded some rights of the individuals. Any breach of those rights entitled the concerned individuals to seek judicial treatment.
The Philadelphia Conference drafted the constitution in 1787 and presented the same to the Congress on 17 September of the same year for approval. After the Convention of the Congress endorsed it, the same was signed by all the state representatives, and presented to all the states for final approval. Thus the constitution was brought into effect only after it was passed and endorsed by majority of the states. In this way, the political history of America really starts only from the date when the states approved the constitution. The Constitution of the United States of America was enforced on 30 April 1789. This was a unique experiment in the world. The Preamble of the Constitution was very moving and inspiring. Indeed, the essence of the US Constitution lies therein. After the making of this constitution, the people learnt about their rights and had a strong feeling of nationalism. The vast majority of people were not only the citizens of different (separate) states but also had a sense of belonging to a vast nation.
India: During the Struggle for Freedom in India, the Indian National Congress firstly approved the proposal for the Constituent Assembly in 1934. Then only the British government was forced to accept it in August 1940. When the Labour Party formed government in England in 1945, it sent a cabinet mission to India to take important decisions. All the members of the cabinet mission and Viceroy and Governor-General presented a plan of action, and issued a joint communiqué regarding drafting the Constitution of India by the British government. Accrodingly, arrangements were made to elect the members of the Constituent Assembly by provincial assemblies. The Sikhs and Muslim legislators were allowed to elected their representatives as per quota on the basis of their population. It was according to the cabinet mission that the provincial assemblies elcted the members of the Constituent Assembly in July 1946. The provision was made to include altogether 389 members in assmebly the of constitution makers. It had one representative for each million. According to this, there were 292 members from 11 provinces, 93 from local principalities and 4 from union states. The provision was made to divide the number of members on the basis of population from among the major communities of each province at places where the elections for provincial assemblies were to be held. Moreover, the elections of the representatives of each community were to be held only by their members in the assemblies or as per different electoral system by the provincial assemblies.
On 9 Decembert 1946, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held and was attended by 210 members only. They elected Dr Sachchidanand Sinha as a temporay President. Later on 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly. The Muslim League, which was demanding a separate state for the Muslims, bycotted the Constituent Assembly and resorted to violent activities in the name of direct action. As per the agreement reached upon by some chief leaders of Indian National Congress and the leaders of Muslim League, the Viceroy declared and assented to partition India and form a new nation - Pakistan, on 3 June 1947. The partition of India changed the size of the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly was not a sovereign body. Rather it had to work under the plan and procedure of the cabinet mission. Its members were not directly elected by the people but were indirectly elected by the members of the provincial assemblies. The Constituent Assembly had representatives from all the major parties, classes, racial groups and religions. 210 members took part in its first meeting held in 1946. Of them, there were 155 Hindus, 30 scheduled castes, 4 Sikhs, 6 Indian Christians, 5 backward people, 3 Anglo-Indians, 3 Persians, and 4 Muslims. Seen from party viewpoint, representatives from almost all the political parties like Indian National Congress, Hindu Mahasabha, Scheduled Castes Association, Muslim League, etc were present in the Constituent Assembly. Another important aspect of the Constituent Assembly was the presence of the chief leaders of all the parties in it. From class perspective, representatives from all classes and interest groups, namely lawyers, doctors, landlords, professors, workers, journalists, judges, former administrators, capitalists and women, etc other elites were taking part in the Constituent Assembly.
d Judiciary should be separated from each other while eacOn 13 December 1936, the basic principles and objectives of the constitution were outlined in the objectives and proposal as presented by Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru. The proposal was approved of by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947. In addition, the Constituent Assembly declared, "India will be an independent, sovereign and republican state, including autonomous units, and the people will constitute the source of power of the government. All the people will be given a right to justice, equality and independence. There will be essential provision for safeguarding the minorities, backward people, oppressed and other backward classes, and the integrity and sovereignty of the federal states will be retained." Later the proposal formed the basis of the Preamble of the Constitution.
On 29 August 1947, a 7-member draft committee was formed by the Constituent Assembly under the chairmanship of Dr Bhimrao Ambedakar. In addition, the Constituent Assembly formed other significant committees as well. They were federal Rights Committee, Federal Constitution Committee, Provincial Constitution Committee, Fundamental (Basic) Rights Committee, Minority Rights Committee, and so on. The draft of the Constituent Assembly was presented to the Chairperson on 21 February 1948. It was published in leading newspaper seeking the intellectuals' reactions to it. Then on 29 August 1947, Dr Ambedakar presented the draft formally to the Constituent Assembly. Altogether 7,635 amendment proposals were made to the proposed draft. Of them, 2,473 were widley discussed in the Constituent Assembly. Finally, the Constituent Assembly endorsed the draft constitution on 26 November 1949. It took 2 years 11 months and 18 days for the Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution in India. The last meeting of the Constituent Assembly was convened on 24 January 1950, when Dr Rajendra Prasad was selected as the First President of Indian Republic. Then all the members signed the constitution and decided to enforce the constitution on 26 January 1950. On the same date 20 years before, the Lahore Convention of Congress had declared their demand for complete autonomy (Swaraj).
France : The French Emperor Louis XVI (1774-93) decided to convene the parliament when he failed to solve the economic problem of the country. Accordingly, the parliamentary elections were held in 1789. It had three divisions or classes: The first class consisted of the aristocrats. The second class comprised of the clergymen. The third class was formed of the middle class workers and peasants' representatives sans any rights. The three classes had an unabridgeable gap among themselves (They held quite different opinions). Meanwhile, the first session of the parliament was held on 5 May 1789. But the meetings of the representatives of the three classes were convened separately. The representatives of the lower rung declared themselves as the only representative national assembly of France on 17 June 1789. They also decided to hold the national assembly themselves with following agendas: To end the prerogatives of the aristocrats and clergymen, declare human rights, seek solutions to economic problems, resolve the disputes related to the church, and above all, to draft a new constitution. The same national assembly drafted the new constitution. So it was called the Constituent Assembly. In 1791, the constitution was prepared by the national assembly and enforced after royal assent (emperor's approval). The constitution was based on Montesque's Theory of Separation of Power. The Constituent Assembly worked for about 2 years and 3 months, that is from 17 June 1789 to 30 September 1791. It was the first written constitution not only of France but also of the entire Europe. It established the first constitutional system in France. Though the constitution of 1791 is regarded as the landmark of progress in the French history, it did not last long. So the second elections for the Constituent Assembly were held on 23 April 1848.
Sri Lanka : In 1946 a new constitution was drafted after Ceylone got freedom from British colony. But, according to the constitution, the ultimate judiciary right was still reserved by the British privy council even after the coveted independence. Till then the Governor General of Sri Lanka was appointed by the British government. It went on till 1970/72. Thus Britain had retained Sri Lanka under modern colonialism. The people expressed great dissatisfaction over such constitutional framework of Sri Lanka. The voices were raised everywhere demanding the making of a new constitution by the representatives elected by the people. Meanwhile, general elections for the parliament were held in 1970. The Freedom Party of Sri Lanka won the election with about two-third majority. The party demanded that "the British sovereignty should recede from Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka should gain complete freedom". The elections gave a good opportunity to change the constitution. The parliament made a decision to convert the 157-member House of Representatives into the Constituent Assembly. Then the process of making a new constitution continued from 1970 to 1972. The Constituent Assembly passed 38 basic proposals. The new constitution established the President as the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of Army. The constitution lent supremacy to the national assembly. Thus the national assembly got complete right to change, amend and modify the constitution. Another important feature of the constitution was the concept of free and independent judiciary. Thus the new constitution of Sri Lanka was enforced in 1972. Then only an independent, sovereign and republican Sri Lanka was founded.
South Africa : The conflict against apartheid and racial discrimination ended in 1993 only through an agreement reach upon by the conflicting groups. There also the moot cause of conflict (bone of contention) was making a new constitution. The country was ruled by a minority group called National Party. The Constituent Assembly was unlikely to cater the interests of the minority groups. Political parties like Incatha Freedom Party also had the same opinion. But the African National Congress representing the majority of the Blacks strongly advocated for the Constituent Assembly. These two groups made a mutual agreement and held the first all-party roundtable conference. It was attended by all big and small political parties and organizations. They made free discussions and agreed upon the principles of the constitution. On the basis of those principles, the all-party conference made the first draft of internal constitution. It would direct the rule of the nation till the final constitution was made. Moreover, the all-party conference drafted necessary laws for democratic elections, and accordingly general elections for bicameral parliament were held in April 1974. It provided for national assembly and senate. The Constituent Assembly was formed of 490 members from both the Houses. It included representatives from all the parties. The number of the members of the Constituent Assembly was determined on the basis of the votes achieved by the party in the elections. This assembly prepared the final draft of the constitution. On 8 May 1996, a majority of 98% of the Constituent Assembly ratified the final draft and sent to the Constitutional Court for endorsement. The Constitutional Court saw whether the new draft complied to the pre-determined constitutional principles, and sent back to the Constituent Assembly, which re-endorsed the draft with certain amendments on 11 October 1996. On 10 December 1996, President Nelson Mandela signed the final draft, and promulgated the constitution to be enforced since 4 February 1997. Nepal can also learn a lot from politics and constitutional procedure of South Africa.
lasses had Kenya : Kenya had a different cycle of events. The Kenyan government did not take any initiative regarding the Constituent Assembly. It was rather done by the Kenya People's Commission, an ally of the civil society. The commission began to work independently without any assistance from the government. So the government started an all-party discussion fearing it would be separated from the process of making the constitution. Accordingly, it held the parliamentary elections, and made all the members of parliament ex-officio members of the Constituent Assembly. They made a study of different activities and steps necessary for making a new constitution and drafted an Act. The parliament also formed a constitutional commission, which was required to make a draft of the constitution and present to the Constituent Assembly. Later, a common process of review was begun by merging the legally formed commission and the one formed on civil level. It gave rise to heated debate, and many complications were seen regarding the agreement. The President insisted on getting parliamentary endorsement before giving finality to the constitution, as he had majority in the parliament. Moreover, the parliament had a parochial view about a new constitution. As a result, the President intervened to give finality to the constitution. Helpless, the civil society agreed to make a constitution on the basis of an agreement made with the President.
3. Issue of Amendment in the Present Constitution
The Constitution of Nepal was not made active and time-oriented in the last 14 years. Rather, it was kept static and untouched. Nor were any amendments made into it to cater the contemporary problems when the House of Representative elected by the people was active in the country. When Nepal Sadbhawana Party registered an ordinary proposal for constitutional amendment for solving the citizenship problem, it was defeated by a majority and thus the practice of constitutional amendment was blocked. It was but natural that all the political parties protested against it as the citizenship problem highly concerned the Madhesis. But many other problems were left unresolved as no amendment or reform was made into the constitution for its due modification. Parliamentary parties, especially Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and even palace saw their interests being safeguarded in this very constitution. The palace and the political leaders feared that the constitutional amendment could alter the role of monarchy, subjugate the army under the parliament, and open a discussion about new structure of state, beside raising the vast issues of the rights of Madhesis, tribals, dalits, minorities, religious and linguistic communities, and women, which would hurt the old and traditional interests. No leaders of any political party dared to solve these problems in a constitutional way. Thus the process of constitutional development was not furthered by making timely amendment to the constitution.
At present, many norms and values, and basic structures of the present constitution have failed in the process of constitutional exercise. The norms and values provisioned in the constitution, namely multi-party system, constitutional monarchy, and sovereignty manifest in people have failed in practice. It has been historically proved that the Nepalese monarchs are not ready to abide by the principle of constitutional monarchy. The promise made by King Tribhuvan in BS 2007 failed when he was still alive in BS 2010. In BS 2015, parliamentary elections were held, but the parliamentary government was banned within a year and a half. Since King Mahendra defied the principles of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, he imposed an autocratic no-party Panchayat system with active monarchy. The historical movement of BS 2046 restored the system of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy. But King Birendra was not satisfied with it as well. Seeing the actvities and expressions after the event of 18 Ashwin 2059 (ie 2 October 2002), King Gyanendra does seem willing to abide by the norms and values of constitutional monarchy. Thus since the kings of Nepal have so far been reluctant to abide by the principles of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, the system is frequently under the threat of erasure, and people's fundamental rights have been curbed. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 copied the British-style system of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, but failed to adopt the principles of democracy (people's rule), powerful parliament and parliamentary supremacy. Indeed, this experiment has been a complete failure in Nepal.
Another important aspect of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047 is sovereignty manifest in people. But, in reality, Nepalese could never be the source of state power and fully sovereign. They could never enjoy the sovereign rights. Neither they promulgated the constitution, nor was the constitution discussed, debated and endorsed in elected House of Representatives. Nor could the House make any amendments to it. Consequently, the declaration of Ashwin 18 (ie 2 October) has invaved the main spirit of the constitution itself.
Today there is a heated debate in the country as to elect the Constituent Assembly or to make constitutional amendments. Not only the Maoists, but alslo people of different levels and classes have turned rebels. So the slogan of the political parties in favour of the constitutional amendment has lost its meaning as opposed to many voices raised in street in favour of republic state, constitutional assembly and new structure of state. The reality bite is the constitutional amendment can neither solve the present political problem (imbroglio), nor can it give a forward-moving exit to the country. The major agendas to be fixed in country now are: to change in the state structure for a complete democratic system, to subjugate the army under a civil government, to make people alone the major source of state power and fully sovereign, to make all aspects of the constitution alterable through a national referendum, the constitutional amendment end the British-style democracy which has been proved a failure and give a new alternative, the constitutional amendment make a provision for federal structure as well as regional or racial autonomy and right to self decision, to secure equality, impartiality and social justice for Madhesis, tribals, dalits and women, to establish constitutional or parliamentary supremacy, to make changes in election procedure, to democratize the multi-party system, to establish the rule of law, to facilitate the access of people of all communities to state power, means and resources without any discrimination, to end the racial discrimination, to end internal colonization against Madheshor were any amendments made into it to cat and Madhesis practised perennially (for centuries), to establish fundamental human rights. These cannot be achieved by sheer amendment in the constitution. Only the Constitutional Assembly can awaken a feeling in the sovereign people that the state belongs to them, and can address the strong slogans in favour of republic state and restructuring of the state. This needs a completely new constitution. There is no other way out for the political imbroglio caused by the present armed conflict in the country than the Constitutional Assembly. The new constitution must at least provide the people an unconditional right to make decisions on monarchy or republic and other national affairs through peaceful, constitutional process through the Constitutional Assembly. It must include essential factors of a democratic constitution like federalism, proportionate rule and representation, regional or racial autonomy, division of state power, multi-party system, establishment of fundamental human rights, and end of all sorts of discrimination, that is colour, sex, language, religion, region, race and culture, in a constitutional way. The present constitution has many obstacles which hinder the process of making the people sovereign in real sense by altering certain provisions in it through national referendum. It is not at all possible to effect restructuring the state by amending the constitution "without altering the spirit or sentiment of the Preamble of the Constitution".
The unitary structure founded by King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha through force, power and deceit after demolishing the autonomous and republican states scattered in different parts of the country, like Madhes, hills and valley during his expansion campaign in the name of unification, was just an autocratic, unitary system of state. It fosters the policy of "One Language and One Dress", which lends supremacy only to two high castes, one or two tribes, one language, one religion, one dress, and one class. Without altering this struture and form of unitary system, and without establishing federal system and regional or provincial autonomy, the hilly Brahmins and Kshatriyas will retain their supremacy, and the Hindu religion, Nepali language, and hilly dress will exercise their prerogative in practice, no matter how much we talk about equality, democracy and forward-moving outlet, and who leads a party or government. No revolutionary slogan or document of any party can check it. During the Gurkha expansion, Prithvi Narayan Shah had seized the sovereignty of different racial republic and subjected their peoples. The people of those subjugated republics must now enjoy autonomy or the feeling of autonomy through a political change. This requires altering the present unitary structure, multi-party parliamentary system and state structure. This is not possible through constitutional amendment. It needs the establishment of the Constituent Assembly.
4. Formation of the Constituent Assembly
At present, the issue of the Constituent Assembly begins with such queries as - Who should declare the Constituent Assembly, and how should it be formed? Certainly, this is the most relevant matter. First and foremost, there must be mutual agreement among the king, Maoists and major parliamentary parties regarding the Constituent Assembly. Then the the Constituent Assembly must be declared through an all-party conference or roundtable conference, and an interim constitution should be drafted to cater for the time being till a new one is drafted and finalized. The conference must also define the procedure of the Constituent Assembly, election procedire and rules and regulations.
Since the Constituent Assembly is formed by the representatives elected directly by the people, the latter will have a direct participation in the making of a constitution. The best method is to hold the elections for the Constituent Assembly through proportionate election procedure. Another method may be like the present parliamentary elections. But while holding elections in this way requires redefining the constituencies for the Constituent Assembly on the basis of population. Otherwise, it would lead to destruction, violence and civil war. Each and every political party and organization can carry their agendas to be included in the constitution through their respective manifestoes for people's opinion in the elections. They can field candidates advocating their views. The Constituent Assembly thus elected directly by the people will be automatically dissolved after the promulgation of the constitution. Then all the activities will be done and made in accordance with the new constitution. The assembly of thus elected representatives will form a committee to draft a constitution. It will do accordingly, and present the same to the assembly for debate, discussion and endorsement. The assembly will also define its working methods and procedures. Thus the assembly will make a wide discussion on the draft constitution presented to it. A draft committee alone cannot complete all the tasks of making a constitution. There must be many sub-committees for defining the structure of the state, division of state power, and power balance, and so on. These sub-committees consist of politicians and constitution experts. They discuss on different matters and agendas and give finality to the draft constitution. The Constituent Assembly finalizes most of them unequivocally, and others through voting. After the Constituent Assembly passes it, the people make the final declaration of the constitution. The king need not give any assent or put his seal once the constitution is made. The constitution can be promulgated by the Head of the Constituent Assembly himself or herself.
To hold free and impartial elections, an all-party interim government must be formed to check the misuse of state means and resources and power by any political party or individual. International organizations and bodies should be invited to watch and observe the elections. Their presence must be guaranteed from the elections of the Constituent Assembly to the enforcement of the constitution. The constitution thus made by the Constituent Assembly must be committed and determined to respect and regard the people's mandate., sex, language, religion, reg



1. Racial Structure of Nepal :
Nepal has always been divided in three vast regions - Himalayas, hills and Madhesh - as per the formation of mountain ranges. They are called Madhesh (Terai or plains), hills and mountains (Himalayas). These three regions have many differences (are diverse) in terms of their landforms, and racial, social and cultural structure (features), and language. The Himalayan region is inhabited by the Bhotes (Tibetans), Sherpas, Thakalis, Tamangs, Vyasis, Lepchas, and the like. The hills are occupied prominently by different castes like Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Wadis (), Damais (Tailors), Gaines (Troubadours<<), Kamis (Blacksmiths), Sannyasis (Ascetics), Sarkis (Cobblers), Thakuris, etc and ethnic groups like Chepangs, Gurungs, Jirels, Lepchas, Limbus, Magars, Newars, Rais, Danuwars, Tamangs, Dhamis, etc. The Madhesh region is further divided as Inner Plains and Outer Plains. The Madheshee castes include Botes, ? Danuwars, Darais, Brahmins, Lohars (Luhars = Ironsmiths), Badhais (Carpenters), Chamars (Shoemakers), Dhobis (Washermen), Batars, Dusadhs, Tatmas, Gangais, Haluwais (Confectioners), Doms (Sweepers), Kanus, Mehtars (Sweepers), Kayasths (Scribes), Amats, Barais, Bins (Fishermen), Chidimars (Bird Hunters), Kahars (Carriers), Dhuniyas (Carders), Kamars, Lodhis, Kewats, Kaibaraths, Khatwes, Kumhars (Kumhales = Potters), Malis (Gardeners and Florists), Kurmis, Shikaris (Hunters), Kushwahas, Rauniyars (Businessmen), Malahs (Fishermen), Stogi, Musahars, Kathbaniyas, Rajdhobs, Gaderis, Sarbariyas, Rajbhars, Rajputs, Telis (Oilsellers), Sudis, Kalwars, Yadavs/Ahirs (Cow/Buffalo Tenders), Danuwars??, Dhanuks, Sonars (Sunars or Bandas = Goldsmiths), Dhimals, Hajams/Nais (Barbers), Kushmas, Meche, Koche, Rajvanshis, Tharus, Kisans (Farmers), Satars/Santhals, Jhagads, Mundas, Tajpuriyas, Bengalis, Marwadis, Muslims, Sikhs, and so on. Of them, the Sikhs and Muslims are known as religious groups or sects. The Muslim community is subdivided as Shekh, Syed, Pathan, Dhuniya, Julaha (Weaver), etc. These castes are collectively termed as Madhesis. Though Nepal is regarded as the only Hindu Kingdom of the world, it is inhabited by people of different religions and cults like Hindus, Buddhists, Islams, Kirants, Christians, Jains, Shikhs, etc. Accroding to National Census, 2001, there are about 100 languages and doalects.
We can also talk about the origins and traditional sites of many castes and communities of Nepal. In general, the Upper Kirant in the eastern hills (across the Arun River) is a site of the Limbus. They mainly speak Limbu. The Middle Kirant (from Indrawati to Arun) is inhabited traditionally by the Rais. Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Solukhumbu, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Dhankuta and some parts of Udaypur is occupied by the Rais (Khambus). They mainly speak Khambu languages. The Tamangs live around the Mahabharat Range, especially the hilly areas around the Kathmandu Valley. They speak Tamang language in their ancestral land. The Gurungs are traditionally scattered between Budhi Gandaki and Kali Gandaki. The ancient habitats of Tamu (Gurungs) are Gorkha, Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Syangja and Tanahun. Their chief language is Gurung. The Magars have settle in 12 Magarat, that is Tanahun, Kaski through Western Syangja, Parvat, Palpa up to Rolpa, Rukum and Jajarkot. They predominate the area and speak Magar language. The Newars are the major inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. They live mostly in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. Their major language is Nepal Bhasha or Newari. Similarly, the Khas people (Khasiyas) live mainly in Karnali region. The Khas region covers Salyan, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Baglung, Dolpa, Jajarkot, Surkhet, Dailekh, Jumla, Mugu, Kalikot, Humla, Doti, Darchula, Baitadi, Bajhang, Bajura, Dadeldhura, Achham, a major part of the Khas state in the western Nepal, one of the two major provinces of the Sinja state - Khasan and Jadan. The latter two had earlier been under the Khas state. The major language, here, is Khas. Likewise, the entire belt ranging from Mechi in the east and Mahakali in the west, the Inner Terai in the north and the plains extending up to the Indian border is called Madhesh (Terai or the plains). Madhesh (Terai) is the plain or surface land in the southern Nepal. The major districts of the Madhesh are Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi, Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa. The Inner Madhesh comprises of Dang, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Sindhuli and some parts of Udaypur. There live Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Shikhs and Jains. They speak Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Dhimali, Santhali, Jhangad, Bengali, Urdu, Rajvanshi, Surjapuri, Bajjika, Tharu, Hindi, etc. Linguistically speaking, Hindi is a common language or lingua franca among the entire Madheshee people.
2. Need for Change in Rule (Ruling System) and New State Structure :
At present, there is a widespread debate, discussion and interaction in the country regarding the new form or structure of state. It has a great significance. Though the Constitution of Nepal, 2047 has defined Nepal as a multilingual, multiracial and multicultural country, it was not addressed from a political angle. The Constitution established Nepal merely as constitutional monarchical multi-party democracy under unitary system. It gave constitutional recognition to the traditional policy of autocratic Panchayat of "One Language, One Dress". Thus it retained constitutional discrimination, disregard and segregation towards people of other many languages, dresses, religions and regions than those speaking Nepali, following Hinduism and wearing hilly dress (daura, suruwal and topi). Nepal did not have such unitary system before Prithvi Narayan Shah expanded the Gorkha kingdom. Instead there were ethnic republics and landforms in every region based on independent, autonomous structure. The Kathmandu Valley had Newari states, the eastern hills had Kirat states, the mid western hills had Baisi-Chaubise states (Twenty-Two and Twenty-Four Principalities), western hills had Khas stste, Magarat region had Magar states, and Madhesh had autonomous Madheshee states. Prithvi Narayan Shah and his successors destroyed all these states and republics through military force and annexed them in Gorkha. After the rise of Rana regime, it made its rule more centralized, and the central power grew to a great extreme. They (Ranas) imposed their autocratic rule on the Madhesh and Madhesis as well as the tribals and ethnic groups of the hills. During the Shah rule and Ranarchy, imperialism and semi-colonization reached its apex. Moreover, the rulers accelerated their grip and vigilance on the hilly people. Ever since Prithvi Narayan annexed the Madhesh in his state, the Madhesis became a prey to racial or ethnic torture. Since they have won over the Madhes, the aristocrats and Khasiyas did not trust the Madhesis. They tried to prolong and prop their rule with the help of the hilly people. Due to the lack of trust in the Madhesis, they built a highway along the central Madheshms are known as religious groups and settled the hilly people on either side.
The changes made in the Panchayat regime following the revoluion of BS 2007, and even later had no impact on the centralized unitary rule of the state. Even the Constitution of Nepal-2047, following the people's movement in 2046, tried to retain the state in centralized unitary system. As in past, the new constitution could not reflect the ethnic diversity and multiplicity of Nepal. Therefore, it is high time to bring Nepal into decentralized structure. Now it is time to end the undemocratic, centralized, unitarism. Democracy cannot be restored in Nepal without changing the state structure and ruling system. It is not at all possible to restore complete democracy in a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-cultural country like Nepal without providing regional or racial autonomy under a federal system. Since Nepal is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious country, the constitution must adopt a broader national character by embracing and addressing these social and racial features. Present democracy must not be confied to political democracy but reflect the social justice as well. Political democracy without social one does not hold significance in a country like ours. Therefore, the present democratic system must have a provision of proportionate representation at all levels of the government - federal, state and local levels. This should be practised at all levels, that is Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, as well as army, police and entire bureaucracy.
pur. Their major language is Nepal Bhasha 3. Federal Rule :
The term "Federalism" derives from Latin "Foidus". It means "treaty" or "agreement". The essential feature of the modern federal state is that two or more independent regions or states make a mutual agreement to form a new state.
First of all, the federal system was introduced in 1789 when America drafted its constitution. It is recognized as "the permanent union of sovereign states". Similarly, Russia was later renamed as Soviet Union. The federal rule empasizes on "union" rather than "unity". All the state or province taking part in it get an opportunity to make progress as they retain their national character. The Supreme Court has a very significant role in the federal system, especially regarding the rights of the central government, state government or provincial government, in interpreting the constitutional terms, and in safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens.
At present, around 21 nations have successfully experimenting federal and semi-federal systems, and federal constitution. Even great nations, inhabiting almost over half the world population and covering as much land, have adopted federal system of rule. They are: United States of America, Switzerland, Australia, India, Canada, Pakistan, Germany, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali Federation, Uganda, Cameroon Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, West Indies, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Russia and so on. Though the United Kingdom (Britain) has adopted unitary system, it has provided regional autonomy to some extent in order to cater to the demands of its units. Britain is making an experiment in unitary system. It has carefully recognized the independent nature and feature of Wales, Scotland and Ireland as multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic countries. But there are many countries in the world which have not adopted unitary system, so they are fighting against their people for local and regional autonomy, racial self-rule and cultural rights. The neighbouring country, Sri Lanka, has adopted unitary system and given prominence to Sinhalese people and language at the cost of the Tamil people and language. Thus it has landed itself in a volcanic situation of racial conflict (civil war) for past two decades. So far about 68 thousand people have lost their lives. But countries have easily solved such problems and strengthened national unity by adopting federal system. According to the experience of the contemporary world, the federal system has lessened the racial, regional and linguistc conflicts. Not that the federal countries are rid of all problems, but they are solved by autonomous local and regional governments through decentralization and democratic process. So there is little likeliness of communal riots or eth nic violence. Since every ethnic group has got autonomy, their conflicts are usually resolved peacefully through mutual understanding. The problems of Basques of Spain, Moros of the Phillippines, and Miskitos of Nicaragua and the like have been solved just by providing ethnic and regional autonomy. Our neighbouring India has recognized ethnic diversity and has solved many problems like Gorkhaland, Jharkhand, Chhatisgadh, Telangana, Uttaranchal, Mizo, Naga, and the like, and has been solving many other problems of the same nature.
4. Approaches of Federal Rule :
Different views have been expressed at different periods on federal system. Theoretically, the countries running under federal system have adopted one of the three prominent approaches: Anglo-American System, German system, and Soviet system. Yet there have two prominent approaches in practice - traditional approaches and modern approaches (perspectives). According to the traditional approach, the rights to make decisions on state affairs are manifested traditionally and constitutionally in central authorities and different regional officials. But, according to the modern approach, the dynamic federal system emphasizes the essential variables of the unification (integrity) of social and economic powers as well as national unification, and solving different problems arising at different times on their own. Accroding a famous scholar, A K Dickey, the federal system means power division among central, state or regional governments. Accroding to this concept, power division is the main basis of the federal system. The Supreme Court gives the final verdict as per constitutional provision on any dispute arising between the central and state governments. Central government and state government do not interfere with each other's affairs and rights. Similarly, another view gives prominence to federal principles in federal constitution. According to this, federal principles means equal and independent division of state power within the common sphere of the central governments. Under this system, state power and authority has been equally and independently distributed among the federal government, central government, regional autonomous governments and state governments within a common national boundary. This has been regarded as a very practical approach.
Most of the scholars of modern age have promoted this approach of federal system. At present, many countries of the world having social diversity have started adopting federal system. It has three major bases: First, each federation enjoys different achievements made through their activities. These achievements may be political, economic or military or all of them. The country has a written constitution as a supreme law. Both central and regional governments derive their rights from it. Second, the issues and rights of common or national interests of all the unions of federal region or country fall under the jurisdiction of central, national or federal government. For example, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Communication and Finance (Monetary). Issues of local or regional importance like police, jail, social security, subordinate courts, local governance, electricity, local roads and public transport, drinking water supply, health, agriculture, finance, public welfare, education, industry, etc fall under the jurisdiction of the central government, or that of the state government, if not mentioned in the constitution. Some rights fall under the jurisdiction of both federal and state governments. For example: citizenship, rights of elections, public loans, higher education, agriculture, irrigation, natural resources, etc. Third, while making power division between the central or federal states, their jurisdictions are defined in a way to retain their autonomy. Therefore, federal system is indeed balanced distribution of power and authorities inherent with central and state governments. No state can separate itself from the union, nor can the federal government interfere with state affairs.
The centre has central government, supreme court, central legislative and national assembly, and people's parliaments. The latter has direct representation of people. It has representatives elected by the people on the basis of proportionate population from each state. On the other hand, national assembly consists of reprentatives hailing from all regions or states as well as all castes, people speaking different languages and representing various classes and sectors. Similarly, each state has their own constitution, regional or state government. Each makes their own plans and budgets. Each state can impose their taxation. These rights should be practised in accordance with the jurisdiction provided in the constitution. A two-third majority of supreme people's parliament and national assembly should pass and state or regional legislatives should endorse the amendment in the federal constitution or alteration of any provisions. Some countries have a provision of amending the constitution through referendum.
hey are solved by autonomous local and regional governmAfter gaining regional or racial autonomy under the federal system, each caste makes political, economic, social, cultural development and progress and retains their national identity within the framework of their self-rule. The principle of the existence (entity) of all castes and specific identity in racial understanding within the country is a major agenda. It is attained by relieving themselves of racial exploitation, oppression and discrimination, and developing language, culture, art and literature of each caste/tribe on the basis of the principle of mutual racial cooperation and respect. It obviates intervention from the state. The centre or regime should give prominence to implementing racial understanding regarding the structure of central, federal, regional local strata and perspective about the races. Here the state must needs be sensitive towards imparting education in the mother tongue of the racial communities, following the multi-lingual policy of the state, providing reservation to those classes which have not been embraced in the national mainstream, maintaining secularism, safeguarding and developing the existing cultures, protecting and empowering castes/tribes, and developing human resources, and promoting proportionate participation in state operation. It should provide regional or racial autonomy to different communities to develop their languages, cultures and personalities, and should encourage building autonomous entitites on the levels of district, town, ilaka, village and so on.
In this way, the federal system works as the backbone of national unification of multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country.
5. Concept of Federal System and New State in Nepal :
Federal system is now inevitable in Nepal to end the existing discriminatory rule in the context of its being a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-cultural country. This alone can provide autonomy to different linguistic, cultural and racial communities. Different communities can make economic development and develop the concept of national identity only through this system. Then only can end the age-long racial discrimination in the country and effect national unification emotionally. In addition, it alone can solve the existing racial and regional conflicts.
We all know that the state and the people backed by it have been practising political and social discrimination against the Madhesis in Nepal. The dsicrimination was retained even during the parliamentary practices made in the last 14 years. Only the federal system can end the discrimination between the Madhesis and hilly people (Pahadis). So far the country has retained a discriminatory unitary rule on the basis of caste, language, creed and sex. Instead, we should decentralize the central rule and form regionally autonomous states or provinces. Thus we would expand the government up to local autonomous bodies. Then only can we make the rule fully democratic and participatory in an authentic way. Only the federal system can make it possible to have proportionate representation in the government by the people having different langauges, castes/tribes, creeds and cultures. Many countries like Austria, Holland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, Papua New Guinea and Belgium have solved the racial problem like Nepal through this system, and have presented themselves as a model of development.
The primary impact of the unitary system of Nepal is erasing the independent identity of the Madhesis, and imposing the hilly culture, Nepali language and labeda suruwal (so called national dress) as the one and only national identity. Besides, the state has weakened the economic wellbeing of the Madhesh by transporting the local means and resources to the hills and capital city, Kathmandu, and thus strengthened the existing state power. The tendency of backing and imposing the hilly identity as the only national identity has counterdeveloped a dangerous tendency of recognizing and establishing the hilly people as the only bona fide citizens of Nepal, and denigrating the Madhesis as Indian immigrants. Ever since the development of Gorkha state as Nepal, the Madhesh has been the greatest source of revenue for any government. Indeed, Madhesh has proved a "milch cow" for the ruling people in Kathmandu and the hilly people of the mountains. After the expansionist Gurkhas seized the Madhes, the government tried to cut down the local population to a minority by deforesting the Charkose Jhadi and inhabiting hundreds of thousands of hilly migrants along it. This has led to a crisis identity among the Madhesis of the Madhes. The Gurkhas established a rule of internal colonization after capturing the Madhes. The Madhesh and the Madhesis cannot develop so long they get rid of it. Therefore, the major political problem of the Madhesh and the Madhesis has been relieving them(selves) of the pain, oppression and exploitation inflicted bt the internal colonization. Till then the Madhesis will be disregarded as the second citizens. So the government should provide regional autonomy to the entire and undivided Madhes, ranging from Mechi in east and Mahakali in west, inner Terai in north and the sourthern plains bordering India, and recognize their ancestral land or birthplace as their homeland. Only after the establishment of regional autonomy in Madhesh can end the trend of internal colonization imposed by the Gurkha expansionists. The hilly rulers have always retained this sort of exploitation and oppression through different conspiracies, deceits, and have sown a seed of division, conflict and weakness among the Madhesis in the name of castes/tribes, languages and religions ever since Ranarchy and Panchayat autocracy. For centuries, the state has been indulged in such activities as separating the Tharus for general Madhesis and exploiting them as a weaker class, dividing the Muslims in the name of religion and tempting them with a distinct entity as a minority of scheduled caste in the fashion of Indian constitution, creating an environment of conflcit among the people speaking Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Maithili, using the oppressed class of Madhesis against the general Madhesis, presenting the Rajbanshis, Gangais, Dhimals, Santhals, etc as non-Madhesis, denying the recognition of the Madhesh area east to Koashi as Madhes, seizing the land of the Madhesis and rehabilitating the non-Madhesis or hilly people thereupon in the name of landless squatters (sukumbasis), political victims, rehabilitation company, etc. Similarly, to talk about racial autonomy or racial self-rule instead of regional or provincial autonomy is just an extremely aristocratic thought representing hilly people's racial arrogance and neo-imperialism. Therefore, the concept of regional autonomy is and will be better than racial self-rule. Racialism stands for collective feeling of a certain class of people living in a place on the basis of language, culture, tradition and ancestry. So it is a common culture and emotional belongingness on the basis of historical experience. It need not have any relation to certain land area. Yet the issue of racial regionalism cannot be separated from caste and land area. The Gurkha king Prithvi Narayan Shah expanded his kingdom by destablizing the native people or their kings or chieftains through force and fraud. He also captured the states and principalities of the non-Hindus of the Madheshon emotionally. In addition, it alone and hills, and thus established the Hindu kingdom. He called it the "real Hindusthan" (site of Hindus). It was a cultural campaign of building a Hindu state. Because only later did he establish the prominence and predominance of Hindu norms and thoughts (schools) on the basis of the state mechanism. As a result, many non-Hindu castes felt a crisis of cultural identity. In the contemporary context, issues like non-discrimination and equality (equal sharing) in political, economic, social opportunities, linguistic and cultural recognition, racial autonomy and self-decision always come along with that of racialism.
Some political groups and racial organizations have been raising the issue of racial autonomy or racial region as a political agenda. But the concept seems to be very complex and practically very difficult. Today, the trend of migration, and development transport and information technology (IT) has effected fundamental change in Nepalese structure. A village without racial diversity is almost a rarity in present-day Nepal. For centuries, migration of the Khas Brahmins from western hills to the eastern ones, that from hills to the Madhesh and from villages to the cities, and from other parts of the country to Kathmandu in a centralized way has made it difficult to separate racial provinces having prominence of secular population. Racial provinces may be named on the basis of the traditional habitats of different castes, but the castes with historic population will fall in great minority in terms of population in most of the districts. The majority of dalits do not have any defined site as they have scattered all over. Where will the majority of Khas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Ranas, Thakuris and Muslim community) seek shelter? Those claiming to provide "racial state or self-rule" without proper homework in a country like Nepal which has probably the rarest racial structure and problem in the world have cheated the tribals. About 100 rethnic groups have been recorded in 2001 census. Except some districts, no district has up to 51% of any caste. Of them 9 districts have up to 50% of Kshatriyas, 1 district has Tamangs, 1 district has Magars, 1 district has Gurungs, and 1 district has Newars. The districts said to have predominance of Brahmins, Rais and Limbus have less than 50% of of their population in comparison to the entire population. How can a racial state be formed in such a condition? Thus the state formed on the basis of the name of a race cannot solve the problem. Can the racial states guarantee the participation and euality in opportunity and contribution in basic cultural, religious, linguistc and national identity? Since the major goals of the state are to attain economic achievements, they are not possible through forming states purely on the basis of races. What will be the effect of on other majority races inhabiting those racial states? Without addressing or solving such issues, the country cannot give any forward moving outlet.
In the new state structure, decentralization should be made on regional basis. Racial self-rule is manifest within regional autonomy. Therefore decentralization enforced purely on racial basis cannot be forward moving. Indeed, such decentralization can only be aristocratic and racially egoistic. It is neither democratic, nor people-oriented, nor socialist. There might be many dangers of forming a union as a racial unit on racial basis. For example, the Serbs have caused such problem in Yugoslavia. In sich a condition, the majority can chase away the minorities. It can lead to another separatist danger in the country.
After the Gurkha king Prithvi Narayan Shah expanded his empire, a trend developed of regarding the highly centralized aristocratic rulers, Hindus, Nepali speakers, and those wearing daura and suruwal as the only Nepalese citizens. A handful of rulers of certain caste (especially Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shahas, Thakuris, etc) overshadowed the needs of other castes. All the means and resources, and opportunities were exploited to cater their own interests. This made the Madhesis, tribals and dalits the most marginalized, oppressed and exploited groups as well as a prey to racial discrimination, and led to country to internal rife. Neglected for long by the ruling people, these racial or ethnic groups have now been raising the voice for a need to have the right to self-rule. To solve this, we need regional or provincial autonomy in the country on the basis of federal structure involving different states and provinces. These structures should be based on language, ethnic groups, socio-cultural structure, population and geography. The rights of each state to cultural autonomy, ethnic self-rule and self decision should be constitutionally guaranteed. All legal, political, economic and cultural provisions and practices causing ethnic, regional and other sorts of discrimination among the peoples should be uprooted. This problem can be solved by making provisions for proportionate rule and representation of all castes/tribals in federal or central bodies as well as state or regional nad local ones, that is all state affairs. Even the minorities, as linguistic, racial and religious communities, can raise their problems and present their demands in an effective way through their state governments. These cannot be achieved by exerting pressure on unitary and centralized state system as they fall in a petty group and have a very poor say. As the minority groups of certain race and language cannot build a separate state, the federal system allows building national autonomous areas for their development. Thus an environment conducive to decentralizing the centralized unitary system into a federal one, and extending the same to provincial or regional structure and local autonomous bodies therein, and making the governance authentically democratic and participatory, and making the structure representative. Therefore, we firmly affirm that the forthcoming constitution should accommodate following major features:
a. People's Sovereignty : The forthcoming constitution should be based on the principle of sovereignty in people. There should be no dilemma that the people should be made sovereign. People alone should be invested with full sovereignty and be established as the major source of state power. Their supremacy should be established in the very constitution by making a provision therein in writing that "WE Nepalese citizens build and establish this constitution of the state". The constitution should establish a representative and democratic rule.
b. Structure of State or Governance : All the democracies of the world can be divided into two structures: One is majority structure, that is Westminster Style, and another is agreement type, that is one based on sharing the state power. The first is based on British style of democracy. It is one of the oldest strutures of democracy. Its major feature is that those having majority own everything. That is to say, all the power is manifest in cabinet or Council of Ministers formed by the party with majority votes or seats. All the decisions are made through the majority of the parliament or Members of Parliament. The minority or Opposition expresses their view but to no avail, as their view is not considered or implemented in the parliament. It has to wait for another parliamentary elections and sweep the majority votes to have its say. This is the major principle of the majority rule. At present, Nepal is following this type of majority rule. But the experiment of last 12/14 years has proved it a failure. We have borne many grave or dire consequences of the parliament selecting the Prime Minister on the central level, and the latter dissolving the parliament any time at his or her whim. In the 12 years prior to the direct rule of the king, there were 11 governments formed in the country. They could not solve any of the national problems.
ic achievements, thThe agreement type of structure or one sharing the state power is enforced in Switzerland, Austria and Carribean nations. This model is adopted in South Africa as well. It is a type of structure in which only a party having majority does not rule. It includes other minority parties, too. It provides due place and opportunity to all political parties to express their views or vent their opinions. It provides proportionate share in the government. It invites all social and cultural groups to take part in policy making. The majority type of governance or democracy has been proved highly detrimental to a multiracial, multicultural and multilingual country like Nepal where we cannot ignore the presence of the minorities. This system has been discriminatory in real practice. Here, the majority takes all. As a result, it cannot respect the political, social and economic expectations of the minorities. They cannot take part in the governance. Therefore, only agreement type of democracy can be suitable in our country.
c. Managing the Army : The army should be mobilized and managed through a body formed under democratic principles. The army should be of national struture. It should be mobilized, controlled and managed essentially through the supreme people's organization, that is, elected parliament and the Executive or government accountable to it. The present unitary form of the army should be abolished and there must be due provision for inclusion and participation of the Madhesis, dalits and different castes/tribals on a proportionate level.
d. Provision of Reservation : There must be a provision of representational organization of extremely marginalized dalits in economic and political terms, very poor people and women, and for reservation in education and job sectors. The dalit groups which have been marginalized for thousands of years, cannot even imagine to reach the level of (at par with) other citizens of the country without reservation. It is a compensation to social injustice.
e. Election Procedure : We should adopt a proportionate election procedure instead of the present one to include all the castes/tribals, women and backward people and classes in the state affairs. It means sharing the seats on the basis of the votes attained by the political parties. It has been popular in Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and so on. In this system of election, the political parties prepare a list of their candidates before holding the elections. Later, they get certain seats as per the votes they bag in the elections. Thus every vote is meaningul in this system. It gives importance to political rather than individual relations among the voters and political workers. It can accommodate all the castes, tribes, sectors, classes and languages, and it is just as well. It has nominal role of position (rule), pelf and power. Therefore, the elections are less expensive and more impartial. Every vote is counted directly, and ends the rat race and revengeful politics. So the proportionate election system is more democratic than other systems. It promotes proportionate representation of all political levels and bodies.
f. Rights to Self-decision : Rights to self-decision are a basic principle of international law. These are also included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These do not imply the rights to form a separate racial state, but "internal autonomy" as defined by the United Nations Organization.
g. Separation of Powers : All the three powers of the government, namely Legislative, Executive and Judiciary, should be separated for democracy and indiviual independence. That is, these three organs (bodies) of the government should be mutual separate and independent. Thus each can check another's tyranny, or can control another for striking balance in the government.
h. Republicanism : Theoretically, real constitutional monarchy means the state system that adopts basically adopts the republican values. Whatever be the future state structure in form, it should be republican in element. The basic principles of the republic system are: strong presence of elected Executive and Legistaive. The major feature of the republican state is that the Executive post should not be confined to a particular individual, caste or family (dynasty). Each and every individual, even the commonest one, hopes and wishes to reach every post, even the supreme post, of the state.
i. Declaration of a Secular State : Religion is a matter pertaining to individual faith and belief of people. It should have no relation with the state. The state should not stand in favour of one religion and against another. Religious matters and political affairs are two poles apart. There must be complete religious freedom for human rights and democracy. Nepal is a multi-religious country. Therefore, it should be declared as "a secular state" instead of a Hindu kingdom. It should provide equal freedom to all religions. The state should not back one or another religion, and should remain neutral in such affairs.
j. Supremacy of Constitution : Constitutional supremacy is considered the most significant principle or faith of in a federal democracy. Since the federal constitution is an impentrable agreement for the co-existence of federal government or central government and state governments, its clauses should essentially be agreeable to both. The constitution reigns higher than both the centre and the state. Besides, the constitution is essentially lent supremacy for implementing "a rule of law". Therefore, federal constitution reigns atop all the institutions of the national governance - central government, state constitutions, state governments and local governments.
k. Provision of Referendum : There must be a constitutional provision of referendum for making amendments in any of constitutional provisions by the parliament, as per demand in accordance with the procedure provisioned in the constitution. The constitution must provide the citizens every right to constitutional initiative. If the results of the refendum go in favour of a group, it can change or amend any of its provisions. Sovereign people can alter the entire constitution if they wish so. There should nothing unalterable in it. Sovereign people must essentially have a right to initiative and right to referendum.

Status of Madheshi in Nepal

Introduction
Nepal is a country of strange diversities. There are varied geophysical, climatic and biological diversities culminatios into the diverse socio-econimc, political and cultural patterns in the country. Nepal lies in the youngest fold of the mountains, Himalaya, the roof of the world. It ranges from about 60 metre elevation to the 8848m, the highest point of the world. From the climatic point of view, it ranges from tropical to the tundra from south to north. Southern belt is almost plain and the northen belt is rocky and mountainous gradually elevated to thousands of snow peaks. The Mahabharat range lying inbetween these two belts is a gently sloping land having river - valleys and tars.
The biggest Terai belt lies in the Southern Nepal adjacent to Indian border. It is elevated upto 600 metres from the sea level. It comprises 23% of the total land areas of Nepal and 56% of its cultivated land. It has been formed out alluvium constantly deposited by rivers flowing down the Gangetic plain. The Terai land is fertile for agriculture where wide varities of crops are grown. Terai is mainly irrigated by the major river systems, namely Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali, Mechi, Kankai, Kamala, Bagmati, Tinau, Rapti, Mahakali, Ratu, Lal Bakaiya, Mohana etc.
From the economic point of view, Terai is primarily an agricultural belt with the midland of Terai being mostly the fruit growing area. The northen part of Terai is very beautiful area suitable for development of tourism and live stock farming. In this way, natural diversity is reflected through social, cultural, political and other aspects of life. These natural phenomena make Nepal a unique country in the map of the world.
The word Terai is of relatively recent origin and is used interchangeably for 'Madhesh' which is derived from the sanskirt word 'Madhyadesh' meaning the land between the foot hills of Himalayan mountain in the north and the Vindhya mountain on the south. People living in this region have been called Madheshee or Madheshiyas. Manu, the law maker of the Hindus, also mentioned the term Madhyadesh. The word Madhesh is also found in Buddhist pali literature e.g. the Vinayapitaka.
The Madhesh or Terai therefore, has been referred to the plain strip of the land lying within the boundary of Nepal. Likewise the word Madheshee or the term Terai people refers not to all the inhabitants of the Madhesh but indigenous ones of this region. They are also called the Nepali citizen of Indian origin.
2. Geopolitics of the Madhesh or Terai :
The Madhesh is the most important region of the Nepal, geographically and culturally distinct from the hills. The high mountains of Nepal, or the hills attracted the attention of adventurous travellers, mountain climbers and scholars ever since Nepal was opened to the outside world after 1950. However, the Terai region or the Madhesh of Nepal, could attract comparatively little attention of foreign scholars because it is hot, dusty and malarious. Consequently, little interest was taken about the Terai's geographical, historical, economic or cultural characteristics, despite the fact that it comprises 21% Nepal's land area which inhabits more than 50% of Nepali population. This neglect is striking, because the Madhesh is the backbone of Nepal's economy, producing about 65% of the nations gross domestic product (GDP) yielding about 76% of the governments revenue, and 60% agricultural products of the country. Nepal Terai is approximately 500 miles long from western boundary, the Mahakali river, to it's eastern boundary, the Mechi river. This east to west border line between the Nepal Terai and Indian states touches Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. An average width of the Terai is 20 miles. Two geographical terms are frequently used in Nepal, "inner terai" and "outer terai". The inner Terai refers to Bhitari Madhesh containing flat land north of Siwalik or churia range in Sindhuli, Makwanpur and Dang districts. The Bahari Terai is the plain region touching Indo-Nepal border South of the Siwaliks. Outer Terai consists of 19 districts, namely Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Routahat, Bara, Parsa, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur. Geographically and culturally Terai is a transitional region between the hills and the plains. The transitional nature of the Terai creates problems for Nepal associated in respect of integration of the region into the main-stream of national economic and political programme. Most of the Terai inhabitants are Madheshee. In connectin with religion, language, culture, life style and other social rituals they share with people living across the border in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. During past decades, hill people migrated and settled in the terai on mass scale making perceptible change in political and cultural change.
3. A historical background :
The Mithila or Videha kingdom existed in ancient times with its capital at Janakpur claiming to be the birth-place of Sita. Similarly, their existed Lumbini, birth place of the Buddha with Kingship at Kapilvastu under the Shakyas and Debdaha under the Koliyas. Archaeological findings around this area indicate habitation going back to the 9th century B.C. though the most ancient heritage of Nepalese history is in the Terai, but the ruling class is drawing our attention back to the Kathmandu valley.
Madheshee people are indigenous inhabitants of the Madhesh or Terai and experienced all sorts of hardship and trials throughout history under ancient rulers, the Mughals, the East India Company and Shah dynasty. However, after the campaign of unification of Nepal in the 18th Century the Gorkha dominance, persisted over the developed culture of the Madheshee. The British government returned the Terai land to the Nepalese king in 1816, a year after the Sugauli treaty and determined well devised boundaries of the kingdom. It entered into an agreement with the king that the Madheshee people should not be persecuted in anyway. The Article 7 of the Memorandum of approval and acceptance of the Rajah of Nepal stipulated on December 8, 1816 is an evidence. It was through treaty of Sugauli that the Terai was handed over by the British East India Company to Nepal and as such is present situation, India is expected to safeguard the interests of the Madheshee community. But contrary to this commitment real mission remained far from being fulfilled. Ever since the treaty was signed between two countries, the Madheshee have been facing national identity crisis.
In course of past historical stages Nepal experienced a succession of many political systems : absolute monarchy under the Shah Kings (1769-1846), an oligarchy under Rana Prime Ministers (1846-1951), followed by temporary regimes of democracy (1951-59), parliamentary system (1959-60), revival of aboslute monarchy (1960-90), restoration of multi-party system (1990-2002)and then finally direct-rule of present monarchy after royal coup. If one goes to distant past the Terai was ruled by a number of petty chieftains, some of whom owed merely nominal allegiance to the pre-Shah rulers. In this connection efforts have always been made by the ruling elites to enable the Terai people for reserving economic interest of Kathmandu based aristocracy having little participation in national polity. "The ruling elites both Shah and the Ranas believed that the development of Terai was not in their longterm interest".
4. Distribution of population : Caste/ethnic groups
The 2001 census identified more than 50 castes/ethnic groups in the Madhesh. Overall, the Madheshee caste/ethnic group is largely rural (92.55%). Classification of population according to caste and language is only tentative. Madheshee ethnic groups includes Kishan, Gangai, Jhangar, Tajpuria, Tharu, Danuwar, Dhanuk, Dhimal, Meche/Bodo, Rajbansi/Koche, Satar/Santhal etc. caste and other ferred to the plain strip of the land lgroups includes Yadav, Teli, Chamar, Kushwaha/Koiri, Kurmi, Musahar, Dusadh/Paswan, Sonar, Kebat, Brahmin, Baniya, Mallah, Kalwar, Hazzam/Thakur, Kanu, Sudhi, Lohar, Tatma, Khatway, Dhobi, Nooniya, Kumhar, Halwai, Rajput, Kaystha, Badhai, Marwadi, Banter, Barai, Barai, Kahar, Rajbhar, Lodhi, Bind/Binda, Noorang, Gaderi, Chidimar, Mali, Bengali, Dom, Kamar, Halkhor, Panjabi/Sikha, Dhunia, Jain, Munda, Muslim, Patharkatta/Kushwadia, Sarbaria, Kallar etc.
5. Languages of the population
The madheshee's langauges can be broadly categoried as Indo-Aryan ones. In addition to these there are several regional languages such as Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tharu, Rajbansi, Bazzika, Surjapuri, and a few local dialects. Santhali is microscopic tongue spoken by tribal people. Besides, there are Marwadi, Tajpuria, Dhimal and Mechie. Among them Maithili is a dominant language in the eastern - Terai, Bhojpuri in the mid-Terai and Awadhi in the western Terai. Hindi, of couse, serves as a link language spoken among the Madheshee people from Mechi to Mahakali.
6. Religious faiths in Madhesh
Nepal is officially declared as a Hindu country. According to 2001 census, population of Hindus in the country is over 80.62%. Buddhist 10.74%, Islam 4.20%, Kirat 3.60%, Christian 0.5%, Sikh 0.0%, Jain 0.0% and others 0.4%. In terai, the second largest religion is Islam and Buddhism occupies third position.
7. Population explosion in the Terai due to migration
In the light of population composition Nepal is traditionally an area formed by immigrants from the Indo-Aryan and Mangoloid stocks. Intermixture of racial, cultural and religious strains has produced broadly two outlooks, one influenced culturally by the north, the other by the south.
The madheshee (Terai people) are bound to live like a second-rate citizen. For the last decades, parbatia (hill people) from the north have been resettled in some strength, not without political aims on fresh reclaimed forest land in the Terai. The Nepalese people of Indian origin, the Desi people as they are called, are placed in the third category of socially underprevileged people. The way the government has demarcated five development region and fourteen administrative zones in the kingdom. it is not without a calculated purpose. In fact the zonal boundaries do not always coincide with natural divisions. Had geographical factors been allowed to determine zonal boundaries, the entire Terai belt would have formed a single natural zone. But the biased ruling class relished their own class despite the Terai people's apparent majority. Contrary to natural law the zonal division have been fixed from north to south, disecting the Terai strip with all its ethnic, linguistic and regional unity, into ten different administrative blocks placed under the rule of zonal commissioners drawn from the ruling class. This arrangement positively helped the rulers in preventing progress of Terai area. Development was a threat to their monopoly of political power. The privileged classes have used this tactics to segregate the Terai population from the main stream of political life.
Analysis of the census 1991 shows that the population density is about 24 person per square km. in mountain, 141.3 person per sq.km. in hill and 274.5 person per sq.km. in Terai. But according to the census 2001, the population density is about 33 person per sq.km. in mountain, 167 person per sq.km. in hill and the 18th Century the Gorkha dominance, persisted over 330 person per sq.km. is in Terai.
Among internal migrants in Nepal, majority migrated from the mountain and hill to the Terai, while population at the national level increased by 60% during 1971-91; it nearly doubled in Terai during the same period. As a matter of fact there is no charm of job and other opportunities in Nepal which may motivate the Indians to rush to Nepal. Efforts were strongly made by the HMG Nepal to encourage the process of migration of population from the hills to the Terai. Rapti valley development plan (1954), Nepal resettlement company (1964), Jhapa resettlement company, Kanchanpur resettlement project, Nawalparasi resettlement project etc. were implemented by clearing the dense forest land of Madhesh. Apart from internal immigrants, Nepali speaking refugee from Burma, Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal and Bhutan and other places were encouraged to settle there. One the contrary the landless Madheshee people in the Terai were rarely given any land in this wave of resettlement projects. Big politicians and hill elites in the name of the "political victims" were allotted land in Madhesh by clearing the dense forest.
By 1927 a little less than half of the Terai land was covered with dense forest. But by 1977 the percentage of the forest land reduced to one fifth of its total area. Between 1977 and 1992 there was hardly any forest left anywhere except in National Parks. Because of over strain on use of natural resources, such as forest, agricultural land, environment and river, there has been shortage of rainfall, decline in water table in rivers and soil, irregular monsoon and desertification in several parts of the Madhesh.
Migration of population has created imbalances in the Terai. Many people are forced to migrate outside in search of jobs. Madheshee labour of the Terai now go to the different parts of India, Delhi, Punjab and Hariyana states. Many Madheshee people, Tharus, Santhal/Satar are forced to migrate to India. In the past thousands of Tharus from Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur migrated to India as a result of Kamaiya (bounded labour) System. There was also a large scale migration of the Tharus from Chitwan district to adjacent Indian teritory.
8. The governments imposing policy on language
The constitution of the kingdom of Nepal 1990 accepted that all languages spoken as mother tongues in Nepal would be treated as national languages. The Article 18 of the fundamental rights of the constitution clearly states "Each community residing within the kingdom of Nepal shall have right to preserve and promote its languages, script and culture". There is no guarantee of support from the state to their development. Policy of repression through philosophy of national language 'Nepali' is threat to the survival of other languages spoken by people of Madhesh. Khaskura or SinjaliBhasa has been promoted to status of national Nepali languages as well as "official language". Languages spoken by Madheshee like Hindi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Rajbansi etc. are derecognised. Most of the languages have been ignored in the curriculum of schools. At the end of the panchayat system the government derecognised even the degree of M.A. in Hindi, Maithili and Newari. Languages other than Nepali and English have been dercognised for the public service commission. Sajha Prakashn has also stopped publishing books in prohibited languages. The Royal Nepal Academy has turned a deaf ear to the development of these prohibited languages. Ruling class does not visualise the force of local languages in the integration of nation. It is known to all that Pakistan suffered division in 1971 on account of forceful implimentation of Urdu language over the Bengali speaking people in East Pakistan. Language is also one of bitter factors of rift between the Tamil and Sinhali speaking people of Sri Lanka. In Nepal as many as 100 languages and dilects are spoken. But HMG Nepal and sectarian ruling class do not realise the real force of local languages of the people. It is highly pernicious to the peace and prosperity of Nepal.
9. Discriminatory policies and practices of the rulers
In all principalities unified to form modern Nepal the ruling elites come from upper caste, Brahmins, Chhetris, Thakuris and Ranas. Their ranks have subsequently been joined by the Newars after the Kathmandu valley became the nation's centre. According to a study conducted by the centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA) 80% of the position of power and profit are held by the hill Brahamins, Chhetris and Newars although they represent a small ad geographical factors been allowed to determine minority of Nepal. A subsequent survey has revealed that more than half of the government civil servants is drawn from the Kathmandu valley only which contains about 3% of the population of Nepal. The social inequalities created by under representation and symbolic representation of Madheshee people in civil services and security forces, disproportionate representation in legislative and executive bodies; and opportunities to certain caste people in political appointments are some examples of injustice, and exploitation of Madheshee people of Nepal. Infact the seeds of disunity and fanaticism were sown by Prithvi Narayan Shah. The inhabitants of the Madhesh were not given important assignment during his rule. High posts were reserved for certain hill caste groups. First preference was given to the hill people and second to richman or landlord in Terai. Till 1950, the Madheshee people were treated like slaves. Untill 1958, it was essential for them to acquire way receipt (passport) before entering into Kathmandu.
According to the Dhanapati Upadhaya citizenship commission 2051 B.S. (1994), approximately 40 lakh genuine Nepali have been denied of citizenship certificates. Majority of them are Madheshee people living in the Terai. Denial of citizenship has created many problems. First, they do not get service in the government, corporation and private institutions. Secondly, they cannot run industry and trade. Thirdly, denial of citizenship in one's own country means humiliation as one treated as a foreigner in own country. And fourthly, the denial of citizenship is the denial of the basic human rights to hold property. The reality is that no body in Nepal is liable to purchase land in absence of citizenship.
The land reform programme was used as a vehicle for transferring to the hill people, the landholdings of plain's people.
a. Civil service
In Nepal, high official posts have been occupied by hill Brahmins, Chhetris and Newars while majority Madheshee people have been excluded from these positions. The composition of the higher grades of bureaucracy demonstrates a strong bias against weaker section of Madheshee people. Social, economic and political benefits destributed only to the hill Brahmins, Chhetris and Newars has deep historical roots. These communities enjoyed Rana patronage and got civil service, opportunities for modern education, and training of abroad for learned professions. Though a minority, they are powerful ones. A vast majority of teachers, university professors, academicians, intellectuals and Journalists are the high caste Hindus.
Table-1
Caste/Ethnic Composition of senior officials
Post Brahmin Chhetri Newar Terai Others Total
01. Secretary 12 5 8 4 1 30
02. Add. Secretary 16 5 11 1 1 34
03. Joint Secretary - - - - - -
04. Adm. Service 56 9 17 5 3 90
05. Health Service 22 9 36 4 2 73
06. Education Service 11 2 12 4 1 30
07. Judicial Service 3 10 3 3 1 20
08. Audit Service 1 2 2 - - 5
09. Legislative Service 1 - 2 - - 3
10. Engineering 33 13 36 17 4 103
11. Agriculture 11 6 17 3 2 39
12. Forest Service 12 4 12 - 1 29
Total 178 65 157 41 15 456
Percentage 39.03 14.25 34.42 8.99 3.29 100
Source : Nijamati Kitab Khana (quoted in contemporary Nepal, 1998:122)
Till December 1991 there were 456 senior level officers (Joint Secretary and above), both administrative and technicals. Of these 30, 34 and 392 were in the ranks of Secretary, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary respectively. Hill Brahmins, Chhetris, Newars altogether holding 87.7% of high position. The Madheshees are only 8.99% and highly dominated. At present there are 178 senior officials (first class) but only two are Madheshee in government service.
Table - 2
Caste/Ethnic compositions of Senior Officials including those of under Secretary (Administrative Service) level.
Post Brahmin Chhetri Newar Terai Others Total
01. Secretary 12 5 8 4 1 30
02. Add. Secretary 16 5 11 1 1 34
03. Joint Secretary - - - - - -
04. Adm. Service 56 9 17 5 3 90
05. Health 22 9 36 4 2 73
06. Education 11 2 12 4 1 30
07. Judicial 3 10 3 3 1 20
08. Audit 1 2 2 - - 5
09. Legislative 1 - 2 - - 3
10. Engineering 33 13 36 17 4 103
11. Agriculture 11 6 17 3 2 39
12. Forest 12 4 12 - 1 29
13. Total 178 65 157 41 15 456
14. Under Secretary 238 83 177 44 9 551
Grand Total 416 148 334 85 24 1007
Percentage 41.33 14.7 33.16 8.4 2.38 100
Source : Nijamati Kitab Khana (Qoted in contemporary Nepal, 1998 : 122)
If the number of officers under secretary level of administrative service is added the total goes up to 1007 officers. Olinf these 41.33% are hill Brahmins, 33.16% Newars, 14.7% Chehetris and only 8.4% are Madheshees.
Regarding geographic representation. Kathmandu dominates other geographic areas 51.95% representation. The hill region represent 29.22% and the Terai (including both Madheshee and hill people) 18.83% respectively. The Terai people or Madheshees have genuine grievances in so far as they are not adequately represented in power structure of Nepal, be it in army, security forces, administration, national legislature or the cabinet.
Table - 3
Geographical representation of Senior most officials
S.No. Post Kathmandu Hill Terai Total
1. Secretary 14 7 9 30
2. Additional Secretary 21 7 6 34
3. Joint Secretary* 45 31 14 90
Total 80 45 29 154
Percentage 51.95 29.22 18.83 100
*only those belonged to the administrative service have been included.
Source : Contemporary Nepal 1998 : 123
b. Security Forces :
Inspite of existence of ethnic groups in Nepal higher posts as Senior Officers in army and police forces have been monopolised by hill people.
Table - 4
Position of Madheshee Community in Security Forces :
Department and Position No. of Officers No. of Madheshee
1. Most Senior officers in
Royal Nepal Army (RNA) 18 0
2. Chief of Police, armed
police and national
investigation department 3 0
Police AIGP 4 0
Police DIG 16 0
Police SSP 41 0
3. Armed Police AIGP 3 0
Armed Police DIG 8 0
Armed Police SSP 13 0
Armed Police SP 37 0
Source : Madhesh : Social demography and discrimination, 2004 : 48
Madheshee People have no acess to the Royal Nepal Army. A similar situation prevails in the police force too. The Madheshee people share only 2-3% in lower rank of Nepal police.As a result, the Madheshee people are excluded from high post responsibility of the Security Forces of their own motherland. Certain elite groups in Nepal argue that none but the Gorkhas (hill people) belong to martial race. Therefore other communities are not relished as capable for the army without reliable logic behind it. It is a historical fact that Harisimha Deva an eminent Karnata king of Terai region had recruited a number of Madheshee people in his army. He was a historical personality. It is also a fact that when Prithvi Narayan Shah attacked Jay Prakash Malla, the latter had twelve thousand strong Madheshees recruited in his army who were called "Tirhutia Army". The Tirhutia army fought very bravely against the organised force of Prithvi Narayan Shah. Following the defeat of Jay Prakash Malla Prithvi Narayan Shah intentionally discontinued the Service of Madheshee Army. After that there is hardly any evidence of recruitment of Madheshee people in the Royal Nepal Army (RNA).
c. Political Participation
In regard to representation in Parliament, the number of Brahmins and Chhetris of the hilly region is comparatively high. Both in the panchayat system and in the current multi-party system. Brahmins and Chhetris of hilly region are dominant political elements in national politics.
Table-5
Madheshee MPs in Parliament








Source : Himal, May/June 1992, Election Commission bulletins 1994 & 1999.
Above mentioned table shows that the representation of Madheshee MPs in Parliament in 1959, 1978, 1991, 1994 & 1999 elections. Madheshee MPs in Parliament accounted 22% in 1959 which fell all the time low to 15% in 1978. The foregoing observation about advantaged and disadvantaged groups in national politics of Nepal can bronage and got civil service, opportunities foe substantiated with a reference to data available on communal representation in national politics. A comparision of membership in two elective bodies, the 1959 parliament and 1967 National Panchayat is highly instructive. An increase was marked in representation of hill people from 78% in the Parliament to 90% in National Assembly and corresponding decrease from 22% to 8.30% of Madheshees. Of all, the people who had been member of the national panchayat from 1963 to 1988, 380 out of total 501, 76% hailed from the upper caste groups Brahmin, Chhetri etc. of the hilly region.
One foreign observer remarked that "during the past decade, the crown had became the pivot around which the traditional interest groups, the sacred elite, the military and the landowning aristocracy still revolve. These groups gain access to the Royal palace through their supporters and representatives on the staff of the palace secretariat. The palace secretariat has become the nerve centre of administration and the political structure in Nepal, even though its dominant policy and decision making role is not defined via law or within the constitution of this country. The functions of the palace secretariat can be closely compared with previous, all powerful functions of the hereditary Rana Prime Ministers Office".
Table - 6
Representation in the House of Representative by caste and Ethnicity (Total no. 205)
Caste/Ethnicity Ratio of population 1991 1994 1999
Election Election Election
Hill High Caste 7023220 114 129 122
(30.89%) (55.61%) (62.93%) (59.51%)
Hill Dalit 1616592 1 - -
(7.11%) (0.48%)
Hill Ethnic 5011631 34 24 28
(22.04%) (16.59%) (11.71%) (16.66%)
Newar 1245232 14 12 14
(5.48%) (6.83%) (5.85%) (6.83%)
Inner Terai Ethnic 251117 1 - -
(1.11%) (0.48%)
Terai Caste 3464249 18 22 29
(15.24%) (8.78%) (10.73%) (14.15%)
Terai Dalit 904924 - - -
(3.99%)
Terai Ethnic 2814927 18 14 10
(8.11%) (8.78%) (6.83%) (4.88%)
Muslim 971056 5 4 2
(4.27%) (2.43%) (1.9%) (0.97%)
Women 11377556 7 7 12
(50.04%) (3.41%) (3.41%) (5.85%)
Men 11359378 198 198 193
(49.96%) (96.56%) (96.56%) (94.15%)
Source : CBS 2002 and Election commission, 1991, 1994 and 1999.
If we look at the pattern of representation in both the houses of Parliament, House of Representatives and National Assembly (see Table 6 and 7) in each of the elections, it is apparent that the experiment with democracy could not address the problems of exclusion of Madheshee, deprived caste and communities. The dominant caste groups are over-represented in both houses.
Table-7
Representation in the National Assembly by caste and ethnicity
(Total no. 60)
Caste/Ethnicity 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001
Hill High Caste 33 37 33 33 33 36
(55%) (61.37%) (55%) (55%) (55%) (60%)
Hill Dalit 2 2 3 3 4 3
(3.33%) (3.33%) (5%) (5%) (6.67%) (5%)
Hill Ethnic 8 7 5 7 8 9
(13.33%) (11.67%) (8.33%) (11.67%) (13.33%) (15%)
Newar 8 5 9 9 8 5
(13.33%) (8.35%) (15%) (15) (13.33%) (8.33%)
Terai Caste 6 6 6 5 5 4
(10%) (10%) (10%) (8.33%) (8.33%) (6.67%)
Terai Dalit -- -- -- -- -- 1
(1.67%)
Terai Ethnic 2 3 4 2 1 1
(3.33%) (5%) (6.67%) (3.33%) (1.67%) (1.67%)
Muslim 1 -- -- 1 1 1
(1.67%) (1.67%) (1.67%) (1.67%)
Women 3 3 5 7 7 7
(5%) (5%) (8.33%) (11.67%) (11.67%) (11.67%)
Men 57 57 55 53 53 53
(95%) (95%) (91.67%) (88.33%) (88.33%) (88.33%)
Source: National Assembly Secretariat.
The House of Representative has 205 member elected on the basis of adult franchise. The National Assembly, the upper house of igation department 3 0
Police AIGP 4 0
Polithe Parliament is a 60 member house and the member come from different constituencies: 35, including Three women members elected by HOR on the basis of proportional representation; 15 i.e. Three each from five development regions elected by the representatives of the local bodies and 10 nominated by the king.
Although the major political parties, particularly the Communists, often insist that National Assembly should be made the house of nationalities in order to compensate for under-representation of Madheshees and various other groups, the candidates they field do not comply to that position and the house remains dominated by Brahmins and chhetris of hilly region, who occupy more than 50% of the total seats. likewise ethnic groups, women and dalits are least represented.
Table-8 Shows that the Madheshee ministers in the council of minister during the panchayat regime between 1960 and 1989 was 16%. The situation has not improved even after the restoration of multiparty parliamentary democracy in 1990.
Table-8
Representation of Madheshee Community in the council of Ministers



Ministers (1960-1989) 35 16% 181 84% 216 100
Ministers (1992-1993) 4 17% 20 83% 24 100
Cabinet ministers
(1994-1995) 0 0% 9 100% 9 100
Deuba's cabinet ministers
2004 nominate by king 5 20% 20 80% 25 100
Source: Ethinicity in democracy (paper), Nepal Rajpatra 2051/814 B.S and Gorkhaptra
The share of the Madheshee ministers in the council of ministers headed by Prime minister G.P. Koirala account for 17%. But in the council of minister headed by Prime minister so called communist leader Man Mohan Adhikari on behalf of CPN (UML) government Madheshee minister was nil in his cabinet.
Table-9
Representation of Madheshee Community in the central level
organisation/committee of political parties.
Political Parties Total Central Madheshee
Committee Member Member
Nepali Congress 35 3
CPN (UML) 65 1 (alternate member)
Nepali Congress (D) 35 3
RPP 45 7
Janmorcha Nepal 51 1
Source : Madhesh : Social Demography and Discrimination, 2004:51
The representation of Madheshee community in central working committee of larger Parliamentary Political Parties e.g. Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (D), CPN (UML), RPP in Nepal was inadequate. The hill Brahmins & Chhetris controlled the central leadership of major Political Parties. This is one of the reasons why Madheshee working in these Political Parties are treated with distrust by the hill leadership. Qualities as talent and self-respect have been disqualifying rather than qualifying factors for the Madheshee. Persons having talent and self-respect have been discouraged and sometimes even punished. There is no any vital role given to Madheshee leaders in these political parties.
d. On the decline of employment condition :
According to the various studies, the number of unemployment is larger in Madhesh/Terai than mountain and hilly regions. In Madhesh unemployment rate is 6.5%, mountain 2.1% and hilly region 3.7%.
Table 10
Unemployment rate of different geographical regions
Geographical regions Unemployment rate (%)
01. Mountain 2.1
02. Hill 3.7
03. Madhesh/Terai 6.5
Source : Living standards survey report 1996.
e. On the decline of per capita income of Madhesh/Terai :
Yearly, per capita income of Madheshee (plain's people) is slightly much than inhabitants of mountain but more less than hilly people. Yearly, per capita income of the people of mountain is Rs. 5,938 and hilly region is Rs. 8,433 but Madhesh is Rs. 7,322. According to the International Standards 66%, people of Nepal are living below the poverty line. Whereas 64% are in hill and 68% in Terai. ll High Caste 7023220 114 129 122
(30.89%) Which shows that Madheshee are economically most deprived. Because one-third of the total population of Madhesh are landless and unemployed.
Table - 11
Per capita income (yearly) in Rs.
Geographical regions Per capita income (1995-96) in Rs.
01. Mountain 5,938
02. Hill 8,433
03. Madhesh/Terai 7,322
Source : Living standards survey report 1996.
f. Threat for livelihood.
The socio-economic condition of the Madheshees in Nepal is deplorable, along with the loss of their national and cultural identities such as language and culture due to unbearable domination of the hill people. Although forest is the main source of livelihood - especially to certain Madheshee People like Satar/Santhal, Jhangar etc., the growing deforestation in the last years caused enormous environmental degredation and a threat to their sustainable living. Additionally poor sanitation, poor health, illiteracy and unemployment are common phenomena in the Madhesh. As a result, the Madheshee people are increasingly entering into the labour market in Nepal, India and abroad.
The racial discrimination practised in Nepal also contains elements of genocide. Which may also interpreted to mean "extermination of the race or a nation", after the conclusion of world war II when the horrified world learned of the extermination of whole peoples by the Nazis. As we see, in fact, genocide is committed in four ways : physical genocide, i.e. physical extermination of whole groups of the population for racial, national, caste/ethnic or religious reasons; Social and economic genocide, i.e. deliberate creation of living conditions for such population groups, that lead to their complete or partial extermination; biological genocide, i.e. measures preventing child-birth among members of such groups, and, last but not least, national and cultural genocide, i.e. acts calculated to destroy the cultural and other spiritual values of the groups in question. All these methods were extensively employed by Nazi Germany during world war II against Slavs, Jews, Gypsies, and other people. According to the international law genocide is a crime against humanity.
10. Problems of national integration
The Gorkha Conquest had given Nepal a single name and strong centralised administration and government. Even the people from the Terai region of Nepal needed a permit from their own government to visit Kathmandu. They were not employed in the military services, few of them were accomodated in the civil service. It created for them a problem of identification in psychological terms. The problems of national integration in Nepal, becomes more serious as the demands for an equitable allocation of developmental resources to different region acquire force.
In Nepal territorial expansion in the second half of the eighteenth and the first decade of the nineteenth centuries provided a sense of emotional unity and identity among the people of various ethnic and linguistic groups who had just been brought together into one kingdom.
Similarly, in the changed circumstances people living in the Madhesh, mountain and hill can be imbued with a sense of identity, if inhabitants of those regions are allowed to participate without discrimination in the administrative, political and economic process of Modernisation.
For physical, psychological and historical reasons the government in Nepal has failed to enforce an equitable distribution of goods and services. For a long time the vision of the government at Kathmandu did not extend beyond the confines of the valley. More than half of the development budget has for a long time been spent entirely on the Kathmandu valley and its environs. Indeed the Kathmandu valley alone was treated as Nepal for all practical purposes. Madheshees have not been recognised as the Son of the soil, even today. The exploitative nature of the old political style still presists unchanged.
The Madheshee people of the Terai have their identity problems, similar to those of people who have emerged from colonial experiences. Neither Nepal's history nor Nepal's hill culture or the ruling elite satisfy thier identity needs, because they have not been associated with either, National symbols with which the Madheshee people could easily identify are missing. The Nepali language, perhaps even more than crown itself, is a powerful and pervasive symbol of Nepalese nationalism in the hill region. Nepali is spoken by relatively few Madheshee people, even as a second language. Hindi, the common language or lingua franca of the region and a significant symbol for many Madheshee people, has been rejected as a second national or even one that is recognised for government use at the regional level.
The present political system and the constitution of the kingdom of Nepal 1990 is itself defective in promoting national integration. Under existing system, it is the mountain, river and land that are represented and not the people. This is so because representation is not held on the basis of population but on the basis of the geographical area. As such, in a district like Manang or Mustang where population is only 6,358 according to the voter list of 1991 having one MP. But in the district like Sarlahi, Saptari, Siraha in the Terai, there is a provison to have an MP on the basis of at lest 75000 to 100000 population. National integration cannot be promoted so long as election for the house of representative is not held on the basis of population. Present system is a mockery.
Rs. 5,938 and hilly region is Rs. 8,433 but Madhesh is Rs. Until the citadels of privilege, higher education scholarship abroad, the higher ranks of both the civil and military services are made accessible to the disadvantaged ethnic groups, unless the structure of power reflects the rich diversity of our nation, the process of national integration will be incomplete. There are deep structural inequalities in the nation. The privileged castes and classes of hilly region must rise above their narrow interests to promote the cause of the disadvantaged and unprivileged, to provide them with not merely equal but enhanced opportunities for improving their lot. Thus representation and distribution are the major mechanism required to resolve the conflict of this phase of 'Created Nationalism' in Nepal. Multi-party democracy must create a multi-ethnic power structure, for this new state structure is essential.
All this, however, Presupposes a change in the attitude of the dominant minority power-elite. unless the legitimate grievances of the hitherto neglected majority are properly needed and a greater oppertunity is provided for the upward mobility of various ethnic groups, the process of development may create a highly explosive situation in the country.
11. Conclusions
The Madheshee population is subjected to extreme national oppression, poverty and exploitation, lack of all democratic rights. Madhesh is the internal colony of hill people's ruling class. It is the combination of the worst features both of racial discrimination and internal colonialism within a single national frontier which determines the special nature of the Nepalese polity.
The Madheshee people of Nepal have been politically economically, socially and culturally depressed and are under the threat of extinction. They have been strategically forced to migrate to India, their landholdings have been confiscated, their linguistic and cultural identity is under crisis. They have been kept out of the realm of power sharing and decision making bodies. They still do not feel integrated into the Nepali natioality. Mal-nutrition, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment including political and economic discrimination are their major problems. Fundamental human rights such as (i) civil and political rights (ii) economic, social and cultural rights of the plain's people (Madheshee) in Nepal are not well respected. Madheshee peoples of Nepal have been subjected to domination, exploitation, discrimination and supression of their human rights and fundamental freedom since the foundation of the state of Nepal, still continue at all levels.
The government has not yet developed any specific policy and programme in this regard or they are discriminatory, and ineffective. There is a strong need for the recognition of the human rights, national identity, languages and culltures of the Madheshee people and the adoption of a fair national policy to recognise their role in the national socio-econmic and political mainstream.
We, the Madheshee people of Nepal, declare for all our country and the world to know that Nepal belongs to all who live in it, Madheshee and non-Madheshee. There shall be equal status in the bodies of state for all national groups, races and caste/ethnics; all people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own culture and customs; all national groups shall be protected by laws against insult to their ethnicity, race and national pride; the preaching and practice of national and racial discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime; all discriminatory laws, policies and practices shall be set aside constitutionally.
Nepal is a landlocked semi-feudal, multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi- religious country. Current constitutional and political system of the unitary system of government cannot solve the Madheshee and other ethnic crisis of the country. So there should be a radical change in the state structure and current socio-economic and political system. Constitutional provision for regional autonomy or autonomous states within federal system and the right to self -determination, complete multi-party democratic system, proportional representation in polity, secularism, reservation and multi-lingual policy is a crying necessity for its development, democratisation, modernisation, maintaining national integrity and strengthening national unity. The country should be demarcated into different political autonomous states or units on the basis of similarity in matter of language, culture, customs, appearances, economic way of life, social structure and geography. Madhesh should be a political unit and should be declared an autonomous state or province. This will go a long way in correcting the regional imbalances and in ending the racial, cultural, political, linguistic and administrative discriminations.

- Jayprakash Gupta
General Secretary
Madheshee Janadhikar Forum,