Balkanization Threatens Nepal, Discrimination driving separatism in Terai

January 31, 2007 at 1:01 pm 12 comments

Balkanization Threatens Nepal

Discrimination driving separatism in Terai 

The people of Nepal have been deluding themselves all along about a “new Nepal.” Who can blame them? Our politicians have been reiterating, “Nepal has already changed, it’s no longer the same old country. We are building a new Nepal.” I, too, fell for the old shibboleth of a new Nepal, but the fatal shooting of a teenager by the Maoists was therapeutic as well as traumatic. The circumstances are clear enough — one group is powerful, because armed, while the majority of Nepalese have nothing but their earnest voices and a zeal for self-rule, to break free from the old ways of oppression and injustice.Years of suppression and rank discrimination threatening newly restored peace in the country.On Monday afternoon, the phone rang repeatedly as more and more news of violence in the Terai region was coming in. “One more died here after the Armed Police Force opened fire at the protesters. The situation is tense, as the protesters have zeroed in on the police station and have started pelting it with stones,” our local correspondent said over the telephone. Another 12-hour-long curfew has been imposed on the area. Like the supposedly dormant volcano that remains quiescent until the pressure from below becomes uncontainable, it seems that the time has finally come for the Madhesi people to demand the fundamental rights they have so far been denied.At least two people lost their lives on the spot in the incident yesterday, and about two dozen of the seriously injured were taken to Kathmandu‘s Bir Hospital via Nepali Army night-vision helicopter late last night for treatment. Unfortunately, two died of their injuries today. “They emphasized the involvement of Maoists, who are now all-powerful after the decade-long insurgency and bloodshed. If they (the ruling class) repeat the same mistakes, then the revolution in the Terai could cost more lives and signal the start of another people’s war,” argued Chhatra Shankar, vice president of the Human Rights Journalists’ Association-Nepal.“If the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA), including the Maoists, labels this violence in the Terai as ‘communal,’ then it would be their mistake. It is a political problem,” Shankar said, adding, “and the problem should be addressed politically.”

The Madhesi Fundamental Rights Forum-Nepal and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morchas have been demanding autonomy for the Terai and an end to the “internal occupation of the Terai” by Nepali-speaking rulers. Nepal is divided into the Mountain, Hill and Terai ecological belts. The Terai, called the granary of Nepal because of its fertile, arable land, covers about 23 percent of the total land area, and, according to the census of 2001, 48.4 percent of the over 23 million Nepalese reside there.During my 20-year lifespan, I have experienced how being a dark-complected Madhesi (a Nepalese of Indian extraction living in the Terai) can be a curse. In addition to illiteracy and poverty, even literate Madhesis are burdened with rank discrimination just for being Terai-dwellers. “In Kathmandu, we are loathed as ‘dhotis’ (Indians), and in India, we are humiliated as ‘Nepalese’,” one of my cousins, now resident in the U.S., said, adding, “I don’t know if it’s a curse to be born as a Madhesi.”When visiting my village, located in one of the remote villages of

Nepal, in Sarlahi, I remember children of my own age taunting me, “Pahadi, Pahadi! Look, Pahadi has come with his hat,” and they would laugh at me. Then I used to wonder, what is “Pahadi”? Later, I came to know it as slang for those who live in the hills, and from then on I detested the very idea of going back to my village when I was at school in Kathmandu. I call Kathmandu home and don’t feel any sense of alienation there for this very reason.I became increasingly aware of bigotry even in the capital of my beloved country. When someone would label me “bhaiya” (big brother) or “marsiya” (a corruption of Madhesi) I used to feel bad. They have even degraded the original meaning of bhaiya and dhoti as dignified by Gandhi, the Father of India, who wore white cotton dhotis all his life. People living in the Terai also wear dhotis because of the scorching heat of the sun.I’ve been fortunate in that my complexion, accent and day-to-day behavior are no different from those of anyone else who feels proud of their ethnic identity, but as a child, “exiled” from my own people, I was influenced otherwise. But when some around me in Kathmandu pronounces Madhesi, they mangle it. When they have to point out any one hailing from the Terai, they simply stereotype all Terai people as “Marsiya” or “dhoti.” Their mispronunciation is palpably disgusting and humiliating to the Terai people. Perhaps this very inequality and discrimination gave birth to the love of my own land, which I’d long forgotten.You might not credit that as a schoolboy I imagined ways to help those put down by class oppression, even to the extent of devising a new nation of “Terai” to accommodate them. When these same people, members of the Madhesi Peoples’ Rights Forum or Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha, however, now demand an autonomous federal republic, I am incongruously unable to support them. Neither do I take to the idea of the movements behind Newa Mukti Morcha or the Limbuwan Federal Republic or other groups demanding self-rule.But most of these people also know that in these efforts they, and especially the Maoists, are threatening to re-balkanize

Nepal. The rebels, implementing the odious doctrine of divide and conquer, are entrapping the Nepalese into being alienated along the lines of caste and creed, into Newar, Tharu, Gurung or Limbu. Perhaps they do represent a “new” Nepal, a remake of the same old Nepal, in which different groups fought every other day, living in constant fear of each other. Have they ever considered that there are those belonging to other castes and races within their “own” area as well — how would they deal with them? I wonder if they even begin to know the meaning of tolerance. At such a critical time, the violence in the Terai can only arouse the Madhesi people because the chair or the members of Central Committee of the CPN-Maoist and other major political parties in the country are also Khas-speaking (Nepali-speaking) people. It is also clear that the country is not going to have a Madhesi prime minister in the foreseeable future. The leaders then have the difficult task of uniting the whole country in the face of their own dictum of divide and rule. I wonder if the bloodshed really came to an end with the comprehensive peace accord or is now just the beginning of a new wave?source::http://eng.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=341574&rel_no=1

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वार्ताका लागि तयार छौँ तर गृहमन्त्रीले राजीनामा दिनुपर्छ – उपेन्द्र यादव Nepal: Confusion and Finding Scapegoats

12 Comments Add your own

  • 1. by Salik Shah  |  February 4, 2007 at 6:33 pm

    Published in Ohmynews International and Orato.

  • 2. Son of Tirhut  |  March 23, 2007 at 1:52 pm

    I agree with this article but afterall we need autonomous state that belongs to Madhesi people.

    Jai Madhes!!!!!

  • 3. Ravi  |  July 7, 2007 at 12:42 am

    Upon reading the article, this seems to be a very genuine and touchable, the writer has felt his pit of the heart while behaving like this way. Every social groups upon living in certan geographic area form a ethnic boundary, what Barthes have said determines their position in the Social Milieu. Lowly educated people are more ethnicentric. They immediately distinguish what is different between them and other group of people. So there appears discrimination and differences. Writer’s essay has portrayed a live picture of what is a psychological identity of a Madhesi people. Even some one point of the racial element in such behaviours. Why such remarks are put by the Pahade People.

    1. Pahade People frequently hear the news of Boarder encroachment and take over by the Indian Boarder Security Guards in Terai. This hurts them, why the Indian Armies Troubles the poor Nepal? This is the simple question every one ask with his self. Is there no place for a Poor Country like Nepal who can live in a dignified way being a sovereign Land of the world? A Nepalese citizen in Kathmandu finds Indian Police/Army freely coming with Arms to pay Homage to Pashupatinath. So this is a disrespect for the Nepalese people. They have been hurt deeply. The high dams built along the Terai brings problem of flood, so maks huge lake brings chaos in the lives of people in Terai.

    There are many issues between India and Nepal, that makes Nepalese people sad and angry. Pahades never go to their own fellows land in Madesh, so they donot know what are their social and economic indicators. So being black in color and wearing Dhoti they take them Indians, so they spill their anger to them remembering what Indian policies have brought problems in the National Identity of Nepal.

    The bad behaviours to nepalese when they are in Boardering cities even brings another anger and hatred among the Pahades. Daily news comes about the misbehaviour, looting of the Nepalese coming to home from work by the BSF. Once Nepalese Pahade driver was killed by the angry mob when hitting a rikshaw. Even policment didnot take concern that time. The incident happend in the boardering town near Nepalgunj. So many news comes in the media where Pahdes are misbehaved, ill treated, looted etc. Numerous events help ot solidify to misbehave the black looking people in Pahad. So this brings such proplem to the People of Terai/Madhesh. This is a sure crazy activity.

    2. my next concern to the write up is that, Every Nepalese citizen is now seriously thinking of this social exculsion. They have known that how far are the people hurted…….. This had brought a kind of shame, even to the common citizen. Common people have felt the demands of the Terai people.

    3. I hope we can all find a better solution to heal the sentiment of the Madhesi People in a dignified manner. Political analyst have found up that the crux of Madhesi Movement is two-fold. Once is the crisis of Identity and another social exclusion and maltreatment by Kathmandu.

    Lets talk about the discrimination, prejudices and inequailty. Lets make a dialogue to find a lasting solution. If we think of Gandhi, then lets not forget about his principal of non-voilence. Lets not fight with eachother and let’s make our society peaceful. The artificial boundary of Nation is not important if we can build up a long alliance with every people of this world.

  • 4. praksh  |  February 15, 2008 at 3:02 am

    Madhesh does not exist in Nepal’s history, geography: Keshav Prasad Mainali PDF Print E-mail
    Thursday, 07 February 2008

    BY BN DAHAL

    HIGHT LIGHT

    Those who had come from the Madhya Pradesh of India and settled here are called Madhesis and tarai is not Madhesh. I am puzzled why those who are in power and the big parties are giving so much importance to Madhesh and the Madhesis.

    The government does not care about it. It is not heard that this country should not be divided in Susta. But when talk about this to the leaders, they say the bigger fish swallows the smaller one. They also say, one should not quarrel with the neighbour for a few metres of land. This also confirmed our fear that the country is heading towards division. Our Chure-Bhavar is pushing its own agenda and issue. We don’t accept any Madhesh in the Terai and we are working with all our might for national integrity.

    Issues, like secularism and religion, republic and federalism should only be decided by the government and parliament that has received the fresh mandate of the people. What right the government and the parliament that was picked up and selected has to decide on those issues. This is only a ploy to make the parliament that has gained the people’s mandate a mere rubber stamp.

    What kind of representative will we be electing on the votes given by those who are not the real citizens of this country? We are doubtful about whose vested interest will be fulfilled by this. We have also talked about sealing the border because there are elements from across the border coming into Nepal and involved in killing, murder, abduction and others. We must be free from fear of bullet and threats. The CA election should only be done after meeting our 9-point demand.

    ImageKeshav Prasad Mainali is chairman of the Chure-Bhabar Ekata Party. He got involved in politics in 2024 BS from Nepal Student Union and he was also president of the Nepali Congress’s Sarlahi district committee. Mainali talked to People’s Review on the existing political situation and especially focusing on the tarai agitations and movement.

    Q. The Chure-Bhabhar Ekata Samaj had suddenly come into limelight and now it has remained quiet and even looked complacent? Why is it?

    A. We have not remained quiet. Any group is in the limelight if it is into agitation. But now we are forming our own militia, that is why we look to be quiet and complacent, which we are not.

    Q. Why are you forming militia group?

    A. The unnecessary agitations and movements in the tarai has endangered the country’s unity, integrity and nationalism. Therefore, to prevent the country from splitting up and to raise arms if necessary we are forming our own militia.

    Q. How do you look at the Madhesi’s movement in the tarai?

    A. There are attempts to break up the country in the name of tarai movements. No constitution of Nepal has mentioned the name Madhesh. Therefore, there are attempts to create terror and panic by bringing in the word Madhesh, which does not exist in our constitution and law. We oppose this. Those who had come from the Madhya Pradesh of India and settled here are called Madhesis and tarai is not Madhesh. I am puzzled why those who are in power and the big parties are giving so much importance to Madhesh and the Madhesis.

    Q. You say when there is no Madhesh, how can there be Madhesis, but the government has already accepted their existence?

    A. This is the irony and absurdity. The government has accepted the existence of something which is not there in reality. Therefore, those who are in power are creating division in the country. When we tried to find the origin of Madhesh, we found in a dictionary the word Madhesh, according to which Madhesh is an area in Mohat of India. We have not accepted any area called Mohat in India. Now, in our agitation we will burn the page of the constitution which contains the word Madhesh because one cannot create separation in the country by using the word which does not exist.

    Q. Then what is the agitation that is raging in Madhesh?

    A. The present agitation in Madhesh is a separatist movement. Earlier, we had called it as the movement against the Pahadis and the Madhesis. But those who are the new arrivals in tarai and calling themselves as the dhartiputra (sons of the soil) are into chasing people of the hill origin and who had been permanently settled there. Therefore, it is a separatist movement. When people like Rajendra Mahato, who despite being in the government, chanted ‘Pahadis go to the hills or on the other side of the Chure’, it clearly oozes the smell of separatism. But the government does not care about it. It is not heard that this country should not be divided in Susta. But when talk about this to the leaders, they say the bigger fish swallows the smaller one. They also say, one should not quarrel with the neighbour for a few metres of land. This also confirmed our fear that the country is heading towards division. Our Chure-Bhavar is pushing its own agenda and issue. We don’t accept any Madhesh in the tarai and we are working with all our might for national integrity.

  • 5. Raju  |  June 14, 2008 at 12:50 am

    The Madeshis are Indian animals
    we should deport every last one of them and build a wall between nepal and that piece of shit under us.

  • 6. karki  |  June 27, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    diese madhesis don’t deserve to be called nepalese ,at this critical time ,they want to divide the country
    no to autonomous terai ,

  • 7. nepali  |  July 20, 2008 at 7:40 am

    social exclusion is terrible. That seems to be the essence of all Nepals troubles. Karma of oppression created this endless fighting. So no one ever stops fighting and the country is destroying more?
    Now blame the congress party and king and previous government, probably it all takes time. Process seems to be that at least madhesi are more than maoists which nobody reallly seems to mind put something to rule, kick it and another and kick again this is called POLITICAL INSTABILITY.

  • 8. madhesi  |  August 7, 2008 at 6:53 am

    Its funny the few comentators above don’t even know the history of Nepal….which came together in its present form only during the late 1700’s…..and madhesis are not from madhya pradesh lol the name Madhya Pradesh didnot exist until the 1960’s madhesis i.e maithili, awadhi and bhhojpuri speakers have been in the terai or madesh even before terai became part of Nepal….remember entire western terai was under kindoms of Awadh and Rohillas….the nawab of awadh controlled it until the british took over. In fact Paharis are the only recent migrants to Madhesh. Just because terai is now attached to a kingdom dominated by paharis doesnot mean that terai dwellers/madhesis can be ignored or overlooked.

  • 9. Roshan kumar jha,KSL, Rautahat, Gaur  |  July 10, 2009 at 4:50 am

    Madhesh is also known as Terai in Nepal. The Flat, fertile southern belt of Nepal, 20-30km wide and stretching east to west is often considered as Tera or Madhesh. It covers 20% of land in Nepal. Madhesh is a term geven to areas of the Nepali outer Terai or to the outer Terai as a whole inhabited by the peoples who are racially, culturally, and linguistically related to people as the Indian side of the border.These peoples are referred to or refer to themselves as a Madhesi or Madheshi, Madesi, Mahgadesi and Deshwaali.The term “Madhesi”: encompass many different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups that inhabit the terai region. Madhesh is commonly believed to have been the kingdom of the legendary King Janak and as such, the Madhesi people are believed to put be part of the oldest culture in Nepal.
    Madhesi are an important segment of the population in Nepal. According to the population census 2001 based on mother tongue for village Development committees (VBCs), the Madhesi population was 6781111.5. If one were to go by this figure, the Madhesis formed 29.2% of the total population of Nepal in 2009. However Madhesi political leaders, scholars, and activists have long questioned these figures. They claim that the Madhesis form 40-50% of the total population in Nepal today.

    1.2 Objectives.
    To study about the geographical, cultural and Religious History of Madhesh.

    1.3 Limitations
    This seminar paper is limited to its topic.
    It only deals about the Geographical,religious, and cultural, History of Madhesh.

    1.4 Methodology
    Going throgh the books and magazines available in kathmandu school of laibrarary and Nepal Bharat pustakalaya.

    Chapter 2

    2.1 The Origin of the word ” Madhesh” and “Terai”
    The word “Madesh” may be derived from Sanskrit word ‘Madhya Desh’ meaning ‘country in the middle’ or magadh, it was so much powerful state after the fall of the Brijisangh. Some of the historians show its origin in ‘Matsya desh’ meaning ‘contry of fish’

    And etmologically, the word Madhesi is the adjectival form of Madhesh, which is usuall y refers to the Terai or Madhesh. While many theories have been developed about the origin of the word, the most popular one is that this land was the central kingdom of the mythical Hindu king Janak.

    And the word “Terai” is believed to be derived from Persian, which meant damp or moist land. But some historians are of the view that the word Terai emerges from the lower part of mountain. The Terai or Madhesh region begins at the Indian border and includes the northernmost part of the flat, intensively formed Gangetic plain called the outer Terai. This is culturally an axtension of northern India with Hindi, Awadhi, Bhojpuri anf Maithili spoken more than the Nepali, however it was annexed to Nepal by conquest and by treaty eith the British. The Terai or Madhesh ends and the Hills begin at a higher range of foothills called the Mahabharat range.

    2.2 Geographical History Of Madhesh.
    Mythologically, King Janak was the emperor of Mithila kingdom (eastern Madhesh) whose daughter Sita got married to Ram of Ayodhya (northern UP-India). The capital of Mithila was Janakpur which even at present is called by the same name. Lord Ram got married to goddess Sita in a “swayamvar”(self chosen groom) ceremony in King Janak’s palace. Today, Janakpur is an important city in the eastern Madhesh.
    2500 years ago Madhesh or the Nepalese Terai was a part of the greatest empire of ancient India – the Magadha Empire with Patliputra as its capital. The empire is supposed to have included almost all of present day Nepal along with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Bangladesh except southern tip of India.
    During this period Lord Buddha was also born in Lumbini of Awadh region, and hence can be regarded as the greatest Madheshi of all time. Lord Buddha helped simplify the existing faith and belief of Magadha empire which for 800 years is called Hindu and found a new religion of his own name “Buddha dharma” (in English – Buddhism).
    There however has been little attempt at finding the historical facts about this region and the archeologists of Nepal have rather resorted to connecting the archeological facts to Nepal rather than the grand history of “Bharatvarsha” to which all of South Asia once belonged.
    The history between the downfall of Magadha and arrival of Islam is very hazy. However a site in the Bara district called Simraungarh entails a fact that the dynasty of Tirhut or Sen existed and flourished in this region before rise of Islam, and art and architecture of completely separate and vivid from the Kathmandu architecture based on which new government buildings in Terai have been built sadly. There has been no attempt at renovating the historical architecture of Madhesh. Little is known about other archeological sites apart from Lumbini and Simraungarh that may exist. Islam is Madhesh is as old as in Northern India. And possibly Madhesh was a part of Mughal Empire though rest of Nepal wasn’t. This is proven by the fact that Muslims in Madhesh are also the natives of this region and they speak the same language as their Hindu counterparts. And no historical Muslim population is found elsewhere in Nepal.
    Madhesh was a part of Mughal’s Hindustan just as today’s Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh or India was.

    2.3 Cultural History Of Madhesh.
    The Madhesi culture is one of the oldest cultuer’s in the world.The Madhesi people have their own distinct culture, which is one of the oldest cultures in region. According to the Ramayana, the ruler of Mithila, King Janak, a Madhesi by present standards, had established the kingdom of Mithila with its capital in present-day Janakpur long before the Shah rulers had even entered Nepal. His daughter, Sita is still worshipped by Hindus as the ideal of womanhood. The Madhesi are the only people of Nepal other than the Newars to have a long history of civilized and cultured existence with opulent cities and culture since early eras. mostly the Madhesis are related by marriage to Indians across the border. Generally people speaking Maithili, Bhojpuri and Hindi and resemble Indians in appearance are considered as Madheshis. Their traditional man dress is dhoti and kurta and women dress is Sarees and blouse. Their main religion is Hinduism.

    2.4 Religion and Language of Madhesh.

    There is a great cultural diversity in the Madhesh. Its cultural diversity can be seen in the fact that three distinct religious groups—Hindu, Muslim and Jain—live there. Caste Hindus are the dominant social group in the Madhesh. The social structure of Madhesi caste Hindus is very similar to that of Hindus from the hills.
    Madheshi people speak various central and eastern dialects of Hindi language as their mother tongue, example: Maithili – 33%, Bhojpuri – 25%, Awadhi (including tharu awadhi) – 18% and rest speak Rajbanshi, Bengali, Santhal and other minor languages.
    The above mentioned languages or dialects are regional i.e. they are concentrated in a region for example – Maithili in the east, Bhojpuri in the central part and Awadhi in the western region of the Terai. However it would be foolish to demarcate boundary lines to separate these languages. These languages or dialects flow into one another and the dialects lying at the edges of their influence region can be categorized as either of the neighboring dialects, for example the local language of Rautahat can be classified as Bhojpuri as well as Maithili, for Lumbini as well the dialect can be referred to as Awadhi as well as Bhojpuri.
    The language of Madhesh or the dialects of Hindi are to a large extent mutually intelligible.
    The non-regional languages spoken in Madhesh is primarily Hindi (Urdu for Muslims) with Nepali now spoken due to its imposition on these people for few decades. English is comprehensible to educated class and Marwadi, Punjabi, Newari etc are spoken by the non-native communities living in the Terai.
    Several languages such as Maithili, Bhojpuri, Avadhi, Hindi, Nepali and Urdu are spoken by the Madhesi people. Maithili is the most commonly used language[1]. Hindi and Urdu are spoken as a vernacular all over the region but less as native.

    2.5 Literature of Madhesh.
    Madheshi people have been forced and purposely made unaware of the great literary culture they belong to by the ruling nepali class. They are historically linked to the literary works of Sant Kabir, Laxmi kant jha,Bhikari Thakur, Pandit Vidyapati, Kalidas, Soordas, Mirza Ghalib, etc who are regarded as the pillars of Hindi (and Urdu to some extent). Sadly the new generation can hardly recite poems of Kabir and Vidyapati but are fluent in reciting poems of Nepali language, which is actually a foreign culture and language to Madheshis or Deshwaalis.
    From among the natives of Terai, undoubtedly, Udit Narayan Jha has acquired greatest fame in the field of singing. He is noted for his soothing voice quality that suits all the Deshwaali languages. Apart from countless Bollywood songs, he’s sung in Maithili, Bhojpuri and Awadhi as well as Nepali.

    Chapter 3

    3.1 Madhesh was a part of Mithilanchaal.

    • The most important thing regarding Madheshis that anyone must remember is that Madhesh region of Nepal is not a sovereign and independent of itself. Let’s take a look. Physically it is a part of Nepal currently but ethnically it is a part of Mithilanchal and was physically too a part of Mithilanchal in past. Mithilanchal is a place where most of the people speak Maithili and infact is a mithila region that ranges from Terai parts of Nepal to northern parts of India, the capital of which is Janakpur which is located in Nepal where King Janak ruled and his palace locates here. So the aspirations of people of madhesh are more directed towards the people of mithilanchal where they have family ties and infact the motherland where people share same culture, customs and brotherhood. Like People born in Rukum have ties with people born in Dolpa culturally, politically and racially even if they don’t know each other but they understand people by culture and they take no time in recognizing each others. Obviously It is a natural phenomenon supported by science and similarly one who is the aborigine of Janakpur and one who is the aborigine of Darbhanga (a city in India in northern Bihar where the great poet Vidya pati was born and is a part of Mithilanchal) and both being the part of same anchal i.e. “Mithilanchal” no one can deny the fact that Mithilanchal is our home (both people living in Janakpur and Darbhanga) by birth like hilly region for pahadis. Its therefore common the internal migration taking place in Mithilanchal (eg. Some migrating from Darbhanga to Janakpur and some migrating from Janakpur to Darbhanga for their easiness and they see it migrating in their own home). Mithilanchal is a territory that occupies both the parts of India and Nepal. Infact Pahadi people want to be identified themselves by the name of Lord Sita and Gautam Buddha in the world but after recognizing they are the part of Terai and Mithilanchal they show their their outrage to madheshi people and infact become jealous at us. Its their judgement that the people of Terai are Indians and they say it because their only source of nationalism is anti-indianism . I don’t think there is any wrong in that because that is a truth because we had been Indians for so long and only before 238 years we physically became a part of Nepal. So there is no need to feel bad for Madheshis if somebody calls them Indian because it is Madheshis right to be called Indians. If people want to hear we calling Indians ourselves, we must tell them and clear them our identity and thus fight for that identity regarding the truth. And remember Truth always wins the battle whatever be the consequences and if not we will prove it so. We are mentally and physically prepared for that though we prefer to resolve the problem through table talk and common consensus rather than violence. But it has now been clear among all madheshis that they are not going to live under such inequality and injustice and with very negligible participation in state of affairs despite the madheshis accounting for half the population .Now we have already known that we are deciding our future and our way of living.

    And the Pahadis are fool to think that we Madheshis have forget our motherland , our culture and our social structure and accommodated in theirs because of their feudalistic power and threats under a controlled territory. Pahadis can not tolerate the fact of ties that Madheshis have to Mithilanchal of India. Besides they are always afraid of the future if whole the people of Mithilanchal comes and conquer the power in Nepal and they remain with nothing at all. But they must evaluate the consequences if that really does happen. And till now they have been successful to keep us under control knowing our weaknesses and fooling us in the name of Hinduism. They know Madheshis enjoy simple ,innocent and hard-working life with mutual understanding and brotherhood and thus they take advantage of our innocence and remain in power and utilizing all the resources that madheshis have (75% of revenue generated from terai and madheshi people) for their benefits alone. The reason they praise our valued Deepawali, Holi and chhat festival because they are well aware of our simple ,happy and brotherly life. Infact some kind of jeolosy is always there in their mind and they are aware that once we madheshis are given opportunity in state affairs we always tend to march above them politically and culturally.

    3.2 Recent development of Madhesh.

    Recently a movement called the Madhesi movement began in the Tarai, demanding an end to discrimination against the Madhesi people. The different parties involved in the movement range from student wings of the ruling parties to the armed Tarai Janatantrik Morcha (Tarai Populist Front) and thus the various demands of each group are different. In general, the unarmed groups are calling for a federal political system, whereas the armed rebels demand a separate state.
    Both the first president of Republic of Nepal – Ram Baran Yadav, and the first vice president- Parmanand Jha are Madheshis. During the oath taking ceremony, vice president Jha read his oath in Hindi. The constitution requires the oath to be taken in Nepali. Even though vice president Jha’s mother tongue is Maithili, he resorted to Hindi. This led to a widespread agitation throughout the country. Various political parties, organization and intellectuals have criticized the act of Jha. Jha later tried to justify his use of Hindi claiming that it is understandable to all residents in Terai districts, who speak different languages.

    3.3 Analysis and conclusion.
    After the unification, there is very little evidence of any of the Shah or Rana rulers trying to address the Madhesis. On the contrary, to appease the powerful families, army personnel from conquered principalities (mainly Kaski, Parbat, Lamjung and Kathmandu) were appointed as governors of the various parts of the Tarai, forcing the Madhesi into lives as perpetual second-class citizens.
    The “one nation, one culture” policy implemented by King Mahendra during his absolute rule did not only create a setback to cultures other than Khas,including Newar, Tamang, Magar, Kirat, Madhesi culture but also created an atmosphere in which their language was considered as foreign or anti-national. . A Madhesi like Udit Narayan Jha (who later went on to be one of the most successful Bollywood playback singers) was rejected as being unfit for singing in Radio Nepal (the state-controlled and then only radio station of Nepal), while Khas people from Darjeeling, politically a part of India, were provided privileged status for their patriotic songs depicting the life in the hills. Madhesis were also barred from joining the armed forces of Nepal.
    But nowadays if Madhes was a part of Nepal, then Madhesi have been given chance to prove their patriotism in Nepali Army,the most pat

  • 10. Roshan kumar jha,KSL, Rautahat, Gaur  |  July 10, 2009 at 4:55 am

    You pahadis are Bhagauda. you came from the capital of ancient madhesh “Kanakubj” so all are pure madhesis. we madhesis people have a long history of independent. But you pahadia always suppressed us. We are nor indians we are the real inhabitants of terai.

    So you pahadis who gave you authority to call us indian animals. if you use this word time and again. i will kill you understand sale

  • 11. one  |  August 8, 2009 at 6:50 am

    Imagine there’s no countries
    It isn’t hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace…

    i love you all madhesis, paharis, janajatis, dalits, tharus, indians, chinese

  • 12. BritishNepali  |  December 29, 2013 at 6:59 am

    The Tharu are the native people of the Terai. These ‘Madhesi’ people are illegal immigrants from Bihar in India they speak immigrant languages. Dalits, Bahuns, Chetris are NOT native Nepali they are illegal invader immigrants from India and of Indo-Aryan race. Only Tharu in the Terai and the Newar,Gurung, Magar, Rai, Limbu, Tamangs and Sherpa are REAL NATIVE NEPALI’S of the Mongoloid race. All the Indo-Aryans are just pretenders and frauds.who migrated from India. The ‘Madhesi’ are the same as the ‘Rohinga’ (aka illegal Bengali’s) in Burma. ‘Madhesi’ sided with the British East India company in the Anglo-Nepal war of 1812.
    I live in the UK and people here and all over the West know the real Nepali’s like the Gurkhas, Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas and world famous fashion designer Prabal Gurung. If a ‘Madhesi’ claimed he was from Nepal he would be laughed at as some crazy Indian just like they laugh at Bahuns and Chetris who claim they are native Nepali’s.
    The World is not buying what your selling but keep trying like your ‘Rohinga’ brothers you have much in common.

    @Roshan Kumar Jha your a Indian animal invader dhoti scum. We will deport your dirty smelly black ass back to Bihar so you can be with your dhoti brothers. Now stop running your big mouth. You ‘madhesi’ dhoti are really funny.

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