Sunday, March 25, 2007
Madhesis Rising
Maoists in Nepal have received a taste of their own medicine from the Madhesis of Southern Nepal. Hundreds of Maoists trying call themselves Madhesis attempted to take over a venue being used for a protest gathering by genuine local Madhesi groups numbering ten times greater. In the ensuing clash, somewhere between 25-50 Maoists were killed. The Madhesis are unabashedly Hindu and oppose the dissolution of the Nepalese monarchy, something that infuriates the Maoists, who are now howling for revenge. Notice how the Maoists are cremating their dead at Hindu temples even while draping bodies in red hammer-and-sickle flags.
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If the Maoists don't watch out, Nepal could become their Afghanistan.
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Madhesi rising
The Pioneer Edit Desk
For a change, Maoists on the run
The Government of Prime Minister GP Koirala is fast losing whatever control it had over the internal security situation of Nepal. Last Wednesday's violence at Gaur in the Terai region, during which members of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, who have been agitating for equal rights and opportunities in post-monarchy Nepal, shot dead at least 29 Maoists and wounded scores of Prachanda's thugs, shows how tenuous is Kathmandu's hold over the rest of the country. Prachanda and his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have sworn vengeance against the Madhesis for daring to take on their cadre and giving them a clobbering that they never expected in the new political scenario. Such a response is only to be expected from those who neither believe in democracy nor subscribe to political and social pluralism. With hundreds of Maoists deserting the UN-monitored camps to avenge the Gaur killings, we can look forward to a bloodbath in the near future that will, at least, serve the purpose of exposing the real face of those who profess faith in republican ideals but practice Maoist brutality. That apart, Wednesday's violence has once again highlighted the simmering dissent in the Terai and the mounting anger among a vast section of Nepali people who are feeling increasingly insecure with the Maoists dictating policy. The Madhesis have been virtually reduced to the status of second class citizens in the draft Constitution that denies them equal rights and opportunities, apart from depriving them of proportionate political representation. It is no secret that Prachanda, who has forced Mr Koirala to tailor the draft Constitution to meet his immediate political objectives, nourishes a grudge against the Madhesis for three reasons. First, the Madhesis are loath to subscribe to the Maoists' hate-India agenda; second, the Madhesis form a separate ethnic community; and, third, the Madhesis are not shy of flaunting their faith - Hinduism - and do not subscribe to the view that abolishing the monarchy is a good idea. For Prachanda, the last bit is as bad as blasphemy; he has once again blamed "Hindu fundamentalists" for fomenting anti-Maoist sentiments in the Madhesi-dominated areas.
Of course, that's bunkum. The fact of the matter is that the Madhesis want, and justifiably so, a fair share in the new political arrangement that is being plotted in distant Kathmandu. And since the Madhesis have numbers on their side, the Maoists cannot use their usual terror tactics to force them into submission, unless they marshal a large number of murderous cadre. The Maoists tried to flex their muscles by gathering under the bogus banner of 'Madhesi Mukti Morcha' on Wednesday and came a cropper. Mr Koirala must now act swiftly to stall retaliatory violence and prevent the Madhesi issue from snowballing into a separatist movement. For that, he needs to send out a clear political signal to the Madhesis that they will get their due share by enshrining it in the draft Constitution. He must also deploy the police, and if necessary the Army, to tame Prachanda's men who are once again on the prowl, attacking businesses, indulging in extortion and running, it would seem, a parallel administration. If he fails to do so, Nepalis elsewhere will take a lead from what happened on Wednesday and do unto the Maoists what they have been doing unto others for more than a decade.
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