ONE DEAD, EGHT INJURED IN DANG BUS ACCIDENT

ONE DEAD, EIGHT INJURED IN DANG ACCIDENT

Kathmandu, 26 Nov.: One person died and eight were injured,
seven seriously, in a bus accident in Dang.
Injured have been rushed to Butwal for emergency treatment.
The bus was heading for Pyuthan from Dang.
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MAOIST SECRETARY GAJUREL WARNS ASSETS WILL BE SEIZED AGAIN

Kathmandu, 26 Nov.: Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel, aligned with
the Mohan Baidya faction in an internal party dispute, said
Saturday seized assets returned by the establishment will again
be taken back.
He said this while addressing reporters in the capital.
The decision to return asset was a personal decision of Chairman Prachanda and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and not the party’s, he added.
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BHUTANESE WOMEN GIVE UP INDEFINTE FAST
Kathmandu, 26 Nov.: Bhutanese women refugees on a strike in
Jhapa for 12 days broke their death indefinite fast Saturday on government and assurance.
Their health condition worsened in the last 12 days.
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RJM DEMANDS INDEPENDENT, IMPARTIAL SRC
Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Janamorcha (RJM) has called for the formation of a high-level, independent and impartial State Restructuring Commission (SRC) along with the representation of experts from outside the political parties, RSS reports

Concluding the recent formation of the Commission was based on the guidelines set by the State Restructuring Commission of the Constituent Assembly (CA), a meeting on Saturday of the party has expressed discontentment over the formation of the Commission.

The party has accused the government of undermining the value and importance of the state restructuring issues while forming the Commission.

Similarly, the four-point agreement between the UCPN-Maoist and the Madhesi Front reached in course of the formation of the incumbent government was not in the interests of the nation, said a press statement issued by the party after the meeting.

There was no alternative to the prime minister other than to resign from his post so as to pave the way for the formation of the national consensus government, the statement added.

The latest seven-point agreement on the peace process signed by the major political parties is positive development in the Nepali politics, said the party and urged the government to address the voices of landless squatters while implementing the Agreement.
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OPINION

IDENTTY POLITICS vs IDEOLOGICAL POLITICS

Nandalal Tiwari Writes in The Rising Nepal

The way the government was forced to withdraw its bill on amending the interim constitution last Friday proved that ideological politics is losing ground for identity politics in Nepal. The dramatic event made it clear that the country is heading speedily for the formation of most of the federal states on ethnic lines. Given the fact that the thematic committee of the Constituent Assembly on State Restructuring has already submitted its report fixing 14 states, most of which bear the names of some nationalities, the worst is yet to develop when the CA endorses the states named after a particular nationality group.
It is true that the nationalities, or janajatis as it is called here, had fallen prey to systemic discrimination, both socially and politically, due to political systems that promoted one religion and therefore one community, mainly the Khash (Brahmin-Chhetri) despite the fact that king Prithvi Narayan Shah, who initiated unification of the country, acknowledged some two-hand-a-half centuries ago that Nepal was a garden of four castes and 36 colours, which meant the country was multi-national.
A section of Nepal’s modern political history since the introduction of democracy in 1950 to 2006 proves that a handful of representatives of different janjatis and Dalits were brought to the power circle and that for showcasing that the political system was inclusive. When parliamentary democracy was reinstated in 1990, the rights of the marginliased or oppressed were enshrined in the constitution. In reality, they were never realised.
The Maoists built their political mileage on this historic marginalisation as they voiced for ending all forms of oppression and discrimination when they raised arms against the state. They not only promised that the major nationalities would have their own federal units - states, they also formed kangaroo federations on the same lines while giving rise to different liberation fronts of the marginalized regions, communities and nationalities.
Despite all this, federalism was not a bone of contention among the then major political forces, including the Maoists, while promulgating the interim constitution as the CA was bestowed with the responsibility to decide on federalism. However, the first amendment made to fulfill the demands of the Madheshi Movement ensured that Nepal would embrace a federal democratic system. Hence, federalism is sometimes attributed to the outcome of the Madhesi movement.
According to the 2001 census carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the janajatis make up 31.01 per cent of the total population. The latest data are yet to arrive although the 2011 census has already been conducted. A janjati group or nationality as defined by the National Committee for Development of Nationalities (1996) is a community which has its own mother tongue and traditional culture and yet does not fall under the conventional four-fold Varna of Hindu or Hindu hierarchical caste structure.
Similarly, not having a decisive role in politics and government in a modern Nepal and having a traditional homeland or geographical area are some of the characteristics of a janjati group. Different janajati groups are found in all the different geographical regions - the mountains, the hills and the plains, or terai. Historically, many of these janajati groups used to occupy a particular habitat or territory, and thus many of these claim that they were the true ‘first settlers’ (Adivasi) of Nepal. More than a hundred such groups have been identified in Nepal.
The data of the latest census (2011) show that 50.2 per cent of the country’s total population lives in the terai. Although the percentage of hill-origin people residing in the terai is difficult to calculate, it would not be an overestimate to say that such people constitute at least 30 per cent of the total Terai population.
Moreover, the social composition of the country is such that no particular ethnic group makes up the singular majority in any given district. A janjati group that is in a majority when compared with other individual groups falls into a minority when it is compared with the rest in any given existing administrative unit. Despite this fact, major ethnic groups like the Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Newar and Tharu have been asserting that a certain area where they are in the ‘majority’ be made a province with their names. The largest party, the Maoists, has been supportive of this.
Federalism has also been made an issue to end regional disparity in development. Hence, some regional groups like the Terai-based political parties are bent on forming a separate province in the entire region irrespective of the fact that there are various ethnic, lingual and religious communities in the southern plains stretching from east to west.
A short reflection over these data and the reality of social composition demand that if federations must be carved out of the country, it should be more based on capacity than on ethnicity. If federalism is the optimum form of decentralisation, making of a federal state should not be based on dominant religious, ethnic or lingual group. Rather, serious consideration should be given to economic sustainability and development potential. Of course, certain regions like the Karnali and certain ethnic groups like the Magars and Tamangs were left behind in social and economic development in the country. As measures to compensate for such marginalised regions or communities, provisions have already been made in government employment and other similar areas.
Identity politics, which basically refers to politics for the causes of a particular group of people or region, is good as long as it is used as a means to give a voice to the voiceless, marginalised, oppressed or discriminated segments of the society or region of a country and solve the problems. But when this form of politics plays a decisive role in issues like federalism, it could open the lid of a Pandora’s Box. Every ethnic group, no matter how small or big, will demand a separate province for the sake of its separate identity.
Since, identity politics cannot incorporate all the segments of the society in the mainstream of politics, economic and development activities, it has proved to be a failure. Identity politics will find even greater importance when the federal units are based on nationality. This will ultimately give rise to inferiority or superiority complexes and invite ethnic tension.
At this juncture, damage control is the only way out. For this, no state should be named after a janajati or religious group. Federal units should bear the names of natural, cultural or geographic
heritage. The whole of the terai cannot be made a single province; neither should the hills or mountains. Will the State Restructuring Commission and the CA members as a whole consider these aspects and many more vital issues related to federalism? As this will determine the fate of the country - whether it will be peaceful or not.
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