Defending The Sadbhavana
Paramendra Bhagat
July 1, 2002

Criticism:The Sadbhavana is a communal party.
Response:The Sadbhavana justly claims the Teraiwasis, who compose 50% of the national population, and the Janajatis, who compose 30% of the national population, have been denied their rights for centuries. But that just voice is labelled communal. It is prejudice and discrimination that are communal, not the voice raised against those tendencies.

Criticism:The Sadbhavana is a regional party.
Response:According the constitution of Nepal, any political party that bags at least 5% of the votes cast in a national election is a national party. And the Sadbhavana is a national party by that measure, which is the only relevant measure.

Criticism:The Sadbhavana tilts towards India.
Response:The Sadbhavana is a Nepalese party that recognizes the geo-political importance of India to a country like Nepal. Anything else would be suicidal. Nepal's land-lockedness means any ambitions toward Nepal's future prosperity will have to take India into account. Not to mention the special relationships between the common peoples in both countries, most of which have nothing to do with politics.

Criticism:The Sadbhavana will never come to power, so why bother?
Response:The Sadbhavana has already come to power about three times, as part of coalition governments, even when at one point two of its four MPs had split to form the Nepal Samajwadi Janata Dal - both factions participated in rival governments. In the future, imagine a scenario where the Congress is vertically split, and each of those factions garner about 30 seats each, the UML bags about 90 seats, and the RPP bags about 25 seats, and the Sadbhavana comes up with a sweep of about 20 seats. Then one can see the Sadbhavana actually making gains on its now rather unpopular political demands. On the language issue, the citizenship issue, the federal government issue, the national dress issue. Don't count it out. The Congress and the UML both have over 50 years of history behind them. The Sadbhavana is only a decade old. Give it some time, a few election cycles.

Criticism:Why does the Sadbhavana adopt an Indian language, Hindi?
Response:Hindi is as much an Indian language as Nepali. Hindi is spoken in India, but then so is Nepali. It is just so that Hindi happens to be the de facto link language among the Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tharu, and Nepali speakers of the Terai region. And Hindi is also spoken as a first language by many Teraiwasis, just like Maithili and Bhojpuri.

Criticism:Why Hindi? Why not Maithili, Bhojpuri?
Response:It is not Hindi at the expense of Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tharu, and Marwadi, but in addition to, the latter as primary languages, and Hindi as the link langauge.

Criticism:With high caste folks like Gajendra Narayan Singh and Hridayesh Tripathy in leadership positions, does not the Sadbhavana perpetuate the caste politics in the Terai?
Response:Gajendra Narayan Singh is deceased. And his contributions to Nepal, the Terai and the Sadbhavana have to be lauded. Tripathy is a talented politico, whatever his background might be. And the party is now presided over by Badri Mandal, who hails from one of the "backward" castes.

Criticism:The Teraiwasis are no under dogs. Look at the poor folks in the remote hill and mountain districts.
Response:The wealth in the Terai is over-stated. Don't just look at the urban areas. Go to the hinterland. Go to the remote villages. But then also look at the wealth in the hill urban centers, especially that of the Kathmandu elite. The poor in the remote hill and mountain districts need attention, so do the Teraiwasis. Both those groups have genuine grievances.

Criticism:There are other more important issues than what Sadbhavana is known for.
Response:I agree. My personal priority list is listed here: A Vision For Nepal. It is not like the Sadbhavana does not talk about the economy, it does. It is more like the Congress, the UML, and the RPP don't talk the issues Sadbhavana raises. Plus, it is a young party. It will transform itself as it expands. On the other hand, I think the Congress, the UML and the RPP are all bankrupt when it comes to fresh ideas. Or we would not have had a sham democracy for a decade now.

Criticism:"I am also from the Terai."
Response:Often the voice of those Nepali Speaking High Caste Males who live in the Terai, especially in the urban centers, and south of the Churia Hills, where King Mahendra transplanted them to dilute the native populations. Well, I am glad you do. I hope that puts you in a better position to understand the plight of the "other" Teraiwasis.

Criticism:If the Sadbhavana is so right in what it says, how come the Congress, the UML and the RPP do so much better than the Sadbhavana in the Terai itself?
Response:If the Congress was so right about democracy, how come it stayed nowhere close to power for almost half a century? If democracy is such a great idea, how come it arrived in the U.S. in 1776 but in Nepal only in 1990 for sure? If slavery was so wrong in the U.S., how come it was still intact all the way to the Civil War? If segregation was so wrong, how come it became illegal only 100 years after slavery was abolished? The civil rights movement in the Terai will be an electoral struggle. True. Let's hope it stays electoral and non-violent.

Criticism:"I am a Madhesi, but I don't agree with the Sadbhavana. I don't vote for it."
Response:There is racism, and there is internalized racism. There is sexism and there is internalized sexism: most of the girl-as-the-second-class-child prejudices are perpetrated by mothers (women). How come? In the 1930s in the U.S. there were more blacks who supported segregation than those who opposed it. How come?

Criticism:Why do we have to be Madhesis and Sherpas and Newars? Why can't we all just be Nepalis?
Response:Why do we have to be Nepalis and Indians? Why can't we just unite and become a Bharat or Aryavart? Or have a South Asian political union? I am all for that. It is just that group identities matter. Being a Nepali is a citizenship issue. It is a legal designation. Being a Madhesi and a Sherpa is a cultural designation. Cultural identity is a positive thing. Not negative. It is interesting that those who perpetrate prejudices do so along those same lines that they then want to not recognize when those aggrieved raise their voice in concern. If the people and groups in power recognized that, as in all Nepalis are alike and are to be treated equally, then those grievances would disappear. Maybe we should start at the top.

Criticism:There are 90 parliamentary constituencies in the Terai. Let the voice of the Terai be heard through them.
Response:Why not 103? Terai has half the national population, why not half its parliamentary constituencies? Likewise, the Teraiwasis make up less than 10% of the civil service, less than 5% of the police force, and are non-existent in the army. Of the 90, more than half tend not to be madhesis, but Nepali Speaking High Caste Males, thanks to their domination of the three largest parties. Maybe the hillsfolks should become similarly "open-minded" and elect madhesis from Baneshwar, Pyuthan, Pokhara, Humla, Dhankuta. Why not? Plus, electoral politics is the Sadbhavana's stated route: win hearts and votes, win seats in the parliament, form alliances in the parliament, make legislative and constitutional changes to implement the agenda.