The Madhesi Identity Outlets
Paramendra Bhagat
July 2, 2004
- Gather online. I have suggested the madhesi blog as a gathering place. But I have found few converts so far. Maybe I do not know enough madhesis myself! Those I know are not too eager. Maybe the online idea does not gel. The real action is back offline. The madhesi diaspora is too dispersed. I have not put enough energy into the idea. It needs work.
- Get the Sadbhavana united again. The Mandal and Tripathy factions need to come together. They are barely big enough together. One wonders where they will end up splintered.
- Organize fund-raisers for the Sadbhavana. Put your money where your mouth is. Electoral politics is the way out.
- Federalism as the meeting point. The Sadbhavana might be only one political vehicle. If the Deuba Congress, with Bimalendra Nidhi, stands for federalism, it needs to be supported. As any other party. Federalism has to be that one rallying point. All major parties have to be nudged towards federalism.
- Separate the Kathmandu elite from the poor masses of the hills and the mountains in the mind. Recognize the abject poverty in those regions as a valid political issue, a "sister" issue to the madhesi cause. Federalism may not be implemented in a way that harms the economic prospects of those in desperate poverty in the remote hill districts.
- Do not compromise with the anti-India sentiment that gets thrown as a reason for the fervent anti-madhesi sentiments. If India has entered into unfair treaties with Nepal, the elite hill powers-to-be need to get out of the way and let the madhesis try for a fair bargain, for a change.
- Replicate the Kathmandu NGO industry also into the Terai. For development work, social progress, and local job creation.
- Put the madhesi cause in the larger contexts of globalization and the internet. The best "cure" for the widespread prejudice against the madhesis in Nepal would be to work to lift the per capita income in the country from $200 to $2000 and beyond. Scarcity creates room for ethnic strife. Make money, not war.
- Engage the pahadis in dialogue on the issues. The change of heart has to occur on both fronts.
- Make the social ills in the Terai - sexism, casteism - part of the conversation.
- Reach out to the Janajatis. Their grievances are similar. Politics is about building coalitions.
- Participate in the online forums like Sajha and The Nepal Digest.
- Speak up about your past bad experiences in prejudice, discrimination and hate speech. Publicly and privately, as you feel comfortable.
- Sponsor the education of some needy students wherever you come from.
- Stay in touch with family, relatives and friends. Expand your social circle of madhesis.
� 2004 Paramendra Bhagat