In latest violence in Nepal over its federal structure, members of the Tharu community stormed a police post on August 24, killing eight policemen in West Terai, which are grasslands in the country's south, between the Himalayas’ outer foothills and the Indo-Gangetic plain.
The Tharus are a marginalised ethnic community concentrated in this region of Nepal and constitute about 7% of the country’s population. They are demanding an autonomous Tharuhat state. They have historically been exploited as bonded labour to upper-caste landlords. They are unhappy with a proposal in the draft constitution presented on August 23 in parliament that envisages dividing the country into seven provinces along specific lines.
The government sent the army into the disturbed area and declared a curfew. It also blamed “intruders from the south” -- a euphemism for India -- for the carnage, which New Delhi has denied. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advised his Nepali counterpart, Sushil Koirala, to resolve all outstanding issues through a dialogue with all stakeholders.
Indeed, the Tharus are not the only minority group that feels betrayed by this proposal, which has come after years of deliberation on a new constitution. Madhesis, the term for Awadhi-, Bhojpuri- and Maithili-speaking people in the eastern Terai, who comprise 22% of the population, and hill Janjatis are also protesting.
These communities together make up more than 60% of the population but did not benefit much from the traditional heavily centralised state controlled from Kathmandu, dominated by upper-caste Hindu Pahadis, who account for about 30% of the population. These minority groups feel the suggested seven provinces do not give them the political representation they deserve.
The basis for configuring states is supposed to be both identity, which is a mix of ethnicity, dialect, language, culture, history and geography, as well as capability, which is a combination of economic resources, infrastructure and accessibility to administrative structures. The number of states has reduced from 14 recommended by the first constituent assembly to eight by a 16-point agreement of June 8, and finally to six on August 8. Now, the second constituent assembly has suggested seven provinces.
What kind of federalism?
These communities feel betrayed because governments have signed agreements ad lib with them in order to move an ongoing peace process forward, ignoring the fact that these un-honoured agreements could haunt them later. That precisely is the key stumbling block to accepting arbitrary boundaries of the seven-state model, ignoring the identity of Tharus, Madhesis and other aggrieved groups.
This question has to be resolved before the country can adopt the latest charter of the constituent assembly. Eight years and two constituent assemblies later, Nepal is on the verge of clinching a new constitution, the original agenda of the Maoists who fought a ten-year insurgency for dislodging monarchy and introducing a democratic federal republic. Previous constitutions were written, in 1951, 1959, 1962, 1990 and an interim one in 2007, but none by a constituent assembly as promised by King Tribhuvan in 1950.
The Kantipur newspaper, in its editorial, noted that the new constitution, which many thought was never possible, would mark the end of the peace process, even though implementing the provincial federal model will be a challenge. The peace process was designed to mainstream the Maoists and democratise Nepal.
Nearly one-third of the Maoists, groups led by MK Baidya and NB Chand, have refused to be democratised and were allegedly fuelling the ongoing protest movements decrying the constitution. The first constituent assembly with several extensions failed to draft a constitution, stuck because of disagreements about federalism and the form of government. It offered a 14-state model.
The Maoists as the largest party and the Madhesis, people of Indian origin who are concentrated in the southern plains, whose party is the fourth largest, were determinedly backing ethnicity-based federalism, but did not have the two-thirds numbers to force the vote.
Second constituent assembly
The second constituent assembly, which has produced the latest draft constitution, reversed the mandate, returning the Nepali Congress and Unified Marxist Leninists to their traditional largest and second-largest party positions. The issues on which an agreement had been forged in the first constituent assembly had been carried over to the second, with the contentious federal imbroglio consuming sweat and blood.
A broad consensus on the sticking points was forced by nature’s wrath in the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake in April this year. On June 8, the four major parties called the Big Four − NC, CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesh Jan Adhikar Forum-Loktantrik − signed the landmark 16-point agreement, which surprised many, including New Delhi. Maoist leader Prachanda compromised on many issues in a bid to preserve his own legacy as the father of the constitution.
Having missed several deadlines for promulgating the constitution a second time, the speaker set the new target at August 31 by bridging the timeline and procedures. In the meantime, the Big Four produced the demarcated six-province boundary map on August 8, which drew a dissent note from MJF-Loktantrik and the Maoists, and countrywide protests. It was later increased to seven provinces to accommodate the grievances of the hill people.
Contest for prime minister
Behind the urgency to federate Nepal are Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and chairman UML, KP Oli. Koirala wants the constitution to be finalised early so that he legitimises his legacy as the prime minister who gave Nepal its post-conflict democratic constitution that none of the earlier four Left or Maoist prime ministers could.
Oli wants to speed things up because he wants to be the next prime minister but is reportedly quite ill. According to article 228 of the draft constitution, the elections for deciding the prime minister, president, vice president and speaker are to be held within seven days after the constitution is promulgated. The grapevine in Kathmandu suggests there is a gentleman’s agreement in the Nepali Congress for supporting Oli to become prime minister, although this is denied both by the party and the prime minister’s office.
A contest for the next prime minister is likely. Amid growing public dissatisfaction and after more than seven deaths, the Big Four conceded there were flaws in the six-state model and corrected it. It is no secret that political stalwarts like SB Deuba (NC) and Bhim Rawal (UML) and KP Oli and Krishna Sitaula have influenced the demarcation of state boundaries in the west and east respectively.
The German constitutional expert, Matthias Hartwig, who was in Kathmandu in August, said that both identity and capability are important but autonomous states must possess economic strength with good governance as key to sustainability. In his view, a five-state model may be ideally suited for Nepal.
Sharing power
At the heart of the federal structure is power-sharing. Nepal is historically a unitary state loosely governed from Kathmandu. All political power and economic resources are concentrated at the centre with little of these distributed to the periphery. There was no concept of devolution of power. The country was administratively divided north-south into 14 anchals, or regions, then further into five development zones and then into 75 districts, which had thousands of village development councils.
Earlier the provincial, or pradesh, boundaries had mirrored the original 14 regions. Hartwig’s suggestion of five provinces is probably based on the original five development zones, when the king would periodically set up camp in each to oversee development. All the regions took their names from Nepal's richest asset, its rivers of “liquid gold”.
Key features of the six- or seven-province model are: all touch India but one province does not touch China; one province alone is linear and a truncated Madhes, but like other Madhes districts has been grouped with hill states.
Tharus, who are in 14 of 20 Tarai districts, are spread across six provinces; and while some regions and districts have been split, some have been territorially expanded. The Madhesis, who were promised an autonomous region in 2008, say the demarcation violates federalism born out of a Madhesi uprising in 2007.
Clubbing Madhes districts with hill states for capacity enhancement is nothing but a betrayal of Madhesis. Similarly, janjatis and indigenous nationalities who signed an agreement with the government in 2012 feel cheated. Tharus in the western plains are sticking to their demand for and demanding an autonomous Tharuhat.
Neither Hindu nor secular
After the restoration of parliament in 2006, then prime minister GP Koirala, removed the word "Hindu" and inserted "secular" in the interim constitution of 2007, presumably at the behest of the Maoists, making Nepal an inclusive, democratic and secular republic. The panchayat constitution of 1962 had declared Nepal a Hindu kingdom.
The 1992 constitution tried to change it to "secular", but monarchists prevailed to retain the Hindu identity for fear of religious conversion. The final draft has dropped both words "Hindu" and "secular" and added: “there will be religious freedom”.
Were the Maoists and Left parties diverted from the mission of completing the constitution during the first constituent assembly by the lust for remaining in power and holding elections for the second assembly as well as to local councils? They had hoped to return to power with a bigger mandate to clinch a constitution incorporating ethnicity and secularism, their key ideas. More rationally a compromise, the kind they have reached now, could have been reached then and precious years of time saved.
The Tharus and Madhesis are up in arms. It is time for introspection and pause for consultations even as the final draft of the constitution has been presented in the House. Nepal has waited twenty years for a constitution, including ten years of a bitter civil war. Another few days will be time well spent for the national good of Nepal. Oli can wait to become prime minister.
Major General Ashok K Mehta has been walking in Nepal since 1959 and was there recently.
The Tharus are a marginalised ethnic community concentrated in this region of Nepal and constitute about 7% of the country’s population. They are demanding an autonomous Tharuhat state. They have historically been exploited as bonded labour to upper-caste landlords. They are unhappy with a proposal in the draft constitution presented on August 23 in parliament that envisages dividing the country into seven provinces along specific lines.
The government sent the army into the disturbed area and declared a curfew. It also blamed “intruders from the south” -- a euphemism for India -- for the carnage, which New Delhi has denied. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advised his Nepali counterpart, Sushil Koirala, to resolve all outstanding issues through a dialogue with all stakeholders.
Indeed, the Tharus are not the only minority group that feels betrayed by this proposal, which has come after years of deliberation on a new constitution. Madhesis, the term for Awadhi-, Bhojpuri- and Maithili-speaking people in the eastern Terai, who comprise 22% of the population, and hill Janjatis are also protesting.
These communities together make up more than 60% of the population but did not benefit much from the traditional heavily centralised state controlled from Kathmandu, dominated by upper-caste Hindu Pahadis, who account for about 30% of the population. These minority groups feel the suggested seven provinces do not give them the political representation they deserve.
The basis for configuring states is supposed to be both identity, which is a mix of ethnicity, dialect, language, culture, history and geography, as well as capability, which is a combination of economic resources, infrastructure and accessibility to administrative structures. The number of states has reduced from 14 recommended by the first constituent assembly to eight by a 16-point agreement of June 8, and finally to six on August 8. Now, the second constituent assembly has suggested seven provinces.
What kind of federalism?
These communities feel betrayed because governments have signed agreements ad lib with them in order to move an ongoing peace process forward, ignoring the fact that these un-honoured agreements could haunt them later. That precisely is the key stumbling block to accepting arbitrary boundaries of the seven-state model, ignoring the identity of Tharus, Madhesis and other aggrieved groups.
This question has to be resolved before the country can adopt the latest charter of the constituent assembly. Eight years and two constituent assemblies later, Nepal is on the verge of clinching a new constitution, the original agenda of the Maoists who fought a ten-year insurgency for dislodging monarchy and introducing a democratic federal republic. Previous constitutions were written, in 1951, 1959, 1962, 1990 and an interim one in 2007, but none by a constituent assembly as promised by King Tribhuvan in 1950.
The Kantipur newspaper, in its editorial, noted that the new constitution, which many thought was never possible, would mark the end of the peace process, even though implementing the provincial federal model will be a challenge. The peace process was designed to mainstream the Maoists and democratise Nepal.
Nearly one-third of the Maoists, groups led by MK Baidya and NB Chand, have refused to be democratised and were allegedly fuelling the ongoing protest movements decrying the constitution. The first constituent assembly with several extensions failed to draft a constitution, stuck because of disagreements about federalism and the form of government. It offered a 14-state model.
The Maoists as the largest party and the Madhesis, people of Indian origin who are concentrated in the southern plains, whose party is the fourth largest, were determinedly backing ethnicity-based federalism, but did not have the two-thirds numbers to force the vote.
Second constituent assembly
The second constituent assembly, which has produced the latest draft constitution, reversed the mandate, returning the Nepali Congress and Unified Marxist Leninists to their traditional largest and second-largest party positions. The issues on which an agreement had been forged in the first constituent assembly had been carried over to the second, with the contentious federal imbroglio consuming sweat and blood.
A broad consensus on the sticking points was forced by nature’s wrath in the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake in April this year. On June 8, the four major parties called the Big Four − NC, CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesh Jan Adhikar Forum-Loktantrik − signed the landmark 16-point agreement, which surprised many, including New Delhi. Maoist leader Prachanda compromised on many issues in a bid to preserve his own legacy as the father of the constitution.
Having missed several deadlines for promulgating the constitution a second time, the speaker set the new target at August 31 by bridging the timeline and procedures. In the meantime, the Big Four produced the demarcated six-province boundary map on August 8, which drew a dissent note from MJF-Loktantrik and the Maoists, and countrywide protests. It was later increased to seven provinces to accommodate the grievances of the hill people.
Contest for prime minister
Behind the urgency to federate Nepal are Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and chairman UML, KP Oli. Koirala wants the constitution to be finalised early so that he legitimises his legacy as the prime minister who gave Nepal its post-conflict democratic constitution that none of the earlier four Left or Maoist prime ministers could.
Oli wants to speed things up because he wants to be the next prime minister but is reportedly quite ill. According to article 228 of the draft constitution, the elections for deciding the prime minister, president, vice president and speaker are to be held within seven days after the constitution is promulgated. The grapevine in Kathmandu suggests there is a gentleman’s agreement in the Nepali Congress for supporting Oli to become prime minister, although this is denied both by the party and the prime minister’s office.
A contest for the next prime minister is likely. Amid growing public dissatisfaction and after more than seven deaths, the Big Four conceded there were flaws in the six-state model and corrected it. It is no secret that political stalwarts like SB Deuba (NC) and Bhim Rawal (UML) and KP Oli and Krishna Sitaula have influenced the demarcation of state boundaries in the west and east respectively.
The German constitutional expert, Matthias Hartwig, who was in Kathmandu in August, said that both identity and capability are important but autonomous states must possess economic strength with good governance as key to sustainability. In his view, a five-state model may be ideally suited for Nepal.
Sharing power
At the heart of the federal structure is power-sharing. Nepal is historically a unitary state loosely governed from Kathmandu. All political power and economic resources are concentrated at the centre with little of these distributed to the periphery. There was no concept of devolution of power. The country was administratively divided north-south into 14 anchals, or regions, then further into five development zones and then into 75 districts, which had thousands of village development councils.
Earlier the provincial, or pradesh, boundaries had mirrored the original 14 regions. Hartwig’s suggestion of five provinces is probably based on the original five development zones, when the king would periodically set up camp in each to oversee development. All the regions took their names from Nepal's richest asset, its rivers of “liquid gold”.
Key features of the six- or seven-province model are: all touch India but one province does not touch China; one province alone is linear and a truncated Madhes, but like other Madhes districts has been grouped with hill states.
Tharus, who are in 14 of 20 Tarai districts, are spread across six provinces; and while some regions and districts have been split, some have been territorially expanded. The Madhesis, who were promised an autonomous region in 2008, say the demarcation violates federalism born out of a Madhesi uprising in 2007.
Clubbing Madhes districts with hill states for capacity enhancement is nothing but a betrayal of Madhesis. Similarly, janjatis and indigenous nationalities who signed an agreement with the government in 2012 feel cheated. Tharus in the western plains are sticking to their demand for and demanding an autonomous Tharuhat.
Neither Hindu nor secular
After the restoration of parliament in 2006, then prime minister GP Koirala, removed the word "Hindu" and inserted "secular" in the interim constitution of 2007, presumably at the behest of the Maoists, making Nepal an inclusive, democratic and secular republic. The panchayat constitution of 1962 had declared Nepal a Hindu kingdom.
The 1992 constitution tried to change it to "secular", but monarchists prevailed to retain the Hindu identity for fear of religious conversion. The final draft has dropped both words "Hindu" and "secular" and added: “there will be religious freedom”.
Were the Maoists and Left parties diverted from the mission of completing the constitution during the first constituent assembly by the lust for remaining in power and holding elections for the second assembly as well as to local councils? They had hoped to return to power with a bigger mandate to clinch a constitution incorporating ethnicity and secularism, their key ideas. More rationally a compromise, the kind they have reached now, could have been reached then and precious years of time saved.
The Tharus and Madhesis are up in arms. It is time for introspection and pause for consultations even as the final draft of the constitution has been presented in the House. Nepal has waited twenty years for a constitution, including ten years of a bitter civil war. Another few days will be time well spent for the national good of Nepal. Oli can wait to become prime minister.
Major General Ashok K Mehta has been walking in Nepal since 1959 and was there recently.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!