By The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the country’s constitution as well as international human rights principles. The right to peaceful assembly relates directly and indirectly to the freedom of expression, which further means that any person has the right to think, hold an opinion and express an opinion alone, with others, informally or formally through peaceful assembly.
We all know that our country, Nepal, is topographically divided into three regions: the Himalaya to the north, the middle Hills consisting of the Mahabharat range and the Churia Hills, and the Terai to the south. So, the Terai region stretches over 33,998.8 km2 (13,127.0 sq mi), about 23.1% of Nepal’s land area, and has almost 51% of the total population of Nepal.
According to the Human Development Report(2009) “The Madheshis are people who originated on Nepal’s Plains, who live in the Terai region, and who feel marginalized by modern Nepali nationalism, which has rested on the ideas of monarchy, a single Nepali language, and a Hill-centric identity. This restrictive concept has excluded Madheshis—who speak varied languages—among these, Maithali, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Urdu, and Hindi—and who have 4 extensive cultural, social and kinship links with Indian citizens living across the border in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. These differences have led Hill Nepalese to view Madhesh is with suspicious and to question their fitness for citizenship”.
I am from Janakpurdham, the capital city of Province no.2 and Graduate of “Global Peace Foundation Nepal, 2019 (INGO)“. Though everything is mentioned in the laws and constitution of Nepal, it hasn’t been practiced mentally in behavior by the people. The same kind of mentality is still existing in our country in the name of discrimination because they will repeat the same what they have come learning from their childhood. So, being an educated and civilized citizen of Nepal, I feel that it’s enough now. Apologizing for their own mistakes and words has become common for them. It’s not the solution to the problem by repeating the same discrimination.
So,we must take legal action according to the constitution against any kind of discrimination among people based on caste, religion, color, sex, region, gender, and many more. Nowadays we see the misuse of social media is increasing rapidly through TIK TOK videos, radio programs, Tele-serials, and so on indicating the appearance and caricatures of Madheshi people. The bitter truth is that Madheshis is as if ‘red rag to a bull’. Their mere presence makes some people so angry that they quickly resort to aggressive behavior.
It is such a crying shame that Madheshis, who constitute more than a third of Nepal’s population are still dealing with scores of basic development issues such as land, languages, identity, citizenship certificates, and discrimination in health, education, employment and so on. One needs to get into the shoes of a Madheshi to experience what it feels to be like a ‘second class’ citizen, or, a ‘no-citizen’.
Madhesi people have dedicated Nepalis, sons of the soil. It is not correct to doubt their nationalist inclinations. But they are treated as Indians. They suffer from different problems but no one has done anything to address their plights. Neither national nor regional parties have done anything for the upliftment of Madhesis.
Alongside, Madhesis have been respected in hill districts. What I find is mostly people from Kathmandu discriminates them. Mostly people from the lower/moderate class like vegetable and fruits vendors, fast-food sellers like panipuri, chatpate vendors, cobblers, barbers, and so on are subjected to discrimination. These people have been serving them but the state continues to discriminate them. It is people’s faulty vision to tell black Madhesis an Indian. People from Kathmandu and everyone should learn to embrace Madhesi people as fellow Nepalis. Nothing will happen until the state’s behaviors improve.
Also, some people refer to the Terai people as “Madheshi, Bhaiya, Dhoti, Bhele, Kale, and many more… ” which to my mind is nothing less than hate speech. A ‘dhoti’ is a traditional men’s garment worn on the Indian sub-continent and is popular among the Madhesi. But such usage of the word is considered discriminatory. So, if you can talk in our Madhesi language then your words are heartily appreciated and welcomed otherwise please speak in Nepali and respect other cultures too. But don’t call any people who belong from Madhesh by the word “Bhaiya”. It really hurts.
This is discrimination but until when? It’s enough now!!! Let’s start to respect each other. Let’s live by patriotism among us because unity is always a strength.
-Shakuntala Nayak
