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Residents of the Terai – known as Madhesis – have long been ignored by the establishment in Kathmandu. Their cultural, linguistic and geographic proximity to India put them in a difficult position. The national mainstream randomly labeled them as “India sympathizers,” questioning their patriotism and allegiance. Their accent, way of dressing and supposed lack of sophistication made the Madhesis favorites of the comics, who routinely mocked them with racist and biased undertones.
Even after a multiparty democratic system was installed in 1990, the Terai remained ignored. The region acts as a main corridor for the majority of trade between India and Nepal and is the country’s breadbasket. Densely populated and home to many national parks and nature reserves, Terai continued to be the “gem” that didn’t quite interest the Kathmandu elite.
In 1996, the Maoist rebels took to the jungles and started a bloody civil war against the government. For the Terai, things couldn’t get worse. The area was not getting adequate funding for health, education or agricultural programs before, and now it was pushed back further. With the government tied up fighting the rebels, the region received no help in facing an influx of internally displaced citizens moving in from the war-torn hilly regions, on top of its already existing problems.
During a visit to the Bara district in Terai, the desperate poverty, marginalization and callous disregard by the government I witnessed was mindboggling. Children were running around in the heat with just thin cloths wrapped around their waists, villages lacked access to clean drinking water, and raw sewage was left out in the open. Projects funded by the government and international groups to help these villagers were wrecked by corruption and bias.
People are poor in the hilly region too, but they are in a more desperate situation in the Terai, and it doesn’t take a Harvard degree to figure out why. The reason is simple – years of bias and discrimination have pushed the Madhesis ever further into poverty.
Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal’s first president, is from this region. His victory has raised hopes among the Terai residents that finally their region will get the attention and chance it deserves. But in the murky world of Nepali politics, will Yadav be anything more than a pawn for his party?
I choose to hold on to my doubts. Yadav’s Nepali Congress Party is the second-largest party in the Constituent Assembly, while the Maoists have the most seats. Being arch rivals, a Maoist-Congress alliance does not seem possible. Even if Congress manages to work together with the smaller parties, they will still be far behind the Maoists in numbers. If the Maoists don’t agree with something, most likely it is not going to happen.
So far the Maoists have been the most pragmatic political force – they have more Constituent Assembly members from the minority and disadvantaged groups, and have taken the lead on women’s rights and creating an inclusive Constitution. Despite their willingness to break the mold, the Maoists are not immune to the game of politics – and that is why it is very much possible that Yadav’s presidency will do little to help the Terai.
A president is after all ceremonial, and the Maoists will try their best to limit his influence and reach so that the Congress Party does not hog the limelight. Yadav will be seen in the coming days at a lot of events and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, meeting ambassadors and acting as the face of new Nepal – but he will have limited say on policy matters. So unless the country puts the Terai on its priority list, just having a president from the region is not going to help.
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(Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance reporter. Her articles have been published at OhMyNews, NepalNews, Toward Freedom, Telegraph Nepal, Himal South Asian and ACM Ubiquity. She is also a regular contributor for News Front Weekly (Nepal) and Nepal Abroad (Washington D.C.) and writes about Nepal for Suite101.com. She can be reached at bhumika_g@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Bhumika Ghimire)
