Nepal’s minorities find their voice

By Harry Sanna

In the rocky savannahs of Nepal’s southern Terai plains, a people long-silenced by a centuries-old Hindu monarchy are beginning to make themselves heard.

Since the country’s democratic end to a decade-long civil war, Nepal’s minorities, including more than one million Muslims, are gaining a political voice for the first time in the Himalayan nation’s history.

With the constitution currently being redrafted by Nepal’s new federal republic, a swathe of minority groups, many from the poor districts in the south, are pressuring the government to include articles legitimising their own identities.

In early March, Tharus, one of the ethnic minority groups living along the 1,700km Indo-Nepal Terai border region, held a two-week strike to demand recognition. Several days later, a prominent Muslim group made the same move.

The government signed an agreement with the group a day before the strikes were scheduled to begin, promising inclusion in the new constitution.

Among their demands are a Muslim Commission with connections to the government, an autonomous Madrasa Board, a Haj Committee and greater legitimacy for Islamic law.

“This is the most opportune time Muslims have ever had for ensuring greater rights,” said Bhaskar Gautam, a political analyst specialising in the matter. “Getting their place in the constitution is very important for them, as it is for all Nepal’s minorities.”

According to a census published by the government in 2006, Muslims make up 4.2 per cent of the country’s 30 million population, and Birganj, a border town and trade link between Nepal and the Indian state of Bihar, is fast becoming the epicentre for Muslim politicisation and progress.

“In the coming days, we will start our mighty struggle,” said Mohammed Lal Babu, a Muslim activist. “Nothing comes without agitation, procession and protest. We will be taking it to the streets very soon.”

A key fighting point is identity. In early 2007, the ethnic Madhesi in Terai started their demands for recognition. While many Muslims are currently trying to separate themselves from the Madhesi’s demands, others in the community see the struggle as a united front.

Mr Babu, 41, is one such activist and a member of the Madhesi Muslim Forum. His beliefs, different from some of his peers, lie in the connections between Madhesis and Muslims.

“Madhesis are a very disenfranchised community, but Muslims are marginalised for being both Madhesi and Muslim. They are the most marginalised in all of Nepal.”

The history of Muslims in Nepal sheds light on the complexity of their current identity crisis. Academic sources claim that Islam was introduced to the Himalayan kingdom via Arab traders, who established a route into Tibet. The majority, however, are Indian Muslims, with a large portion settling there after fleeing to the foothills from the British Raj after the Sepoy rebellion of 1857.

The economic situation for a majority of the Muslim population is grim. Many working in traditional jobs such as tailoring and watch repairing are being forced out by growing industrialisation. Others farm, living hand to mouth. Bashir Harwari, 51, runs a laundry in Birganj.

“The lack of education is a big problem for us. We have been oppressed for so longer under a Hindu monarchy, and now we have very little.”

To try to better their conditions, many have moved to Middle Eastern countries in search of work.

“Some of them are doing OK, but most of them are living in the very worst of conditions,” Mr Gautam, the political analyst, said.

Another key grievance the Muslims have is the state of madrasas, which first began to spring up in Nepal after multiparty democratisation in 1990. Today, there are several thousand.

Most of the funding for madrasas comes through zakas, localised Islamic community funds. But with a lack of investment, many are unable to fulfil their duties by preparing young Muslims for higher and college education.

“Under the terms of zakas, the madrasas rely on the funding by the community,” said Mohammed Habiburrahman, the vice principal of a madrasa in Birganj.

“We are a very poor community, so how much funding do you think we can provide? We need madrasas guaranteed and constituted by the government.”

In rural areas, many still practise elements of Islamic law, however, there is no legal legitimacy for this in Nepal. The taking of multiple wives and the talaq, where a man can divorce his wife without any justification, is still considered illegal under the country’s laws; which pressure groups are now pushing to have legitimised on a localised level.

After the democracy movement of 2006 and abolition of the monarchy in 2008, Nepal officially announced its position as a secular state, ousting a Hindu monarchy that had been in place for 240 years. Since then, tension has simmered over religious issues in the small nation.

Aside from its position as unofficial headquarters for many Muslim groups, the Terai has been a flashpoint for communal attacks between Hindus and Muslims. After the announcement of secularism in 2006, Hindu nationalists rioted in Birganj, closing the city down for days. Last year, there were two separate incidents of mosques being bombed in which two people died.

“For the most part, we are in social harmony here,” said Babujan Ali, a recognisable face among Birganj’s 30,000 Muslims.

“However, nowadays there are some radical groups who want to disturb the peace. There are some Hindu fundamentalists who come [to the Terai] make trouble, then flee again back to Kathmandu.”

Mr Ali, 60, is a member of Nepal’s Haj committee. In his work with hajis, he has become a figurehead in the push for more rights for Nepal’s would-be pilgrims. Currently, the home ministry is in charge of deciding who may, or may not, make the journey. This, Mr Ali believes, is unacceptable.

“We want independence and autonomy from the government,” said Mr Ali, who recently returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, along with 476 other Nepalis. “While the government’s funding for my trip was adequate, there must be more for the community.”

Further clouding decision-making over such demands have been periodic reports of Islamic fundamentalist infiltration across the belt, fed primarily by the Indian media. The claims, ranging from Pakistan’s secret intelligence and al Qa’eda funding to exiled Kashmiri separatists, remain unsubstantiated.

Modern history in Nepal has shown that political grievances, such as that of the country’s Muslims, can lead to extended periods of conflict. Aggravating this further is the weak presence of representatives currently – only 17 MPs, out of a 601-seat assembly, are Muslim.
However, the current climate undeniably shows that the time has never been better for Nepal’s Muslims to fight for their rights.

Whether the government, already burdened with crippling power shortages and an ongoing peace process, will address those demands, remains to be seen.


* The National

NEPAL: Ethnic identity crisis gathers momentum

KATHMANDU, 20 March 2009

At least two major ethnic groups in the southeastern Terai region bordering India have joined strikes and protests in recent weeks against their classification in the new draft constitution as Madhesi, Nepal's dominant ethnic group.

Tharu make up 6.75 percent of Nepal's 28 million inhabitants, according to the government's Central Bureau of Statistics, and have been galvanised by the Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee.

"I'm a Tharu. That's my true identity. I'm not a Madhesi," Geeta Chaudhary, a student, told IRIN in Kathmandu.

This is a common sentiment among Tharus, the original inhabitants of the Terai. Despite their numbers, they are one of the most neglected, exploited and impoverished ethnic groups in Nepal.

Most were slaves for high caste landlords under the bonded labour system known as 'kamaiya', which was abolished in 2006. Even today, however, thousands of extremely poor and illiterate Tharu girls work as indentured servants.

"In many ways, we have been the worst victims of poverty and political neglect," said Chaudhary.

"It [the classification move] was a direct attack on our ethnic identity and an insult to the entire Tharu community," said Raj Kumar Lekhi, general secretary of Tharu Kalyankari Sabha, a prominent Tharu campaigning group.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the recent strikes had a serious impact in terms of blocking supplies of food and petrol in hill areas, causing shortages and price hikes. Protestors also blocked the movement of humanitarian service vehicles and ambulances.

Muslims

Terai Muslims - some 4.3 percent of Nepal's population - are equally incensed, and joined the protests against their categorisation by the government as Madhesis purely because they live in the Terai.

Like the Tharu, Muslims have been on the margins of development and mainstream politics.
"We expected that our 'New Nepal' would not discriminate against us but we are still being treated as refugees," said Muslim journalist Rahamatulla Miya.

The "New Nepal" concept has been popular since the end of the decade-long armed conflict (1996-2006) which ended with the abolition of the 300-year-old monarchy, but for minority ethnic groups, the situation has barely changed.

"The Muslims want recognition of their identity and proper representation in the constitution and not to be categorised as Madhesi or any other community," said Attahar Hussain, president of Muslim Mukti Morcha, which rallies Nepalese Muslims.

Some Muslim activists told IRIN it was difficult to raise issues of discrimination and injustice without being accused of fuelling religious fundamentalism.

Still time

Tharu leader Lekhi explained that there was still time to get the draft constitution amended: "Our identity movement has been successful so far and there are signs that the government will agree to our demand."

An indication of the importance of the issue in Nepal is evident from interventions by Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal, who has been in talks with leaders of the protests. Parliament is to hold a session on 29 March to address the demands of the various ethnic groups.


Source: IRIN