MJF Government Accord, a deception.
Sanjay Kumar
A 22 point agreement signed on August 30 between the government and the Madeshi People’s Forum (MJF) has betrayed the Madhesis. The accord was made in direct contravention of the spirit and sentiment of February Madhesi uprising and its continuity which has sacrificed scores of lives. The farcial agreement was nothing of a novelty which had not been addressed in one way or the other by the comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim Constitution. Moreover, the accord has stripped Upendra Yadav off the false title of the messiah of Madhesis. His petty individual vested interest and regressive patrons have been exposed among the Madhesis. The abandonment of proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly and autonomy in a federal state proves Yadav of selling out to the reactionaries and royalists. The accord has utterly failed to address the genuine political, cultural, economical and linguistic issues of Madhes. It can be merely phrased as being the agreement between bourgeois congress and regressive Yadav.

The accord does not have the consent of the major alliance CPN(Maoist) Comrade Prachanda has lambasted it as “extremely objectionable, flawed, deceptive and conspiratiorial”. Ram Chandra Poudel’s remarks that “Dev Gurung Minister for Local Development declined to take part in the talks” is ridiculous and childish. Didn’t Mr. Paudel get in his mind that the refusal of Mr. Gurung was an explicit disagreement of CPN (Maoist) with the accord?

There are certain clauses in the agreement that are highly objectionable. The 15th point categorically agrees for handing over of Maoist seized property and weapons to concerned parties which clearly violates the Comprehensive Peace Accord. Likewise the 15th point says the removal of all the charges against the leaders and the activists of the Forum. Can a civilized society set free the culprits of Gaur Carnage and other communal genocides in Madhes? Don’t they need to be convicted and persecuted by court of justice? Should they be given a clean chit like the convicts found guilty by the Rayamajhi Commission?

The royalists set free in the past are in their last resort to foil the constituent assembly election scheduled for Nov. 22 in order to restore the autocratic monarchy. A series of bomb blasts in the capital on Sept. 2 that killed 3 civilians and left over two dozens injured was deliberately planned by them. The cowardly and heinous act was aimed at thwarting the CA polls just less than 3 months ahead.

The so called Madhes based underground seemingly Hindu fanatic outfits Terai Army and never heard before Terai Uthan Sangathan all projected to have taken responsibility. The Mysterious identity of Mr. John, chief of Terai Army causes a lot of speculations on the mind of Nepali nationalities. The obscure figure is very likely to be unmasked like Upandra Yadav who has been kicked out of the group by the dissidents.

There are various groups agitating both in Terai and over hills in Nepal. The recently made accord has failed to convince the armed and unarmed agitating groups numbering about over a dozen in Madhes. Unless the genuine demands of Madhes are met and the round table conference suggested in the Maoists 22 point pre-requisites of all the agitating forces and eight Party alliances is held, Nepal can not return to normalcy and a conducive atmosphere for free and fair constituent Assembly election can not be created.

Madhes will get a permanent remedy for all her hue and cry if the Maoists’ 22 point pre. requisites are implemented. An inclusive state structure forwarded by the Maoists is highly praise worthy and scientific. Based on geo-political, economical and cultural feasibilities, Madhes state committee, for example, has been made up of the districts of Mithila, Bhojpura and Awadh regions. Each committee has been further divided into a sub committee in terms of the indigenous majority population. Kochila sub-state committee consists of Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari in which the Rajbanshis (Kocha) are a majority among the indigenous population occupying 9.2% of the total population of Jhapa to National Census of 2001. Mithila covering Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa, Mahottari and Sarlahi is inhabitated by the Maithilee speaking Madhesis population 12.30% of the total population of Nepal. Bhojpura accommodating Rautahat, Bara and Parsha is populated by the Bhojpuri-speaking people (7.53% of the population). Awadh sub-state committee adjoining Nawalparashi, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu, has been populated by the Awadhi-speaking Madhesis who occupy 2.47% of the population of the nation.

To conclude, the nation can not return to tranquility and evolve as a new Nepal without ensuring autonomy, right to self determination, federal democratic republic, end of monarchy and full proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly Election which will in true sense, unite the nation by uplifting all the margins-Madhesis, indigenous, Dalits, women, disables, Muslims and other repressed nationalities.