Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Editorial

The manner the country has been thrown to a sort of unprecedented mayhem here and there, mostly in the Terai parts of the country, forces us to conclude that what has been going on in this country of late is just the tip of the iceberg. Sad events of a much greater dimension and consequences are yet to follow. The negligence exhibited by the government and the parties in government are sure to boomerang on them time permitting. In a way it could be fairly said that the country has been left to the mercy of the Almighty. Or at best it is called to have been left to the mercy of those who have so far been allowed to create panic and to a greater extent, sectarian violence, in this otherwise peaceful country.

A society by its nature itself remains in a dynamic state and hence it is always natural to see the men living in the said society to have some programs and procedures to uplift their status of living and by extension the demand to have a direct and meaningful participation in the state of governance of their own nation. And hence if the society comes up with these genuine demands, those can in no way be dubbed and to have been the conspiracies of the reactionaries whose sole aim were to disturb the upcoming constituent assembly polls. How come that could be said so? Should this mean that any one or for that matter a group, a society, an ethnic tribe or whatsoever under the umbrella of the new interim constitution if comes to the streets with certain genuine demands, should those cries be dubbed summarily as activities perpetrated by the reactionaries?

The fact is that each and every member of the society has a right to do so. The fact is also that some of the Teraian demands are not only genuine but urgent as well in so far their redress is concerned by the state which is primarily led by the local and some influential political elites whose sole aim has been to uplift a short section of the society and benefit in political terms.

Well, having said this, we don’t accept the manner the Teraians have resorted to take the laws of the lands in their own hands and been creating mass panic in the parts which is supposed to be under their total control by default, however, what we feel is that the since the Teraians must have some urgent requests that they wanted from the state to be duly honored. We see no objection in pushing the demands that they consider would be in their larger interests. It should mean that their demands will in a different manner benefit other sections of the society as well. Nevertheless, while pushing proposals to the state, deadly weapons must not come to the scene. The personalities, whosoever they might be, who have taken up the charge this time in the Terai in order to get their demands met with who also appear to have concluded that if the Maoists could win a war with guns they too could do the same and hence appear to have resorted to guns and the lethal weaponries.

The trouble-creators must understand that they were axing themselves while demolishing the sate offices. Ultimately they will have to pay for the reconstruction of those houses which have come under their wrath this time around.

The men handling the Terai affairs must abandon the horrifying acts of intimidation in order to get the endorsement of the majority of the population. In doing so not only the state will be forced to look into their demands earnestly but they would enjoy the perennial support of the vast majority of the population living in those areas, the Pahadias combined who have now suddenly become their enemies.

However, the way they are handling their genuine demands with the strength of the deadly arms might provide the state a pretext to crush the entire movement which would not go in their interests.

The State must stop mud-slinging to the genuine demands put up by the Teraians. The Teraians must also understand that their weapons what they have currently in their possession will do little to make the state understand the inner concerns of the Teraians. The Teraians must not copy the way the Maoists did in the past. After all the Maoists too have had to abandon the tactics of violence and terror. If things could be resolved in an amicable manner then why the terror? Why resorting to violence? Why the hatred against the Hill people?

The fact is that some one near or far, is trying to make us fight. There could be inimical forces which would want an unstable Nepal politically. Some inimical extraneous forces might have some hidden agenda in pushing the Hill people to go in for a frequent clash with their Terai brethrens. Some one is trying to fish in our troubled waters. We must understand such maneuverings and create an atmosphere wherein we all can live in peace and harmony as we have had been doing for centuries.

The state must not dub the Terrains as reactionaries or for that matter any one which possesses demeaning connotations. It would further aggravate the matter to a different chaotic proportion than what it is today. If the State does so would mean that the ruling elite in Kathmandu does not want to be-friendly with the genuine concerns of the agitators of the Terai.

Sooner the State understands the political dimension of the conflict currently plaguing the Terai, the better.