United we stand

Nepal suffers from selective analysis of the problems. From politicians to left-leaning civil society members, everyone in Nepal seems to analyze politics the way it suits them and their agenda. Political pundits are so bitterly divided that they don't see problems that can arise in future from the deal-based politics and constitutional adventurism. It is hard to find an academician that dares to say in public that elections are the bedrock of democracy and extension of the current government in the name of transition is jeopardizing the democratic consolidation.

Is it greed or intellectual demise, or the combination of both, that is propelling the best brains in the nation to engage in selective analysis? What will it take for our politicians, left-leaning civil society members, political pundits, and academicians crushed with political luggage to realize that mandates in politics are time-bound and are not valid for ever?

Again, it is not only the politicians, academicians, political pundits, or the civil society members that are engaged in selective analysis. The entire nation suffers from this dangerous political disease. If you are Paharis (from hills), there is a big probability that you see the demands put forward by the fellow Madhesis absolutely rubbish and Indian game plan to disintegrate Nepal. If you are a Madhesi, you see every single Pahari as a colonizer and keep silent even when Paharis living in the tarai are butchered by the secessionists, who are posing as liberators.

Before accusing anyone of being Indian pawn, the time has come to ask who is not an Indian pawn in Nepal? Paharis accuse Madhesi politicians of being pawns, but how come no Pahari dares to question Girija Prasad Koirala's nationalist credentials when he wants to open a liaison office of Nepali Congress (NC) in New Delhi? We too, like Biharis' Bihar Bhavan, Rajasthanis' Rajasthan Bhavan, and Telugus' Andhra Bhavan, will have our own little Bhavan -- NC Bhavan in Delhi if Koirala has his way. How patriotic is this gesture?

The nation is so fragmented that people fall into one category or the other by default. The probability of you getting called: Bahunist, Maoist, royalist, etc at some point or the other is really huge. Like me, if you are a Brahmin, you are already a Bahunist by default. It does not matter whether or not you have benefited from being a Brahmin from other members of your Varna that are in the corridors of power.

Is it my fault that I am born as a Brahmin? And, how have I, or for that mater, any other hard working Brahmin benefited from just being a Brahmin? Like any other Newar, or for that matter, Madhesi or Kirat, millions of Brahmins like me in Nepal worked hard in their life to get where they are now. Just because Girija Prasad Koirala, Madhav Nepal, Ram Chandra Poudel, and Puspa Kamal Dahal are dictating Nepali politics and their kith and kin are benefiting politically and financially, is it fair enough to blame and victimize all Brahmins for exclusion of minorities? It is the fault of these handfuls of Brahmins that are withholding the genuine rights of other ethnicities, not ours, who had no control over our Varna.

While Pahari brahmins in the corridors of power in Kathmandu are hesitant to hand over the genuine rights to the people of the tarai, Madhesi leaders of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) and Tarai-Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) are silent over displacement and killings of Paharis that have been living in the tarai for generations. Neither anyone from MJF, nor TMLP have come forward and condemned killings of innocent Paharis at the hands of secessionists.

A few things that Madhesi leaders of MJF and TMLP need to make clear is, whether or not tarai belongs to Paharis like me who were born there. They should also make clear about what they mean when they talk about rights and opportunity for the people of Madhes? Are they only seeking rights for Thakurs, Yadavs, Tripathi, Raya, Shukla, Lal, and Guptas or the entire population of Madhes? Is this fight only for rights of Madhesis or the people like me too, whose forefathers have been living in Madhes for almost ten generations and had no connection of any kind with hills?

In my view, Madhesi leaders should not narrow their reach and harden ethnic boundaries. Ethnic politics does not take one very far. Neither Bedananda Jha, nor Gajendra Narayan Singh could reach very far. Gore Bahadur Khapange proved to be a disaster. It might provide instant solace to some but there is very little one can get out of ethnic politics.

There are millions of Paharis born and brought up in Madhes and have no connection with hills. MJF and TMLP should try to earn their support too. They are by all measures not less Tarians than any Thakur, Yadav, Mishra, Jha, Mahoto or Gupta that reside in the tarai. And, they will not hesitate to throw their support behind Mahanth Thakur and Upendra Yadav if convinced.

The leaders of MJF and TMLP should try to learn a lesson from the recent success of Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, India. She achieved what messiah of Dalits in India, Bhim Rao Ambedkar and her mentor Kanshi Ram, could not in their lifetime. However, it took her more than a decade to realize that in ethnically diverse societies, focusing only on certain castes or ethnicity does not take one very far. This realization made her make a complete U-turn from tilak, taraju aur talwar, maro unko jhoote char (beat up Brahmins, Vaishyas and Kshatriyas) to Haathi nahin Ganesh hain, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hain (it is not elephant but Lord Ganesh, symbolizing all gods and communities).

The politics of inclusion clearly benefited Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh and will benefit Mahanth Thankur and Upendra Yadav in the tarai. Slogans and rhetoric alone cannot win elections. Especially in a region where approximately 40 percent of population is Pahari, you just have two options: either engage yourself in ethnic cleansing, which will erode your democratic credentials or ensure inclusion of those Paharis that, like you all have been ignored and undermined, by fellow Pahari Brahmins in the corridors of power. There are millions of Paharis residing in the tarai that have no problem having a Madhesi leader as a president or prime minister. All you got to do is, make them feel safer and secured.

Don't fall into the trap of secessionists. Secession by no means is an answer to oppression. Oppression and exclusion can be defeated from within. The partition of India has not made Muslims in Pakistan any better. Indian Muslims are experiencing far more political freedom than their counterpart in Pakistan. There is no end if we start running from the oppressors with our small share. We should learn to fight back and defeat them.

Neither all Paharis are oppressors, nor are all Madhesis oppressed. The tarai is eagerly waiting for someone like Mayawati who can ensure inclusion of not only Madhesis but also Paharis that have been bypassed by those in corridors of powers that have forgotten what they stand for.

Lessons from Uttar Pradesh

Last week, the voters of Uttar Pradesh (UP) finally got rid of the chaos of Hindutva and dynasty based politics. The verdict is in, and the national parties such as Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress Party have been shown the door. Neither the slogan of "Hindu nationalism" of BJP, nor the Congress Party's "secularism" promoted by none other than the heir of the Congress party — Rahul Gandhi — could cut any ice with the highly discerning voters of Uttar Pradesh.

Former schoolteacher Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 206 constituencies out of 402 total seats in the state assembly. Although she has a narrow majority, she has achieved what Bhim Rao Ambedkar and her mentor Kanshi Ram could not in their lifetimes. She has made millions of Dalits who have been marginalized and powerless for decades, in Uttar Pradesh (and throughout India) hopeful for better days ahead.

Furthermore, she has brought an end to the politics of manipulation and maneuverings, fulfilling the electorates' desire for political stability. No party in UP had been able to secure a majority since BJP won 221 seats in the 1991 Assembly polls when the notion of "Hindu nationalism" was at its peak.

Maywati has crumbled established citadels and has upset all electoral calculations. Her victory has surprised both her rivals and exit-pollsters. She has emerged triumphant in the face of innumerable odds. She did not have a poster boy like the Congress did. Nor did she have hoards of actors and actresses — Amitabh Bachhan, Jaya Bachhan, Jaya Prada — campaigning for her party like Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party (SP) did. Out of many things, the recent election in UP also has proved that the likes of Amitabh Bachchan cannot sell everything.

Maywati has defied the notion that media can turn around elections. While other parties used actors, actresses, and business tycoons for campaigning, Maywati focused on the basics of politics —- go to people and seek their support. She asked her cadres to visit every village and every house to mobilize their support.

Mayawati has proven that her experience as a former teacher gives her an understanding of not only child psychology, but also psychology of the voters and the strategy that needs to be pursued to secure power. She realized very early on in her political career what Bhim Rao Ambedkar and her mentor Kanshi Ram failed to understand: without cohabitation with the upper caste Brahmins and Thakurs and forging alliance with Muslims, Dalits' quest for power would remain an unachievable goal. Thus, Mayawati did everything under the sun to woo previously adversarial social groups. She carried out a series of Bhaichara (caste amity) campaigns.

When it comes to how she changed her political course, her slogans say it all. She made a complete U-turn from "tilak, taraju aur talwar, maro unko jhoote char" (beat up Brahmins, Vaishyas and Kshatriyas) to "Haathi nahin Ganesh hain, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hain" (it is not elephant but Lord Ganesh, symbolizing all gods and communities). She changed her party's image from an upper caste bashing party to an upper caste accommodating party. To ensure upper castes' loyalty towards BSP, of the total of 139 upper caste candidates, BSP fielded 86 Brahmins. In addition to the necessity of Brahmins' vote, Mayawati knew it very well that the road to power could not be constructed without Muslim votes. She fielded as many as 61 Muslim candidates in the polls.

Mayawati, thus, exhibited political ingenuity and tore apart BJP's grip on upper caste voters and SP's grip on Muslim voters. Clearly, the politics of inclusion have paid off for Mayawati.

Mayawati outsmarted the BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party, and other regional political parties through the process of social engineering. The spectacular victory of Mayawati's BSP has potential lessons for both the major political and various ethnic groups that have been pushing for their empowerment in Nepal. Learn from the mistakes of others, or end up becoming a loser in future.

The Nepali Congress (NC) cannot achieve anything without reinventing itself. Although India's Congress party used charming prince Rahul Gandhi to lure voters, he had nothing new to offer. Like India's Congress Party, Nepali Congress (NC) has nothing new to offer. Rather than cozying itself with the political left, it should get nearer to the ethnic groups that believe in inclusive democracy.

Although the NC preaches democracy and secularism, it is heavily dominated by the Koirala clan. This clan calls itself democratic and secular, but still promotes irrational practices. The likes of Sujata Koirala have gained prominence due to their relationship with Girija Prasad Koirala but lack leadership qualities and will end up meeting the fate of Ajit Singh, the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.

As a matter of fact, she might not even have the stature that Ajit Singh has in Indian politics. Unlike Ajit Singh, who does have backings of Jat community, Sujata is on her own. Sujata with her husband being a Christian and daughter married to a Muslim will not have any backing of the Brahmin community under which she falls by birth.

Thus, the days of the likes of Sujata Koirala in Nepali politics are numbered. With the demise of Girija Prasad Koirala, they too will become a history. The leaders of NC that have risen to prominence through hard work will soon have their heyday. For now, they should indulge themselves in introspection and work towards reinventing the party.

Slogans and rhetoric alone cannot win elections. Neither the campaign revolving around the idea of "India Shining," helped the BJP,

nor has UP mein dam hai kyon ki zulm yahan kam hai (UP has future because crime rate is low here) worked for Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi party. The voters are not foolish, they will no longer be mesmerized by slogans and rhetoric alone. They will now take a calculated look at the political leadership before casting their votes. So, the political left should shed its rhetorical politics and shy away from class-based politics. At the end of the day, like in UP, the party that is inclusive will have better prospects and will enjoy the support of the majority.

The former royalist party that functions like an elite's club will have no political future. The virtual wipe-out of Viswanath Pratap Singh, the descendent of former Maharaja of one of the many princely states in India, has clearly exhibited that money cannot buy votes; you will have to earn it. So, the parties like Rastriya Prajatantra Paty (RPP) and Rastriya Jansakti Party (RJP) have arduous road ahead. Do it right or perish.

Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) and NFIN should do what Mayawati did in UP. Instead of alienating the so-called upper castes Pahadis, get them onboard. It would definitely not hurt, it would help. The propagation of sectarian hatred will aid no one in the long run. The BJP strategy to raise the communal temperature did not augur well as planned by BJP in UP. Upper caste Hindus refused to swallow the bait this time around and rather sided with BSP.

The recent uprising in terai has clearly demonstrated that there exists a political space for a genuine political force to grow. There are millions of Pahadis residing in Madhes that do not have problem with Upendra Yadav becoming their democratically elected prime minister. So, Upendra Yadav, who also happens to be a former teacher like Mayawati, has a good prospect as an emerging leader that can address woes of ethnic communities that have been bypassed thus far and at the same time lead the nation. All he needs to do is ensure that the ongoing ethnic movement does not become narrowly focused and communal. The communal politics has no future. Learn it easy way just by seeing Mayawati's experience in UP. For Mayawati it took years to figure that out.