The Causes and Impacts of Madheshi People’s Movement of 2007 and 2008

Abstract

This dissertation is a study of two ethnic uprisings that swept through the Tarai region of Nepal in 2007 and 2008. It aims to understand what caused these two uprisings, the impacts they had on Nepalese politics and the future of the achievements made by them. Research methodologies used for this research were semi-structured interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), questionnaire survey and study of secondary data available from various sources. The Madheshi People’s Movement of 2007 was so powerful that it forced the Government to change the interim constitution and declare Nepal as a federal state. Following this uprising the number of Madheshi armed groups increased and engrained communal riots in the Tarai . In February 13, 2008 UDMF (United Democratic Madheshi Front) the alliance of three Madheshi political parties, Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum, Tarai Madhesh Loktantrik Party and Nepal Sadbhavana Party launched the second Madheshi People’s Movement to pressurize the Government to implement the 22-point-agreement the government had signed with MJF in August 30, 2007. The movement lasted for two weeks and during this period six protesters and one police officer died during the clashes between agitators and security forces. The agitation was called off by the UDMF in February 28 after the Government signed the eight-point-agreement with them. The main points in the eight-point-agreement were to make Nepal a federal state, to declare those who died in 2007 and 2008 uprisings as martyrs and to make state more inclusive by making more reservations for Madheshis and other marginalized communities of Nepal. The research diagnosed three main elements that contributed to the launching of the 2007 and 2008 Movements in the Tarai. The first element was the discrimination that Madheshis felt against them at the hand of not only the state but also different mainstream political parties. The second element was the radicalization of the regional and ethnic issues including that of the Madheshis brought about by ten years (1996 -2006) of Maoists rebellion. The third element was the People’s Movement of 2006 that demonstrated that popular movement could force even powerful state to stoop to the wishes of the people. Madheshi People’s Movements made important impact on Nepal’s politics. Apart from the declaration of Nepal as a federal state, the credit for the outstanding performance of Madheshi political parties in 2008 election goes to the Madheshi movement. The fact that the first President and the first Vice President of Nepal were from the Madheshi community could also be seen as an outcome of this Movements. The agreements signed between the Government of Nepal and MJF in 2007 and between Government of Nepal and UDMF in 2008 the Government of Nepal making special reservations for Madheshis in different government jobs was another achievement of these movements. Madheshi People’s Movements were able to radicalize Madheshis, this radicalization in turn caused the fracture of Madheshi identity. Many marginalized communities within Madheshi community were so radicalized by the Movements that they started fighting for their own independent identity. Tharus, the Tarai Muslims and the Tarai Dalits who once had participated in the Madheshi People’s movements are now claiming that they are not Madheshis. Such revolt of different communities has weakened the leaders of these two uprisings. If such ethnic identity based divisions continue within Madheshi organizations, Madheshi forces will be weakened and the achievements made by two Madheshi People’s Movements will be challenged and jeopardized. The Madheshi parties need to present themselves as the party of all marginalized communities of Nepal, not just of Madheshi people, if they wish to retain the positive changes that they have already brought about. If this does not happen, the identity politics which Madheshi political parties had started will leave them in tatters as other identities within the Madheshi identity, which were radicalized by the movements, will revolt for their individual identity