MADHES

I am not Madhesi but I have respect and sympathy for the legitimate demands of the people of the Madhes who have been treated like second-class citizens since Nepal was born. The mass movement spearheaded by the MJF forced the government to make Nepal a federal state, to increase the representation of Tarai people from 42 percent to 48 percent, to give one million to the families of martyrs of the Tarai movement and to provide medical facilities to those injured in that movement. Forgive my ignorance but I don\'t know why the Tarai movement has again started when the nation is trying to conduct the elections. I would request the respected CK Lal and Prashant Jha to inform us:
1. why Mr Thakur left the NC and is now starting an agitation.
2. why groups in the Madhes are still carrying arms when the state has met the demands made by the MJF?
It looks like the Madhes agitation has started again just to prevent the election, because as far as I can see, the core demands of the Madhesi people have already been fulfilled.

Name withheld,
Kathmandu

. By now it is clear that the Madhes movement that started with such promise has degenerated into petty communal hatred. If the Madhes\' problems had been only due to Pahadis living there then you would have started seeing some tangible improvement in the living standards of Madhesis in places like Janakpur and Siraha, which have been in effect ethnically-cleansed of Pahadis. I am sure the local populace will repent in the years to come for having chased away their Pahadi brethren. Make no mistake, the new \'Nepalis\'-read Biharis and UPites-who are mainly responsible for fanning this communal hatred, will start unleashing their terror on the ethnic Madhesis once their \'Pahade-bhagao\' mission is over. I fully agree with Matrika Yadav when he says that the very people who were hell-bent on deploying the army against the Maoists when they first truly raised the Madhesi issue are the ones who are shedding crocodile-tears now. When you see scoundrels like JP Gupta and Rajendra Mahato leading the \'revolution\', you can well guess who the revolution is going to benefit: the landlords and the corrupt. The only good thing I see coming out of this \'movement\' is that the oppressed Madhesis will have the satisfaction of being ruled by a goon who wears a dhoti and speaks their language instead of a goon who wears a topi and speaks Nepali. It is the elite of the Madhes who will benefit from this.

Biplab Nepali,
Kathmandu

. Who are you threatening, Prashant Jha? If you have the Indian mobile telephone numbers (\'Another window\', #384), then you can tell the armed terrorists there is not going to be a separation of Nepal. If the government is offering autonomy, the Madhes should take it: there is not going to be right to self-determination and there is not going to be one Tarai state. The Tarai is too diverse to let Madhesis rule it alone. Don\'t forget the Tharus and many other ethnic groups who will then fight for their own state. That is the bottom line and they can either face it and come forward for talks, or face the army. Now it is a matter of protecting national identity. We will all unite in that, and 'we' means all Nepalis who love the country. The elections will happen and all are invited to voice their concerns through voting, not by intimidation.

Sandeep Dhungana,
email

ELECTIONS

Kanak Mani Dixit\'s analysis (\'Getting There\', #384) is true to some extent but the security situation in the Tarai, eastern hill areas and even Kathmandu itself is not satisfactory. In April 2006 I was out in the streets not to replace absolute monarchy with a seven-party dictatorship but to replace dictatorship with legitimate democracy. However, the decision to declare Nepal a republic without a referendum and to divide it into a communal/ethnic-based federal state is surely a very undemocratic move and a spit in my face. What is the purpose of a CA when everything is already decided by this parliament? In pursuit of peace, the parliament has given everything demanded by the Maoists. Peace is not simply the absence of war but also the presence of justice. Is there any point in having an election when less than 500 people have already decided the future of 25 million Nepalis? I do not see any reason why I should vote in the CA election.

Dilip Buda,
Kathmandu

. Somebody please give Kanak a hug. He sold us the claptrap of multiparty democracy and he is still feeding us with the same to save his own skin. It\'s okay Kanak, we forgive you for bringing down the king and helping, in your own way, these monkeys to power. Still so much hope? Was it really worth it?

Reena Budhathoki,
Chelsea, London

SUJATA

PM Koirala\'s recent appointment of daughter Sujata Koirala as a minister in the interim cabinet has inspired a great deal of pessimism about the democratisation process in a country that has suffered forever from family dynasties. The silence of the political leaders and cadres on this fundamental assault on the spirit of democracy underscores their inability to live by democracy as they preach it. The PM is quoted as saying he may give the nation its first female prime minister. If the difference between democracy and monarchy has been forgotten, leaders are not \'given\' in democracy. They emerge. And they demonstrate their credentials, not to some coterie of fat cats, but to the masses, the people. The struggle for democracy in Nepal has produced several future leaders, from all genders, regions, castes and ethnicities. It is a great irony that their chances are being pre-empted by the smearing of a budding agenda with nepotism and sheer arrogance. The PM\'s decision to groom his unpopular daughter as his successor tarnishes his reputation at home and abroad, where he was lately celebrated for his genuine courage and diplomacy in bringing the rebels into the mainstream. It undermines the forces struggling to undertake free and fair elections that will shape the new Nepal, and provides arguments to those in the country who claim that the very word \'democracy\' is a monkey\'s coconut.

Mallika Shakya,
Washington DC

DIPLOMACY

I hope the next ambassador to our country will have the same sense of humour as Mr Mukherjee (Interview, #384). His logical diplomacy is heart-winning. I hope from now on India will keep in mind that a fair treatment of Nepal means a good deal for them too. And so future treaties between our countries should be based scientifically on true proportionality. Let\'s hope that the first new treaty would resolve the border dispute we\'re facing so that ultra-nationalists from both countries can\'t take undue advantage of it.

Nirmal Ghimire,
University of Girona, Spain