A leader of the agitating ethnic communities in Nepal, Dr. Om Gurung, has warned that the Constituent Assembly polls could not be held in time as per the proposed schedule unless demands of the Madhesi, janajati, dalit and women, among others, are fulfilled.

Dr Om Gurung, the talks coordinator of the federation

Dr Om Gurung, the talks coordinator of the federation
(File photo)

Addressing a talk programme entitled “Nepal’s ethnic movement: What’s the point and why now” in London organised jointly by the London Chhalphal and SOAS Nepal Society on Thursday, Dr Gurung alleged the Nepal government of not listening to genuine grievances of the ethnic communities in the country who, he said, were being discriminated against by the state for the last several centuries.

“We are afraid that the government might opt to postpone the polls slated for June this year on the pretext of on-going agitation being launched by the indigenous and Madhesi communities,” he said.

Advisor to the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities (NFIN) and also the coordinator of the talks team formed by NFIN to hold dialogue with the government, Dr. Gurung said major demands of his organisation were restructuring of the state and society and proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly (CA). “We are not against the CA. We are committed for it. But we want the CA to be amended so that it could reflect our aspirations and ensure fair representation of all the communities in the country,” he said.

Dr. Gurung—who is associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu—said there are a total of 101 ethnic communities in Nepal out of which 59 communities were recognised as ethnic communities by the government. “Now, the Nepal has entered into the second phase of conflict,” declared Dr. Gurung. “This conflict is about ensuring equal access to state resources and political power for all the citizens of the country,” he added.

When asked about the model of federalism his organisation was considering, Gurung said German, Swiss or South African model could be very close to what they proposed for Nepal. He, however, made it clear that none of the foreign models could exactly fit in the Nepali context. “We have not been able to determine the number of federal states within the country so far. But we are close to the Maoist and Jana Morcha’s proposition in this respect,” he added.

The CPN (Maoist) is demanding for nine autonomous regions based on ethnicity with right to self determination.

Dr Gurung said the indigenous communities were fighting for a federal system of governance since they believed that only such a system could guarantee and protect the interests of different communities in the country. He, however, said NFIN’s demand of federal states was different than that being proposed by the Maoists.

“Maoists are demanding autonomous federations on the basis of ethnicity with the right to self-determination. But we are for federations within the Nepali state with full autonomy,” said Gurung. He said given Nepal’s geo-political situation the right to self-determination could be a recipe for disintegration of the country.

“We are asking for full autonomy. While matters like foreign affairs and security could be taken care of by the central government, all other powers should be delegated to the provinces and federal states,” he added.

Dr Gurung further said due to the pressure from organisations like NFIN and donor agencies like the Asian Development Bank, Nepal government announced – in the budget speech—that there will be 5 percent reservation in the public services and 10 percent in the higher education for the ethnic communities. But the Supreme Court barred its implementation saying that these provisions couldn’t be implemented without formulating a law, he said.

Responding to another query, Dr Gurung said NFIN—as of now—did not have any plan to contest elections by forming a political party in the proposed CA elections. “We want the political parties to be more representative, more inclusive and more participatory. It is the job of the political parties to reflect the popular opinion,” he added.

Commenting on the issue of language, Dr. Gurung said it was a very sensitive issue. He said his organisation was demanding a multi-lingual policy for Nepal where the state will be promoting different languages and culture of people, instead of promoting any particular language.

Saying that Nepal has remained a unitary and centralised state since its inception, Dr Gurung insisted that diversity would always be a source of integration and power. “The culture of logic has never worked in our country giving rise to the culture of violence,” he said adding, “it was up to the leadership to accommodate aspirations of all the communities in the country in a peaceful and democratic way.”