Grasping the Tarai identity

Some senior Nepali politicians, who should know better, like to claim that there is no "ethnic problem" in Nepal. Because of Nepal´s ethnic and regional diversity, the potential for conflict and crisis is ever-present, just below the surface. All that is required for conflagration is a few power-thirsty individuals who think nothing of setting a match to the ethnic sensibility of communities. Nowhere in Nepal is this more true than in the Tarai, the strip of tropical flatlands that runs contiguous to the east-west foothills of die Himalaya. An attempt is on today to draw a sharp dividing line between the Tarai and the hills, based on regionalism and ethnicity..The regionalism has to do with the distinct geographical position of the Tarai. The 34,019 square kilometres of the Tarai makes up 23 per cent of the country´s total area, and it is inhabited by 46 per cent of Nepal´s population. The Tarai has seen a three-fold increase in population over the past four decades, from about 2.9 million in 1952 to about 8.6 million today..Historically, the Tarai strip was thinly settled by malaria-immune "indigenous" groups such as the Tharu, Dhimal, Rajbansi, as well as some caste groups from the south. At the turn of the century, the Rana regime in Kathmandu encouraged migration from India in an effort to develop the Tarai. This is why some of the Tarai districts today comprise a significant number of people who are of "Indian origin". It was impossible to entice hill groups to settle in an area considered fit only for exile or penal settlement, so-called Kala Pani (black waters.).After 1960, with the eradication of malaria, the wild lands of the Tarai became the destination of the dispossessed from the hills of Nepal and those known wprabasi—Nepali-speakers from Burma, Bhutan and the northeastern states of India. With the opening up of forests by highways, the spread of agriculture, and the establishment of a timber industry, the Tarai soon emerged as the economic backbone of the country..If there is one area of the Himalaya that is simmering with ethnic discontent, it is the Tarai. All three main groups that reside within the region — the original inhabitants, the people of "Indian origin" and the Nepali Highlanders — nurse negative feelings towards the Kathmandu government And on (op of the everyday push and tug amongst these groups, there is the influence of politics from across the border, in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar..The Tarai, divided by major rivers that flow out of die Himalaya, is also a demographic mosaic that hardly presents die uniformity that some would like to see in it A quick run from west to east proves the point (please refer to the map on page 19). The western districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardtya, Banke and Dang-Deokhuri are 30 to 50 per cent Tharu; hill people make up the second largest group. Hill people account for a similar proportion in Bahke district, but here Muslims and Tarai caste Hindus make up 50 to 60 percent of the population..Moving further east into Kupandehi, 70 to 80 per cent of the population are highlanders. Kapilbasiu has a high concentration of Tarai caste Hindus, while almost half the population of neighbouring Nawalparasi are highlanders. In Chit wan district, nearly 80 per cent of the population is of hill origin, and 15 to 20 per cent are Tharu. The Tarai caste Hindu groups dominate in -Dhanusa, Maliotah, Siraha, Saptari, Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Rauthat and Kapilbastu..In the eastern-most Tarai district of Jhapa, the indigenous groups of Dhimal, Rajbansi and Satar comprise up to 20 per cent of the population, while highlanders make up the rest. In Morang District, we have a mixture of Tarai caste Hindus, hill people and Tharus. Neighbouring Sunsari, on the other hand, is dominated by highlanders..The influx of the hill population is a significant demographic event of the past few decades; and several to have developed where hill meets plain with hill-majorities. These include, west to east towns like Mahendranagar, Tribhuvan Nagar, Butwal, Bharatpur, Hetauda, Dharan and Damak..Thus, there are three main ethnic divides in the Tarai deserving consideration. The first is between the Pahade, or hillman, and the Madhesiya, or plainsman. The second is the split between the Hindu caste groups and the "original" ethnic groups such as the Tharu, and the third is the divide between Tarai high -caste Hindu groups and the Tarai low-caste Hindu group..Hillman, Plainsman.Neglect of the plains people by the hill-dominated government in Kathmandu encourages the first divide. The hill people, for their part, tend to deride the affinity that many Tarai dwellers feel for their kinsfolk across the border in India..Some Tarai leaders, particularly those representing the Hindu caste groups in-the Sadhbhavana Party, have started Pahadia Hatao campaign to physically remove the- hill peoples from the plains — which might be considered a disturbing trend in national politics. These leaders also advocate the use of Hindi as a link language among Tarai groups, much as Nepali tends to link the hill groups. However, only nine of the 20 districts of Nepal´s Tarai have predominantly Tarai Hindu caste groups, who are most likely to speak Hindi. These include Dhanusa, Mahotari, Siraha and Saptari districts—where the mother tongue is Maithili. Bhojpuri is spoken in Bara and Parsa districts, whereas Bajika (a mixture of Maithili and Bhojpuri) is spoken in Sarlahi and Rautahat districts. Thus, even in the "Hindi belt" of Nepal, Hindi is hard to come by other than at political rallies. West of the Narayani River, in Kapilbastu, Banks and Bardiy a districts, Awadhi is spoken by Tarai caste groups..It is not that Hindi comes easier to the tongues of Bhojpuri and Maithili speakers than Nepali. Linguistically, both Nepali and Hindi are Indo-Aryan tongues. In fact, Hindi is just as foreign to speakers of Bhojpuri and Maithili as it is to the Nepali speakers of the hills, Hindi is not the mother tongue of the majority of even high caste Hindu groups of the Tarai, and it is certainly not the first language of the substantial tribal population nor of the now significant hill population of the Tarai. Why, then, do Tarai-based politicians tilt towards Hindi?.The Hindi preference is a reaction against perceived hill chauvinism. It is an attempt by Tarai elites to close ranks in a bid to strengthen bargaining power with "the north". The demands for Hindi are of strategic importance to those who presently feel outside the Nepali mainstream. The solution seems to lie with the Kathmandu government And the onus is on, Kathmandu´s bipartite Bahun-Chhetri-Newar establishment heeding demands for ethnic representation and linguistic rights of all the communities of the country, whether Tarai or non-Tarai. With more recognition of the mother tongues of the Tarai in education, in the media and in other culture-related and state-supported activities, the pro-Hindi agitation — which comes so unnaturally — might well be diffused..The divisions between hill people and plains people also seem linked to the uncontrolled flow of Indian migrants crossing the border to settle in Nepal. Because so many of the groups on either side of the border are culturally identical, it is difficult to differentiate the Nepali "Tarain" from the Indian settler. Daily familial, cultural and commercial interactions which take place between these groups, as if the border does not exist, further complicates matters. That a problem of national identity should arise among the Tarai people, and that hill Nepalis should thus question their allegiance, seems natural..One aspect of the Tarai-hill divide is resentment of the hill-dominated administration and the culture it represents. The other aspect is the conflict between the plains people and the Nepali-speaking settlers who have moved into the Tarai, homes leading on cleared forest lands with government blessing. From perhaps less than five per cent at the turn of the century, the highlandNepalistodaymakeup35to40percent of the population of the Tarai. (´Tarai´ also refers to Bhitri Madhes, the Inner Tarai.).While there are a few landlords of hill origin, who received their holdings from the Rana overlords, the majority of the hill migrants have little land and today make up part of the poorer segment of the Tarai population. With the advent of party politics, this group of poor high landers has tended to support the mainstream left (CPN/UML) or the far-left Ekata Kendra (United Center). At a recent rally of the Ekata Kendra in Janakpur, it was noteworthy that many poor Tarai low-caste groups also participated; Needless to say, very few Tarai-dwelling. highlanders who support the Sadhbhavana Party..High Caste, Low Caste, Tribal.Poverty and landlessness are the major problems of Tarai society. The landless and the exploited tend to be from the low-caste Hindu or the tribal groups. For example, in the villages of Laxminiya, Belgachhi and Dharampur in Mahotari district, nearly 30 of 100 peasants interviewed were landless—low caste groups such as the Chamar, Batar, Mushahar and Dushad..The exploitation in the Tharu areas of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardiya, Banke, Dang-Deokhari and Surkhet districts in the western Tarai extends beyond landlessness to bonded labour-—known as the kamaiya system. A Tharu man´s debt passes on to his sons and, before long, generations are bonded to the landlord or moneylender´s estate. In West Nepal, these landlords are not only Bahuns and Chhetris, but also Tharus..If the talk these days is of human rights, then the Tharus deserve special treatment among all the Tarai groups. So far, however, special treatment has meant tokenism, even though the Tharu is the largest single ethnic group in the Tarai. Tharu elites were wooed during the Panchayat system with representation in the Rastriya Panchayat and in national cabinets. Even today, political parties have sought to use Tharu frustration for their own ends. Their feeble cries of "Freedom from Bonded Labour" are being drowned out in the tumult of democracy where the mote vociferous communities get heard..Preferring to identify their communities as distinct from Tarai caste groups, some Tharu and himal leaders insist that they have more in common with the hill-ethnicities of Nepal. The Dhimal of the eastern Tarai, for example, regard themselves as kin of the Limbu of the hills..While they might want to be regarded as closer to hill communities than to Hindu caste groups of the plains, the Tarai ethnic groups are frustrated that their integration into the political-economy of the country has been so slow. At the same time, they do not take kindly to state policy that encourages their integration into the Hindu caste model. A mild cultural backlash is thus taking place in which the Tharu and other ethnic groups such as the Dhimal, Gagain, Satar and Rajbansi are coalescing into one force, setting themselves apartfromboth the Tarai caste groups and the Pahades..The complex pattern of Tarai politics does not end with the tussle between ethnic groups, hill communities and Tarai caste groups, however. Conflicts within castes is emerging rapidly, in close coordination with caste politics of neighbouring Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The most significant demands are being made by the Yadav community — with high concentration in the districts of Mahotari, Siraha, Saptari, Morang and Sarlahi..Yadavs have developed considerable apolitical muscle in Uttar Pradesh and Biljar over the past decades. Relying upon their numerical´ strength, they have challenged the hold of Rajputs and other groups over state politics. Lalloo Prasad Yadav´s controversial chief ministership in Bihar is the best example of this newfound strength..Since their numbers are quite significant in Nepal as well, the Yadavs are now able to use the democratic process to their advantage. A new acronymic political slogan has emerged in the central Tarai: "BHURA BAL halao," aimed against the (high caste) Bhumihar, Rajput, Brahmin and Lala (Kayastha). The main proponents of this campaign are not the low castes and ethnic groups, but the Yadavs..Ethnic expediency.Ethnic politics in the Tarai — like politics anywhere, to be sure — is one of expediency. The elites use community-identification as a tool for their own ends. Moreover, as a strategy, they are trying to foist a pan-Tarai identity on a geographical region which is divided in more ways than one. But this strategy might give out as the presurred sense of commonality does not exist among the people of the Tarai. Merely harbouring and promoting animosity against the hill people might not work..D.R. Dahal is an anthropologist with the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University.