"COMMENTARY"
by 'Gambhir Bahadur'
What happened in Kailali is a result of the state's high-handedness against the indigenous Tharus.
Kailali, where at least six security personnel and a two-year-old boy were brutally killed on Monday, was tense for over the last two weeks. The indigenous Tharus had been imposing an indefinite general strike in Kailali and other western plain districts ever since political parties in Kathmandu decided to not give them their autonomous Tharuhat province.
The Kailali bloodbath was just an explosion of growing resentment of the Tharus against how the ruling parties treated them in the course of federating the country.
On Monday, more than 20,000 Tharus flocked to Tikapur from various parts of Kailali district. They had planned to erase 'Nepal Government' from sign boards of public offices and write 'Autonomous Tharuhat Province' over there. They were marching towards a government office. Police stopped them from marching forward. When police fired tear gas shells to disperse the Tharus, protesters attacked them with spears, axes and batons.
SSP Laxman Neupane, inspectors Keshav Bohara and Balram Bista and policeman Lokendra Chanda were killed. Two APF personnel and a two-year-old boy were also killed. Death toll could reach further high as more than 20 policemen undergo treatment in Tikapur and Nepalgunj. Nearly 30 Tharu protesters have also been injured.
On Monday, more than 20,000 Tharus flocked to Tikapur from various parts of Kailali district. They had planned to erase 'Nepal Government' from sign boards of public offices and write 'Autonomous Tharuhat Province' over there. They were marching towards a government office. Police stopped them from marching forward. When police fired tear gas shells to disperse the Tharus, protesters attacked them with spears, axes and batons.
What happened in Kailali is the most gruesome mass murder of police personnel since the Maoist war in which thousands of security personnel were killed. Civilians had never attempted to kill security personnel in the last two decades. The last time when civilians killed police were in Kathmandu soon after the 1990 Democracy movement. Injustice done by police during the party-less Panchayat era had reached such a height that civilians stoned five policemen to death. That was the most barbaric attack on police ever.
But the Kailali carnage has surpassed what happened in Kathmandu in 1990. Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam informed the Legislative Parliament that protesters had burnt an APF soldier alive. People are shocked by brutality with which protesters attacked police in Kailali.
Did the Tharus lose their minds? Tharu Welfare Society's Chair Dhani Ram Chaudhary, speaking to BBC Nepali Service, said: "It went out of our control, some other people infiltrated among us."
But Chaudhary said they have not withdrawn their strike, and they will continue to fight for an autonomous province.
Tharu resentment against the state exploded on Monday. If the state continues to suppress the Tharus, there are likely to be more such untoward incidents. This is the time for the state to listen to the Tharu grievances, and give them what they deserve: a Tharuhat province comprising Kailali district.
It all started when the four parties agreed on the six-province federalism model that placed Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far-western province. Tharu leader Bijay Gachhadar did not want to sign the deal. But he finally relented, angering his own community. When violent protests erupted across the country, the political parties again decided to federate the country into seven provinces. Even this time, the demand for an autonomous Kailali province was addressed. But the Tharus were ignored. Gachhadar broke his alliance and vowed to fight for a Tharuhat province.
Although the parties have created a province in western plains in a way that it might be developed as a Tharuhat province, but Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, which are dominated by the Tharus, have been inserted in the far-western province. Everyone knows NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML leader Bhim Rawal want these districts to be part of their far-western province to preserve their vote banks.
But nothing can justify inclusion of these districts with the far-western province. Of the total population of 775,000 in Kailali, 322,000 are Tharus. Similarly, of the total population of 451,000 in Kanchanpur, 115,000 are Tharus. The Tharus have said that they can compromise on Kanchanpur but cannot leave Kailali. But Deuba and Rawal have suppressed them by using their political clout.
This is why the Tharu resentment against the state exploded on Monday. If the state continues to suppress the Tharus, there are likely to be more such untoward incidents. This is the time for the state to listen to the Tharu grievances, and give them what they deserve: a Tharuhat province comprising Kailali district.
