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Recognizing diversity
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February 21, 2018 01:00 AM
<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/2715">Manjeet Mishra</a>
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<a href="http://www.myrepublica.com/news/author/2715">Manjeet Mishra</a>
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<small>The author is a lecturer based in Rajbiraj</small>
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<p></p><p><strong>Provincial government in
Madhes should not fall into temptation of adopting one language policy
for education in the name of cultural conservatism</strong></p>
<p>At an oath-taking ceremony, Province 2 set an example of cultural
diversity existing in Nepal. The assembly members pronounced their oaths
in four different languages. Of the 107 members in total, 47 took oath
in Maithili, 25 in Bhojpuri, 24 in Nepali and 11 in Hindi.</p>
<p>At the same venue, another event happened that reeked of cultural
insularity. After the ceremony, Chief District Officer (CDO) of Dhanusha
urged the members to sign the oath scripted in Nepali even though they
had picked their own language to pronounce it, thus infuriating the
lawmakers.</p>
<p>For those born in Mahendra’s Panchayat era (including this writer)
and having witnessed the forced institutionalization of state policy of
‘one nation, one language, one dress’, this move of choosing one’s own
language to take oath is certainly progressive and a step forward in the
recognition of diversity. That this happened in Province 2, the only
province based on the majority ethnic identity and has been at constant
loggerheads with the center regarding recognition of its identity
markers—mainly language—is a testament of Madhesi people’s long and hard
struggle against a chauvinistic state.</p>
<p><strong>Struggle for recognition </strong></p>
<p>The struggle for recognition of language in Madhes dates back to
1950s. Bedanand Jha established Nepal Tarai Congress (NTC) in 1951 with
one of its objectives to make Hindi a state language. In the decade,
Tarai witnessed a prolonged movement in defense of Hindi as a language
of instruction in schools and against the imposition of Nepali in the
education system. The movement gained momentum with National Education
Planning Commission report of 1956, based on which the education
ministry “ordered all schools to use Nepali as the medium of
instruction.” With the implementation of one language policy, NTC formed
“save Hindi” committees in Tarai districts and leaders of other
political parties also joined the campaign. </p>
<p>Public meetings, protests, marches and strikes were organized in many
districts which led to considerable turmoil, with even clashes
occurring between pro-Hindi and pro-Nepali groups in Biratnagar. In the
general election of 1959, along with NTC, Nepali Congress (NC), Praja
Parishad and Nepal Communist Party (NCP) also supported a multi-lingual
policy during the election. NC and NCP had released their election
manifestos in Hindi. One of the reasons for the electoral rout of NTC is
attributed to the fact that it could not differentiate itself from
other parties.</p>
<p>With the usurpation of political power by Mahendra and subsequent
imposition of Panchayat system and banning of political parties in 1960,
fight for language took a backseat temporarily, only to be revived
later. Gajendra Narayan Singh established Nepal Goodwill Council in 1985
and later transformed it into Nepal Sadbhavna Party (NSP) in 1990 with
one its objective to make Hindi a state language. Even though the party
was scoffed by others as being an Indian stooge and following India’s
agenda, it was able to bring to the attention the demands of Madhesis to
recognize Hindi as a national language. This was possible mainly
because of the liberal political environment of the 1990s.</p>
<p>Even as Madhesis continue to struggle for recognition of their
language, the state used Khas Kura/Nepali, for forced homogenization and
assimilation or exclusion of ethnic groups. In a bid to homogenize
diverse ethnic groups, Nepali was made mandatory subject and language of
instruction in schools. As if forced homogenization was not enough, a
controversial Civil Service Act of 1956 had made it mandatory for the
candidates of civil service jobs to be competent in Nepali language.
This virtually led to the exclusion of Madhesis from civil service.</p>
<p>During Panchayat era, with a powerful king at the helm, the
state-centric nationalism with the Nepali language as one of its pillars
was followed enthusiastically. Due to the ban on political activities,
the NC was operating mostly in Tarai and border areas of India. The
Royal government viewed NC and India as being the main threats to the
territorial integrity of Nepali state. In a bid to ‘protect’ Nepal from
the ‘ever-present internal and external threat’, the government while
reframing citizenship laws included provisions that made it difficult
for people of Tarai origin to obtain citizenship certificate. The
requirement of fluency in spoken and written Nepali language for
obtaining citizenship certificate virtually disenfranchised and denied
recognition of Madhesis as Nepali citizens. After the restoration of the
multi-party system in 1990s, despite tall claims of inclusion, only
Nepali was declared as the official language in the constitution.</p>
<p>While Nepal’s history is rife with events of the state’s use of
Nepali language as a tool to counter the imagined doubtful loyalty of
Madhesis towards Nepal, the discrimination is not limited to the policy
level. It can be equally vociferous on streets. At the oath-taking
ceremony, the first vice president of the republic, Permanand Jha was
projected as committing a cardinal sin when he pronounced his oath in
Hindi. The strident protest that followed and the subsequent
nullification of oath by the Supreme Court is a grim reminder of
opposition Madhesis have faced.</p>
<p><strong>Way forward</strong></p>
<p>Thankfully, this time around the oath-taking in multiple languages in
Province 2, including Hindi did not bring about much controversy,
except some fringe elements burning effigies of Madhesi leaders and
demanding preference for local languages. This small victory must be
relished since it is a fruit of long and hard struggle of Madhesi
people. </p>
<p>Though the struggle to make Hindi the language for the administrative
purpose of Province 2 must continue, the provincial government formed
by Madhes based parties should not fall into the temptation of adopting
one language policy for education and other purposes in the name of
cultural conservatism. It should also desist from compartmentalizing
people based on the language of the community. Any attempt to link Hindi
or any other local language to the ‘pride’ of Madhes would lead to
cultural bigotry and produce inflammable results in the long run because
Madhes itself has the diversity of languages with none in absolute
majority. Emphasis should be laid on cultural liberalism rather than
cultural conservatism. It should not be a case of mere tolerance of
cultural diversity or promotion of plural multiculturalism. A genuine
multicultural society celebrates diversity.</p>
<p>This is the beauty of federalism. As professor Amartya Sen aptly puts
it: “A sense of identity can be a source of not merely pride and joy,
but also strength and confidence.”</p>
<p>The author is a lecturer based in Rajbiraj</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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