COMMENTARY
Online Khabar
Kathmandu, October 13. Cadres of United Democratic Madheshi Front have started calling front leaders Mahantha Thakur, Upendra Yadav, Rajendra Mahato and Bijaya Gachhadar traitors. These leaders had played a crucial role in spearheading the Madheshi Movement against the newly-promulgated constitution, which, accompanied with the Indian blockade, caused a national crisis. So, how did these leaders sunk so low in the eyes of Madheshi people?
These are the leaders, who had helped stoke violence in the plains against the plains over delineation of provinces. They boycotted the Constituent Assembly as it was about to promulgate a federal constitution over this issue.
But this boycotting did not last long. They entered the Parliament and voted for their favourite candidates in the prime ministerial election. This move has earned them the wrath of Madheshi people.
UDMF appears deeply divided. There are indications that the movement may go out of UDMF hands.
Deputy leader of the Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party’s Parliamentary Party, Brijesh Kumar Gupta, submitted his resignation to party Chief Mahantha Thakur after casting vote in the prime ministerial race.
Co-chair of the Anil Kumar Jha-headed Sadbhavana Party, Sarita Giri, has also put in papers.
Now, chaos reign supreme at the UDMF, with sections alleging it of committing treason against Madhesh and cheating the Madheshi electorate.
Gopal Thakur, joint coordinator for the United Madheshi national movement, says UDMF leaders now have no moral right to take part in the Madhesh Movement.
Whoever Madheshi leaders may have voted for – Oli or Koirala – it has become clear that they have accepted the new constitution, according to Thakur.
The Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhavana Party boycotted the UDMF meeting called on Monday. But UDMF leaders point Mahato’s wife Sailu Kumari Mahato took part in the voting process and voted for PM candidate Sushil Koirala with Sadvhavana chair’s consent.
The front has called yet another meeting on Monday.
Gachchhadar’s party in crisis
Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum (Democratic) Chair Bijaya Gachchhadar’s decision to join the KP Oli government as a deputy prime minister seems to be a recipe for disaster for his party. As Gachchhadar took the oath of office and secrecy from President Ram Baran Yadav, MJF (D) leaders in Bara and Parsa resigned en masse. Those resigning from their posts include MJF (D) Parsa Chief Shashi Kapoor Miya, party’s Bara chapter chief Om Prakash Chaudhary and former state ministers Kalawati Paswan and Durga Devi Mahato. MJF (D) central member Kripa Sindhu Chaudhary has also resigned.
The UDMF has formally split, with Gachchhadar joining the government. Leaders, including Sharat Singh Bhandari, have left the front.
Treason, cries JP Gupta
Coordinator for the Tarai-Madhesh Movement, JP Gupta, has called Madheshi leaders’ act of voting in the PM election an act of treason.
Gupta says all four constituents of UDMF and Bijaya Gachchhadar have betrayed the Madhesh Movement, Madheshi people and Madhesh’s martyrs. He maintains that UDMF leaders have joined the state party by endorsing the constitution.
Gupta says this is not the end of the Madhesh Movement and death of its agendas. He says the likes of Gachchhadar and Rajendra Mahato would not have dared betray Madhesh had there been a revolutionary party in the Madhesh.
Madhesh still in turmoil
The day KP Oli got elected as prime minister, Sadbhavana Party cadres burnt Oli and Gachchhadar in effigies in Gaur, Rautahat district. And the day Oli took the oath of office, Madheshi Rights Struggle Committee cadres performed a ritual called Kshema Puja in the name of KP Oli, Sushil Koirala and Prachanda, at Ram Janaki Temple in Janakpur. In a symbolic protest, they were asking for forgiveness for the trio. This seemed to be in response to humorist Manoj Gajurel’s act of performing a similar Puja at Pashupatinath Temple, in the name of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the symbolic protest against the Indian blockade, Gajurel and other participants at the ritual had asked for forgiveness for Modi’s inhuman move.
UDMF leaders have entered the Parliament, but the Madhesh continues to be in turmoil. UDMF leaders have not yet called off the movement, though they have lost the trust of their cadres and the general public. The situation in Janakpur and other parts of the eastern Tarai is yet to normalise. But there’s a feeling that the movement will cool off as UDMF leaders have lost trust of those involved in the stir.
The tense situation may ease a bit with major festivals like Dashain around the corner.
Whose plot was it?
Why did UDMF leaders join the Parliament without reaching an agreement with the state?
Sources say there are three reasons behind UDMF leaders entry into the House. First: They feared they may face action and lose their parliamentary seats. Second: They saw chances of becoming ministers if Sushil Koirala won. Third: Directives from AB Mathur, former chief of RAW, and India’s Ambassador to Nepal. According to sources, Madheshi leaders obliged and entered the Parliament, following 11th-hour directives from the Indian Embassy. UDMF is abuzz with rumours that front leaders voted for Koirala, hoping to become ministers.
Dangerous void
With UDMF leaders earning infamy, what will happen in Madhesh now? There are indications that UDMF leaders considered pro-Indian may lose their clout and figures hose enjoying the backing of western countries, including CK Raut, will gain strength.
With UDMF leaders endorsing the new constitution by heeding India’s directives, ironically, India’s clout in the Madhesh has decreased. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed interest to work together with newly-elected PM KP Oli. UDMF leaders have suffered a major jolt, with Modi striving to do a course correction by engaging the whole of Nepal instead of Madhesh only.
Recent developments show India will try to work together with the likes of KP Oli and Bijaya Gachchhadar instead of Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato.
This void in the southern plains, caused after Madheshi leaders came off the high pedestal, may provide fertile ground for secessionists.
CK Raut has termed the resignation of Sarita Giri and dissatisfaction of Madheshi leaders like Rajendra Mahato as a drama staged to cheat the Madheshi people.
The image of Madheshi leaders has surely suffered. But this may not augur well for the southern plains and the country. Who knows which shady force will raise its ugly face from the void in the plains?
