September 14
Building Hill Madhesh harmony Deepak
Rauniyar's recent article in the Nepali version of Setopati (Bhadar12, 2071 BS ) on the issue of hill man's discrimination against Madhesi people touches on the very core of the irritants that purportedly exists between the two people, the former, as alleged by him, projecting the latter as "bikhandanbadi". However, as a student of social science and as a long time observer of the changes taking place in the area of inter-ethnic relations in Nepal, I can say with some authority that our country has come a long way in terms of mutual cohesiveness and solidarity compared to what used to be the case just a few decades ago. And much of this progress has been contributed to by the increasingly intensified socio-economic interaction between the hill and Terai regions socially, economically and politically, as well as the accelerated spread of Nepali as lingua franca. Compared to, say, about three decades ago, when it was nearly impossible to communicate with the people in the Madhesi villages if the visiting hill man did not have some smattering of Hindi, today, the situation has undergone a sea change; now, one could go to any community in the Terai and expect to have no problem in communicating in Nepali, although a response in Nepali too particularly by the womenfolk could still be a problem.
However, the problem of Madhesi people in a hill urban centre like Kathmandu, as described by Mr. Rauniyar, could be different, and could touch their sensitive nerves in that they could even be seen, to quote him, as a "bikhandanbadi". Here too, while there may still be an individual case or two once in a while under which a Madhesi Nepal could be mistaken for an "Indian" or disparaged as "dhoti", it is no longer a frequent occurrence. However, there is a Newari exception to it, and should be understood as an aberration that too is now on the wane. Since the Newars happened to be numerically dominant in the core urban areas of Kathmandu valley and in that capacity, have also tended to traditionally dominate its cultural landscape, including the norms of relationship with non-Newars. This aberration is rooted in their traditionally deriving disadvantage in any expression that is even remotely Sanskritic. While it is frequently complained by our Madhesi brethren that they are deprecatingly referred to as "Marsya", this is not the only noun that is distorted at the hands of the Newars traditionally. For instance, while they highly revere the Buddhist deity,Karunamaya, the term of reference for the deity, however, is Karname, Karunamaya being far too unmanageable for their tongues. A Brahmin is only a Barmhu, and a Chhetri is lumped together with other hill natives simply as Khen. If a fellow Newar is named Nanda Lall, it too is too long and unmanageable. He is simply Nalaa. While the termMarsya is certainly not honorific (nor are Barmhu orKhen), it results from the traditionally deriving ethnocentricism that the Newars of Kathmandu would probably share with similar other dominant ethnic groups in other parts of the world. So, there is no need for our Madhesi brethren to take too much of an offence with that term of reference. Besides, this is not a one-way street either. An equivalent for a Kathmandu Newar in the terai and other parts of Nepal would be "the frogs of Kathmandu well", suggesting that he knows very little outside of his own hometown, Kathmandu.
Otherwise, Nepal has come a long way in terms of reduced intolerance towards the Madhesi residents in Kathmandu over the years. For instance, in earlier times whenever there were anti-Indian flare-ups in Kathmandu, at least a few people would go about hounding at those who they thought were Indians, mainly the vendors on the streets, and they invariably included our Madhesi brethren too. But no longer so. At the height of anti-Pahadi ethnic cleansing campaign in core Madhesh around 2006--when a blog site even announced "Top 7 reasons to remove Pahadis from Madhesh"-- that did result in considerable outmigration of the pahadi people to other Terai districts like Chitawan, Morang and Jhapa where the population was largely non-Madhesi ethnically--there was no retribution of any kind in Kathmandu where many Madhesh people work or have made it their home.
However, the fact remains that the role of the leaders of a few Madhesi parties has not been helpful in this regard. For instance, when an Indian diplomat, Mr. Mehta, exhorted a bunch of Madhesi leaders in Birgunj over a dinner to "make terai burn" during the dying days of CA1, those from NC and UML let the cat out of the bag immediately afterwards--this was how the nation knew about it-- but those from the Madhesi parties kept mum. That was a grievous let down. Then there is still another guy who once threatened Kathmandu of an embargo at Birgunj. More recently, the same leader claimed that the defeat of Madhesi parties in last year's CA2 election was "India's defeat". Similarly, there is Mr. Sarat Singh Bhandari, a hill Chhetri by origin but a "Madhesi" leader by profession, who, probably because of his "ethnicity", found it necessary to act "more Catholic than Pope" when he publicly talked of the "un-preventability" of 18 terai districts seceding from Nepal. While one can find such rogue elements or "rotten potatoes" in all human situations, the fact remains that these politicians remain alive and kicking and continue to call shots in Terai politics. There have been no protests or expression of resentment or disagreement against those failings from the Madhesi intelligentsia in any form.
These acts and utterances certainly belong to the realm of "bikhandanbadi" of a grievous kind, and they are in no way helpful for promoting inter-ethnic harmony between the Madhesis and hill people, particularly those in Kathmandu. These issues are far too sensitive and certainly touch the raw nerves of all the Nepalese. And they must be seen as touching the nerve of the Madhesh people too. They must be challenged by every Nepali, including the Madhesi people in the Terai. It is because of these irresponsible elements in the Terai politics that professionals like Deepak Rauniyar have to occasionally suffer the dishonor of being branded as "bikhandanbadi". Like those corrupt leaders in the national parties, time has come to get rid of such unprincipled and opportunist politicians in Madhesi politics too, and people like Mr. Rauniyar's attention and initiative must be drawn towards that end too.
Source Setopati
What Modi Thinks of Himself?
Seen from the organizational perspective, Modi’s speech in Nepal's parliament was not that great; he could have delivered the same message with a fewer words and in far less time. But it perfectly worked for his audience -- our parliamentarians -- whose speeches are mostly steeped in repetition as they come from a tradition where impromptu rather than written speeches is valued, and because of their nature such speeches are bound to be repetitive. And, although the words in his speech displayed substantial humility—a critical
psychological factor deeply yearned from Nepali side in any Indian statesman, especially in the context of imbalanced power dynamics of Nepal-India relationship — his paralanguage and gestures often demonstrated the raw, dictatorial undertone. That would be obvious if someone compares his speech with those of his predecessors like Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayeee. But that should be forgiven because he is yet to comfortably settle in his new post. Despite his years in office as a state Chief Minister, he attained the highest office in the last few months. It will take a few years to feel naturally at home with the new responsibility.
Given the criticisms against him—including the case of visa denial by the USA—and his Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) combatant indoctrination, some raw force in his personality is natural. But as he settles firmly, he will become calm, significantly transforming his vocal and gestural aspects in his speeches. The point is: there was discrepancy between his words and body —between who he is now and what he wants to be. But we should take the words for now because he seems to be cautiously guiding himself with principles like cooperation and inclusiveness, something many people in India believed would contradict his principles. But even his opponents like Shashi Tharoor have confessed: Modi seems to have an eye for a bigger place. If his speech in Nepali parliament displayed anything of higher significance, it may not do the same in India or elsewhere. It is his gesturing of that place, a place for himself in the historical-mythical constitution of South Asia or Bharat Barsha.
It is something not directly stated, but implied to those who could decode it. It is through that gesturing that Modi expressed who he wants to be. If you noticed, his speech was full of Buddha, Ashoka, and Janak—the cultural icons whose combination of power and spirituality have remained lofty ideals in the cultural imagination of the subcontinent. Modi at one point said that he had come to the land of Buddha as the representative of Kashi. Politically, his position is not just a representative from Banaras; he is the prime minister of India. But in his historical-cultural narrative, Kashi ranks far higher than Delhi, and it seems that he does not want to be limited in history as one of the prime ministers of political India, but as someone in the same rank that he constantly evoked in the speech.
Let’s not forget that the invitation of South Asian leaders in his oath-taking ceremony was not just about the changed Indian foreign policy, but the replica of those grand coronations in the epic of Mahabharata, the text that deeply informs Modi’s worldview. Certainly, the reference to Ashoka perfectly fitted the Nepal-India connection, and matched well with the Maoist post-insurgency reconciliation with the mainstream politics. But if somebody thinks it was to heap praise on Prachanda, it would be not knowing Modi sufficiently. It was a strategic example that Modi wants Indian communist insurgents to follow from Nepali experience. When he said the world— which, of course, for him is Bharata Barsha — was watching the peace process of Nepal, he was thinking of his own problem at home. But the reference to Ashoka— violence-to-enlightened peace narrative—was not necessary merely to talk about the Maoist violence; it is of paramount significance in Modi’s own story.
As he claimed, he may not be a direct culprit in the 2002 Gujarat killings. He, however, cannot deny his oversight, at least the inability to stop it as the leader of the state. And, the disapproval of him about his role in the event from Vajpayee must have left some impact in his own assessment. Fortunately, Ashoka narrative offers him the possibility of redemption. No place for Modi would have been better than Kathmandu for gesturing his worldview and his place in it. Political India may be a large territory, but it is not the whole of Bharat Barsa. Thus, he is limited by modern political boundaries in India. In Nepal, he finds himself in that peculiar position which is culturally within his own land.
Yet it is foreign in modern political terms. If approached deeply from psychological perspective, Nepal thus forced him to hint at his ideal, a wish to transcend modern dividing politics to connect the lands associated with ancient glory and unity. On the eve of his bowing at Pashupatinath, there was no way he could refrain from expressing his wish. Let Pashupatinath have him his wish fulfilled. (Aryal is researching constitutional rhetoric and republicanism at West Virginia University.) -
Thousands of Syrian refugees have streamed into Turkey since it opened its border on Friday
At the scene - Rami Ruhayem, BBC Arabic, on the Turkey-Syria border
Turkey says it is struggling to cope with the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria
The Kurds have reportedly teamed up with members of Syria's Kurdish "People's Protection Units"
Hostages freed
Building Hill Madhesh harmony Deepak
Rauniyar's recent article in the Nepali version of Setopati (Bhadar12, 2071 BS ) on the issue of hill man's discrimination against Madhesi people touches on the very core of the irritants that purportedly exists between the two people, the former, as alleged by him, projecting the latter as "bikhandanbadi". However, as a student of social science and as a long time observer of the changes taking place in the area of inter-ethnic relations in Nepal, I can say with some authority that our country has come a long way in terms of mutual cohesiveness and solidarity compared to what used to be the case just a few decades ago. And much of this progress has been contributed to by the increasingly intensified socio-economic interaction between the hill and Terai regions socially, economically and politically, as well as the accelerated spread of Nepali as lingua franca. Compared to, say, about three decades ago, when it was nearly impossible to communicate with the people in the Madhesi villages if the visiting hill man did not have some smattering of Hindi, today, the situation has undergone a sea change; now, one could go to any community in the Terai and expect to have no problem in communicating in Nepali, although a response in Nepali too particularly by the womenfolk could still be a problem.
However, the problem of Madhesi people in a hill urban centre like Kathmandu, as described by Mr. Rauniyar, could be different, and could touch their sensitive nerves in that they could even be seen, to quote him, as a "bikhandanbadi". Here too, while there may still be an individual case or two once in a while under which a Madhesi Nepal could be mistaken for an "Indian" or disparaged as "dhoti", it is no longer a frequent occurrence. However, there is a Newari exception to it, and should be understood as an aberration that too is now on the wane. Since the Newars happened to be numerically dominant in the core urban areas of Kathmandu valley and in that capacity, have also tended to traditionally dominate its cultural landscape, including the norms of relationship with non-Newars. This aberration is rooted in their traditionally deriving disadvantage in any expression that is even remotely Sanskritic. While it is frequently complained by our Madhesi brethren that they are deprecatingly referred to as "Marsya", this is not the only noun that is distorted at the hands of the Newars traditionally. For instance, while they highly revere the Buddhist deity,Karunamaya, the term of reference for the deity, however, is Karname, Karunamaya being far too unmanageable for their tongues. A Brahmin is only a Barmhu, and a Chhetri is lumped together with other hill natives simply as Khen. If a fellow Newar is named Nanda Lall, it too is too long and unmanageable. He is simply Nalaa. While the termMarsya is certainly not honorific (nor are Barmhu orKhen), it results from the traditionally deriving ethnocentricism that the Newars of Kathmandu would probably share with similar other dominant ethnic groups in other parts of the world. So, there is no need for our Madhesi brethren to take too much of an offence with that term of reference. Besides, this is not a one-way street either. An equivalent for a Kathmandu Newar in the terai and other parts of Nepal would be "the frogs of Kathmandu well", suggesting that he knows very little outside of his own hometown, Kathmandu.
Otherwise, Nepal has come a long way in terms of reduced intolerance towards the Madhesi residents in Kathmandu over the years. For instance, in earlier times whenever there were anti-Indian flare-ups in Kathmandu, at least a few people would go about hounding at those who they thought were Indians, mainly the vendors on the streets, and they invariably included our Madhesi brethren too. But no longer so. At the height of anti-Pahadi ethnic cleansing campaign in core Madhesh around 2006--when a blog site even announced "Top 7 reasons to remove Pahadis from Madhesh"-- that did result in considerable outmigration of the pahadi people to other Terai districts like Chitawan, Morang and Jhapa where the population was largely non-Madhesi ethnically--there was no retribution of any kind in Kathmandu where many Madhesh people work or have made it their home.
However, the fact remains that the role of the leaders of a few Madhesi parties has not been helpful in this regard. For instance, when an Indian diplomat, Mr. Mehta, exhorted a bunch of Madhesi leaders in Birgunj over a dinner to "make terai burn" during the dying days of CA1, those from NC and UML let the cat out of the bag immediately afterwards--this was how the nation knew about it-- but those from the Madhesi parties kept mum. That was a grievous let down. Then there is still another guy who once threatened Kathmandu of an embargo at Birgunj. More recently, the same leader claimed that the defeat of Madhesi parties in last year's CA2 election was "India's defeat". Similarly, there is Mr. Sarat Singh Bhandari, a hill Chhetri by origin but a "Madhesi" leader by profession, who, probably because of his "ethnicity", found it necessary to act "more Catholic than Pope" when he publicly talked of the "un-preventability" of 18 terai districts seceding from Nepal. While one can find such rogue elements or "rotten potatoes" in all human situations, the fact remains that these politicians remain alive and kicking and continue to call shots in Terai politics. There have been no protests or expression of resentment or disagreement against those failings from the Madhesi intelligentsia in any form.
These acts and utterances certainly belong to the realm of "bikhandanbadi" of a grievous kind, and they are in no way helpful for promoting inter-ethnic harmony between the Madhesis and hill people, particularly those in Kathmandu. These issues are far too sensitive and certainly touch the raw nerves of all the Nepalese. And they must be seen as touching the nerve of the Madhesh people too. They must be challenged by every Nepali, including the Madhesi people in the Terai. It is because of these irresponsible elements in the Terai politics that professionals like Deepak Rauniyar have to occasionally suffer the dishonor of being branded as "bikhandanbadi". Like those corrupt leaders in the national parties, time has come to get rid of such unprincipled and opportunist politicians in Madhesi politics too, and people like Mr. Rauniyar's attention and initiative must be drawn towards that end too.
Source Setopati
What Modi Thinks of Himself?
Seen from the organizational perspective, Modi’s speech in Nepal's parliament was not that great; he could have delivered the same message with a fewer words and in far less time. But it perfectly worked for his audience -- our parliamentarians -- whose speeches are mostly steeped in repetition as they come from a tradition where impromptu rather than written speeches is valued, and because of their nature such speeches are bound to be repetitive. And, although the words in his speech displayed substantial humility—a critical
psychological factor deeply yearned from Nepali side in any Indian statesman, especially in the context of imbalanced power dynamics of Nepal-India relationship — his paralanguage and gestures often demonstrated the raw, dictatorial undertone. That would be obvious if someone compares his speech with those of his predecessors like Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayeee. But that should be forgiven because he is yet to comfortably settle in his new post. Despite his years in office as a state Chief Minister, he attained the highest office in the last few months. It will take a few years to feel naturally at home with the new responsibility.
Given the criticisms against him—including the case of visa denial by the USA—and his Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) combatant indoctrination, some raw force in his personality is natural. But as he settles firmly, he will become calm, significantly transforming his vocal and gestural aspects in his speeches. The point is: there was discrepancy between his words and body —between who he is now and what he wants to be. But we should take the words for now because he seems to be cautiously guiding himself with principles like cooperation and inclusiveness, something many people in India believed would contradict his principles. But even his opponents like Shashi Tharoor have confessed: Modi seems to have an eye for a bigger place. If his speech in Nepali parliament displayed anything of higher significance, it may not do the same in India or elsewhere. It is his gesturing of that place, a place for himself in the historical-mythical constitution of South Asia or Bharat Barsha.
It is something not directly stated, but implied to those who could decode it. It is through that gesturing that Modi expressed who he wants to be. If you noticed, his speech was full of Buddha, Ashoka, and Janak—the cultural icons whose combination of power and spirituality have remained lofty ideals in the cultural imagination of the subcontinent. Modi at one point said that he had come to the land of Buddha as the representative of Kashi. Politically, his position is not just a representative from Banaras; he is the prime minister of India. But in his historical-cultural narrative, Kashi ranks far higher than Delhi, and it seems that he does not want to be limited in history as one of the prime ministers of political India, but as someone in the same rank that he constantly evoked in the speech.
Let’s not forget that the invitation of South Asian leaders in his oath-taking ceremony was not just about the changed Indian foreign policy, but the replica of those grand coronations in the epic of Mahabharata, the text that deeply informs Modi’s worldview. Certainly, the reference to Ashoka perfectly fitted the Nepal-India connection, and matched well with the Maoist post-insurgency reconciliation with the mainstream politics. But if somebody thinks it was to heap praise on Prachanda, it would be not knowing Modi sufficiently. It was a strategic example that Modi wants Indian communist insurgents to follow from Nepali experience. When he said the world— which, of course, for him is Bharata Barsha — was watching the peace process of Nepal, he was thinking of his own problem at home. But the reference to Ashoka— violence-to-enlightened peace narrative—was not necessary merely to talk about the Maoist violence; it is of paramount significance in Modi’s own story.
As he claimed, he may not be a direct culprit in the 2002 Gujarat killings. He, however, cannot deny his oversight, at least the inability to stop it as the leader of the state. And, the disapproval of him about his role in the event from Vajpayee must have left some impact in his own assessment. Fortunately, Ashoka narrative offers him the possibility of redemption. No place for Modi would have been better than Kathmandu for gesturing his worldview and his place in it. Political India may be a large territory, but it is not the whole of Bharat Barsa. Thus, he is limited by modern political boundaries in India. In Nepal, he finds himself in that peculiar position which is culturally within his own land.
Yet it is foreign in modern political terms. If approached deeply from psychological perspective, Nepal thus forced him to hint at his ideal, a wish to transcend modern dividing politics to connect the lands associated with ancient glory and unity. On the eve of his bowing at Pashupatinath, there was no way he could refrain from expressing his wish. Let Pashupatinath have him his wish fulfilled. (Aryal is researching constitutional rhetoric and republicanism at West Virginia University.) -
Syria crisis: 45,000 'flee Islamic State' into Turkey
Turkey
Thousands of Syrian refugees have streamed into Turkey since it opened its border on Friday
Some 45,000 mainly Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours, officials say, as Islamic State militants advance in northern Syria.
Turkey opened its border on Friday to Syrians who had fled the Kurdish town of Kobane in fear of an IS attack.
Activists say some 300 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Syria from Turkey to help defend the strategic town.
IS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and has seized dozens of villages around Kobane, also called Ayn al-Arab.
Turkey - which shares a border with Iraq and Syria - has taken in more than 847,000 refugees since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began three years ago.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed on Saturday that 45,000 refugees had crossed the border within a 24-hour period.
"No country in the world can take in 45,000 refugees in one night, bring them here unharmed and find them a shelter without a problem," he said.
Turkey says it is struggling to cope with the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria
Hundreds of people have crossed over from Syria into Turkey and thousands more are waiting on the other side of the border.
Families are waiting for their loved ones to cross over and join them. We can see trucks and buses waiting for them, as well as an ambulance.
An injured man told us he had been hurt by a landmine on the Syrian side of the border.
The Turkish army is stationed in the area, patrolling but not interfering.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 300 Kurdish fighters had joined Syrian Kurdish ranks in the Kobane area to fend off the IS advance. The activist group did not specify which Kurdish group the fighters belonged to.
"Islamic State sees Kobane like a lump in the body: they think it is in their way," the observatory's Rami Abdulrahman said.
Syrian activists say IS has seized as many as 60 villages surrounding Kobane since fighting began earlier this week.
The observatory said on Saturday that at least 11 Kurds had been executed by IS, with the fate of some 800 residents who fled the villages "unknown".
The Kurds have reportedly teamed up with members of Syria's Kurdish "People's Protection Units"
The head of Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union, Mohammed Saleh Muslim, has appealed for international assistance in the battle against the jihadists.
"Kobane is facing the fiercest and most barbaric attack in its history," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
"Kobane calls on all those who defend humane and democratic values... to stand by Kobane and support it immediately. The coming hours are decisive," he added.
BBC correspondents say the capture of the town would give IS control of a large strip of Syria's northern border with Turkey.
- Formed out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in 2013, IS first captured Raqqa in eastern Syria
- It captured broad swathes of Iraq in June, including Mosul, and declared a "caliphate" in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq
- Pursuing an extreme form of Sunni Islam, IS has persecuted non-Muslims such as Yazidis and Christians, as well as Shia Muslims, whom it regards as heretics
- Known for its brutal tactics, including beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers
- The CIA says the group could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria
- The US has been launching air strikes on IS targets in north-eastern Iraq since mid-August
In a separate development, 46 Turkish and three Iraqi hostages seized by IS have been freed and taken to Turkey after a covert operation led by Turkey's intelligence agency.
The hostages were seized from the Turkish consulate after IS militants overran Mosul in a rapid advance in June.
Few details about the operation have been released, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey's "own methods" brought the group home.
"After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country,' Mr Davutoglu said.
The BBC's Mark Lowen says there is "huge relief" in Turkey
The group was greeted by flag-waving crowds in Ankara, after arriving there early on Saturday.
"I can't describe the days we've lived through. I can't describe what we felt, me and my relatives," one of the hostages was quoted as saying after arriving in southern Turkey.
As well as consular employees, children and special forces police were among the hostages.
Thirty countries have pledged to join a US-led coalition against the militants but Turkey has said it will only allow humanitarian and logistical operations from a Nato air base on its soil.
Turkey has come under pressure from Western countries to stem the flow of foreign fighter joining IS.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey is developing plans for a buffer zone on its border with Iraq and Syria.
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