THE KATHMANDU POST | FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Voices from the east

Some are demanding that Morang, Sunsari and Jhapa be made a state named Morang

A new line on China

HERE to position Australia between the US and China will be Foreign Minister Bob Carrs greatest challenge.

ASTERN Nepal has been heated up by a banda (shutdown) enforced by Brahmin Samaj demanding that Brahmins/Bahuns also be listed in the Adivasi Janajati (indigenous) category and that there should be reservation for them in the civil service. They are also opposing ethnic-based federalism.

DEEPAK CHAUDHARY
Just a month ago, Khas Samaj had imposed a banda demanding that the Khas community be given Adivasi Janajati status. They have claimed a Khas province in the western hill region to preserve their historical identity. Likewise, the Khas-Chhetri Samaj had called a three-day banda in eastern Nepal to press for Janajati status. For the last two years, Limbu organizations have been continuously holding strikes in the eastern region to fortify their demand for a

The demand for three Tarai districts by Limbuwan worked as an impetus for the formation of the Tharuwan Kochila state concept. The Bahuns and Chhetris seem to favour Morang province, and they are not interested in either Limbuwan or a single Madhes province. It is clear that the Bahuns and Chhetris would not prefer caste/ethnic or region-based provinces. In another way, the emergence of Limbuwan activities in the area seems to be more aggressive after the Madhes Movement. MARSC chairperson Patra Dhimal said, We are not talking about ethnic federalism, but our demand is for a Morang province consisting of three Tarai districts Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa with priority rights for the Adivasi Janajati because of the common psychology in the region. Before 1961, only one Morang district was in existence, and Morang is not considered to be an ethnic name. All the castes and religious groups can enjoy within Morang province or subprovince. Actually, the social landscape of the Tarai districts across the Koshi has been drastically changing since 1950 when the state encouraged migration of hill people to the Tarai by clearing the forests of the Charkoshe Jhadi. Now a mixed social landscape can been seen in the region. However,

HUGH WHITE
The political story of Bob Carrs move to Foreign Affairs is huge, but the policy story is even bigger. It goes to the issue at the heart of Australian foreign policy today, and portends a truly momentous shift. This is going to be interesting. The issue is how Australia positions itself between the United States and China as the strategic rivalry between them grows. Our biggest trading partner and Asias leading power faces our traditional ally across a widening gulf of mutual antagonism. If this trend is not reversed it will end in disaster for us. But what can we do? The orthodox view is that we have no choice but to support Washington in whatever policy it decides to adopt towards China. As an ally it is unthinkable for us to do anything else. We just hope that America gets it right, and that China either doesnt notice, or doesnt mind. Carr challenges that orthodoxy. He believes that any Australian government has a responsibility to work out for itself what kind of relationship between the US and China works best for Australia, and to carry the debate to Washington and elsewhere. Julia Gillards decision to make Carr her foreign minister is so intriguing because, until now, she has seemed firmly in the orthodox camp. Remember last November when she welcomed Barack Obama to Australia? Her agreement that Australia would host more US forces as part of Americas military build-up against Beijing was seen not just here in Australia, but around Asia and in America as a ringing endorsement, no questions asked, of the tough new approach to China that Obama announced to the world while he was here. But Obamas speech to our Parliament marked a new high point in escalating USChina rivalry. He committed America to use all the elements of its power to resist any compromise or accommodation with a rising China, and demanded that China accept unquestioned

American primacy as the only possible basis for their relationship. It set out a policy of containment against China. Carr did not like this. He believed that America should turn away from Obamas containment policy and explore ways to accommodate Chinas ambitions where possible while constraining them where necessary. On this view, America should continue to play a central role in Asia, but not necessarily the dominant role. It should be willing to share power with China. Of course, until now Carrs views on foreign affairs were those of a private citizen. Many of them will now be quietly shelved, as he suggested at the weekend. But not on this issue. No one who knows Carr would imag-

Australias place in Asian Century

ine that his views on the US-China relationship have been lightly adopted, or will be lightly discarded. He knows too well what is at stake for Australia. We must assume that Gillard appointed Carr knowing his views on this central question and expecting that they would be reflected in his policy, and hence in her governments policy, too.

Gillards decision therefore suggests that she now shares Carrs doubts about American policy on China, and wants to do something about it. Perhaps, once the magic of the moment had passed, she reflected on what Obama actually said and the implications of his policy sank in. Obamas speech made it clear just how hardline Americas policy on China is, and how damaging to Australias interests it might be. Perhaps Gillard herself has begun to wonder whether trying to contain China will work, and where it will lead. This is all the more likely because there were earlier signs even before the US Presidents visit that Gillard was moving away from the orthodox view that perpetual primacy was the only possible future for America in Asia. In September last year she gave a remarkable speech to Asialink in Melbourne in which she plainly described the immense significance of Chinas rise including its strategic significance. She implied that Australia should expect a new strategic order to emerge in Asia which takes account of Chinas power. This is very different from Obamas view. At the same time, she announced a new white paper on Australia in the Asian century, which is clearly expected to address these big political and strategic questions in an openminded way. This could provide a major opportunity for the kind of debate about our future positioning between America and China that the government has so far seemed keen to avoid. Intriguingly, addressing the Asia Society in New York in January, Kevin Rudd plainly distanced himself from Obamas vision of Americas future role in Asia when he proposed that the old Pax Americana should be replaced by a new, more co-operative Pax Pacifica. Not what they want to hear in Washington. All this suggests that the moment has come for some very interesting foreign policy indeed. If so, Bob Carr is just the man for it, and not just because he is very bright, articulate and very serious. Perhaps Carrs greatest asset in the struggle ahead to define Australias place in the Asian century is that he knows America so well and loves it so deeply. It is easy to stigmatise anyone who strays from the orthodoxy of automatic support for American policy as anti-American. No one can accuse Bob Carr of that.
White is professor of strategic studies at Australia National University (Sydney Morning Herald)

Limbuwan autonomous province. They have been claiming nine districts including three Tarai districts across the Koshi River as being part of Limbuwan. Last January, the Eastern Tharuwan Kochila State Joint Council (ETKSJC) announced a banda for a Tharuwan Kochila autonomous province. The ETKSJC has claimed that six Tarai districts Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha and Udayapur should be one province named Tharuwan Kochila state. It has been reported that the ETKSJC is affiliated with the Maoist party. The founder of the ETKSJC, Santosh Chaudhary, is a Maoist leader. It is also heard that the CPN-UML has been lobbying through an NGO that the three districts of Morang, Sunsari and Jhapa should be one province and should not be included either in Madhes or Limbuwan. Meanwhile, the Morang Autonomous Region Struggle Committee (MARSC) has been peacefully agitating and demanding that Morang, Sunsari and Jhapa be made into one province named Morang for the last two years. The MARSC is comprised of 15 tribal/Janajati groups residing in Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa districts. Similarly, the Rajbanshi and Tharu communities have been demanding an ethnic-based province called Tharuwan Kochila. Eastern Nepal which consists of the region across the Koshi has been in ferment since the Tarai/Madhes Movement of 2007. Only after this movement have voices from the plains surfaced, and subsequently, the Kochila and Tharu movements also surfaced in the region. After that, the Limbuwan agitation has been going on for the last three years. In this way, the far eastern region has been continuously heated up by bandas by various social groups demanding their rights.

the indigenous people of the plains became a minority and many of them became landless. The influence of revolutionary communist thought from West Bengal and modernization from Darjeeling has changed and led to the development of a unique psychology in this region. That is why people of the region may prefer these three districts as a separate province or sub-province. The MARSC concept of the three districts as a province may raise the question of economic viability if Saptari, Siraha and Udayapur are added. But discussions with the Maithils will be needed on this matter. The idea of the MARSC seems logical. Recommendations for two provinces in the Tarai/Madhes have been made to both the State Restructuring Commission (SCR) and the Constitutional Committee. The hills and the Tarai have different geological and geographical landscapes, different cultural and socio-economic environments. Almost all the tribes and Janajatis of the plains are found in these three districts. The Dravidian people live here and about two dozen tribal and Janajati groups have been residing here in a vulnerable condition. Therefore, it is the states responsibility regarding the preservation of the cultural heritage of the region. A discourse on the MARSCs thought may be appropriate. To preserve the distinguished cultural heritage and environment, Morang can be one province or sub-province within the Tarai/Madhes. I found that most peoples concern is about the provinces name. If the province is named Tharuwan or Kochila, the chances of opposition by other groups may be greater. So discussions will have to be held on the name of the province if a dispute arises.

Travellers tales
DWAIPAYAN REGMI
E had gone sightseeing at a tourist spot, Ghandruk of Kaski. I am sure that you have heard of it. Perfect place, perfect environment; still, something was missing. It was hospitality, despite it being tourism year which obviously applied to both domestic and international tourists. For the first time in my life, I felt subordinated just for being a domestic tourist. Everything was fine before we reached our hotel, But after seeing our room, we felt uneasy because it could accommodate only three people while it was meant for six people. We accepted it considering that hotels might be expensive in such a place. Later, when we asked for some hot water, the hotel owner told us that it was our bad fate that we were domestic guests, and we felt very small. It was because we demanded hot water for free as we had paid for dinner, breakfast and lodging; and they started expressing their dissatisfaction. At first, we thought that the particular hotel owner was stingy or it could be that the tourism year had brought certain frustration among them. But by morning we

postplatform
I tell you, Ghandruk is a wonderful place; but I would never recommend it to you considering their inhospitality
got the idea that every hotel there was of the same type. They respected foreigners and dominated domestic travellers. The worst part was when they threatened us after dinner that if we did anything wrong in the hotel, they would bring the local boys to take care of us. I have visited various other tourist places, but the night there was the scariest one. We had no complaints about the expensive food, lodging or anything because the place itself was so difficult that

it had to be expensive, but we were really dissatisfied by the hospitality there. We were upset by their biased behaviour towards domestic and international tourists. We were shocked to know that no one outside of Ghandruk was allowed to buy land in Ghandruk. They had to use the mule of Ghandruk itself. Okay, that was not our issue as we were certainly not there to buy land, but at least they should have realized how the places image would be affected by their behaviour towards domestic tourists. When we talked to other relatives about the place, we found the same dissatisfaction among them. I wonder how they managed to handle the entire tourism year, and what sort of feeling domestic tourists had gathered from there. They would compare us with international tourists every time we said something. If it had been foreigners, they would have paid us a thousand for this. If it had been foreigners, they would not have woken up this late. And so forth. Their words made me feel that tourists meant only international travellers with large pockets. I tell you, Ghandruk is a wonderful place; but I would never recommend it to you considering their hospitality.

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd., Kantipur Complex, Subidhanagar P. B. No. 8559, Kathmandu; Nepal Phone: 4480100, Fax: 977-1-4466320, e-mail: kpost@kantipur.com.np

IM AWESOME
THE date a guy who does x,y,z articles are overrated (Catch a man who reads, March 8, Page 7). They just let

us indulge, confirming how awesome we secretly think we are if we read, travel, write, etc. Peter Rodriguez Philippines

BAD BANDA
BANDA enforcers torch many vehicles and vandalise private and public properties, causing massive losses to the people and the country (Banda affects life in various districts, March 6, Page 4). Such unwanted acts make a mockery of our democracy. Sadly, this trend has been growing as an integral part of our culture ever since democracy was restored in

1990. Today, it really has crossed the point of tolerance. In democracy, people enjoy freedom of choice; for no one can enforce anything on others. Yes, people are allowed to launch protest programmes, but they must be peaceful. In civilised countries, acts of arsons and vandalisms are unacceptable. Here, it goes on unpunished. Suzanne Kandangwa Dharan

VISA DRAMA
WHAT a shame that a sitting minister travels without proper document s (Minister Magar goes to Germany

sans visa; Abu Dhabi catches him, March 7, Page 1). On top of that, he is the Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Perhaps he thought rules abroad work the Nepali way. Arun Shrestha Lalitpur ------------THIS proves the presence of a lousy and weak immigration system at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) where his documents were supposed to have been checked to ensure that he possessed the required documents. Having said that, every Nepali has the right to ask Minister Magar whether it was necessary for him, along with wife, to participate in the

travel fair in Germany. Werent there other productive jobs for him to do back in home rather than embarking on foreign junkets for pleasure? Other ministers, political leaders and high ranking officials should learn the right lessons from Magars carelessness. Rai Biren Bangdel Maharajgunj, Kathmandu

HISTORY & PLA

GREAT to hear that after five long years the issue of Maoist combatants appears close to being sorted out (Cantonment closure starts, March 8, Page 4). Its interesting to note how

the former revolutionaries have lost the fervour and those who once lit out to change the system are slowly sucked back into it. I dont think the combatants harbour any illusions about the Maoist partys goal to change the political culture from feudalism to a purely people-centred democracy. Nonetheless, they deserve credit for turning Nepal into a republic and making inclusion of all marginalised people a national agenda. History will judge their contribution better, no doubt. But for now, lets hope that the discourse moves to include other issues like jobs. Manoj Karki Chitwan