Madhesay

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Madhasay are the inhabitants of southern plains of central and eastern Nepal,the Terai.Madhes means madhya desh in nepali,that is the middle part of the country.While unifying Nepal,Madhes lied between the hills and the southernmost dense forests,and was sparsely populated.Madhesis have cultural links to India,in fact there is no difference between them and native Indians of Gangetic plains,just the international boundary.However with increasing pahadiya (hilly people)immigration to the terai,they feel insecured,as reported by the ultra madhesi forums.The fact is ,they are just reluctant to share the huge resources of terai with immigrant pahadiyas,and the poverty and grievance of the poor madhesi people is due to feudalism of landlord madhesis.However with the new democratic government in kathmandu,the real problem of poor madhesi people are likely to be worked out,eventhough it is not an overnight job.

Recently, there started a movement in the Terai area of Nepal called the Madhesay movement which demands the end to the discrimination to these madhesay people. However, interesting is to note that it is more of a revolt than a movement. The different parties involved in the movement ranges from the student wings of the ruling parties to the armed Tarai Janatantrik Morcha. The demands thus are different. The peaceful parties involved demands for a federal political system, where as the armed rebels demand for a separate state. Because the madhesays are people of Indian origin and Nepal shares an open broder with India, infiltration from India is not out of the question. Recently, one of those shot by the police was a boy from the Indian city of Raxaul, which has alarmed Nepali public. Additionally, the killing of a police officer and the desecration of national literary figures like Bhanubhakta, the father of Nepali literature, and Laxmi Prashad Devkota, the father of modern Nepali literature have aroused serious questions like "Who is running this movement?" and "Is it for rights or for race?" On the fifth of January, the killing of three cadres of the Terai Janatantrik Morcha (Jwala Singh) by the rival faction--called Terai jantantrik Morcha (Goit)--has made the peace-loving people of the terai live in continuous fear.