The Madhesi (Maithili: मधेसी) are the native people of Nepal who reside in the southern, plains region of the nation known as the Tarai.

The term Madhesi is often used in contrast with the word Pahadi (Nepali: पहाडी) which refers to Nepalis who live, or whose ancestors lived, in the hill regions of the country.

Etymology

The word madhesi is the adjectival form of madhesh, which usually refers to the Tarai. Madhesh (मधेश) derives from the Sanskrit words madhya desh (मध्य देश), meaning "middle country". While many theories have been developed about the origin of the word, the most popular one is that this land was the central kingdom of the mythical Hindu king Janak.

Culture

The Madhesi people have their own Mithila culture, which is one of the original cultures of Nepal. According to the Ramayana, the ruler of Mithila, King Janak—a Madhesi by present standards—had established the kingdom of Mithila with its capital in present-day Janakpur long before the Shah rulers had even entered Nepal. His daughter, Sita is still worshipped by Hindus as the ideal of womanhood. The Madhesi are the only people of Nepal other than the Newars to have a long history of civilized and cultured existence with opulent cities and culture since early eras.

Religion and language

There is a great cultural diversity in the Madhesh. Its cultural diversity can be seen in the fact that three distinct religious groups—Hindu, Muslim and Jain—live there. Caste Hindus are the dominant social group in the Madhesh. The social structure of Madhesi caste Hindus is very similar to that of Hindus from the hills.

Several languages such as Maithili, Bhojpuri, Avadhi, Hindi, Nepali and Urdu are spoken by the Madhesi people. Maithili is the most commonly used language.

Madhesi politics

The history of Nepal taught in Nepalese schools has very little mention of the Madhesi other than Prithivi Narayan Shah's conquest of them during the unification of Nepal. Even after the unification, there is very little evidence of any of the Shah or Rana rulers trying to address the Madhesis. On the contrary, to appease the powerful families, army personnel from conquered principalities (mainly Kaski, Parbat, Lamjung and Kathmandu) were appointed as governors of the various parts of the Tarai, forcing the Madhesi into lives as perpetual second-class citizens.

The Madhesi people have not reached the top levels of Nepal. Very few of the Madhesi people are present in the bureaucracy or any other sectors of Nepal compared with their percentage in the population. The "one nation, one culture" policy implemented by King Mahendra during his absolute rule did not only create a setback to Madhesi culture but also created an atmosphere in which their language was considered as Indian, their culture as a copy of Indian culture, and their ethnic origin as Indians who infiltrated purely Pahadi (hill) Nepal. A Madhesi like Udit Narayan Jha (who later went on to be one of the most successful Bollywood playback singers) was rejected as being unfit for singing in Radio Nepal (the state-controlled and then only radio station of Nepal), while Pahadi and Khas people from Darjeeling, politically a part of India, were provided privileged status for their patriotic songs depicting the life in the hills. Madhesis were also barred from joining the armed forces of Nepal.

Even after the democratic movement of 1989-1990, there was no improvement in the condition of Madhesis. Although Maithili and Bhojpuri were recognized as national languages by the constitution, nothing was done for the improvement of those languages. The bureaucracy still had an overwhelming majority of Khas people, since aspiring candidates to the civil service, the Lok Sewa Ayog, had to take exams only in Nepali (Khas language) and no extra credit, value or consideration was given for knowledge of other national languages. The greatest blow pertaining to language issues was delivered when the Supreme Court forbade the Rajbiraj Municipality and other civil bodies to use any language other than Nepali for any official purpose.

Furthermore, there were problems with political representation in the Tarai. Because of the remoteness of hill districts, a smaller population enjoyed the represention of a single senator, while in the Tarai, a much larger number of people were represented by a single senator. Because of this imbalance, Parliament did not often consider issues affecting the Tarai and lobbying from hill representatives could overrule the Tarai. Similarly, in the hills, a population of 10,000 was sufficient to legally form a municipal government whereas in the Tarai the required number was 30,000.

All these issues accumulated for over centuries. Although some of the political parties tried to address these problems, such efforts appear to have been insufficient. This overwhelming identity crisis, the sense of being a second-class citizen in one's own nation, and other frustrations poured out in the form of the Madhesi revolution, which has claimed many lives.

Recent developments

Recently a movement called the Madhesi movement began in the Tarai, demanding an end to discrimination against the Madhesi people. The different parties involved in the movement range from student wings of the ruling parties to the armed Tarai Janatantrik Morcha (Tarai Populist Front) and thus the various demands of each group are different. In general, the unarmed groups are calling for a federal political system, whereas the armed rebels demand a separate state. The Madhesi movement has been violent with some speculative involvement from India. Recently, one of those shot by the police was a boy from the Indian city of Raxaul.

Activists of the Madhesi revolution, primarily centered in the Tarai, have operated by manipulating shock value. Desecration of literary figures like Bhanubhakta, the father of Nepali (Khas language) literature, and Laxmi Prashad Devkota, the greatest poet in the Nepali language, has shocked "nationalistic" attitudes in Nepal, which is closely tied to Khas values, culture and language. Additionally, the removal of the words "Government of Nepal" from signs at government offices and their replacement with the words "Madhesh Government" has added to the gravity of the situation.

Disputes and schisms within the movement have made the situation more violent. On January 5, 2007, three cadres of the Tarai Janatantrik Morcha (Jwala Singh) group were killed by a rival faction, the Tarai Jantantrik Morcha (Goit).

The first president of Republic of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, is a Madhesi.

External links

• International Crisis Group: Nepal-s troubled Tarai Region
• Madhesi – United We Stand