Ethnic groups threaten nationwide strike

Nepal’s indigenous ethnic groups - known locally as the ‘Janjati’ - have threatened to hold an indefinite nationwide strike and blockade if the government fails to hold talks with them soon, leaders of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN) told IRIN on Wednesday.

NFIN is the leading organisation of the indigenous groups and has been spearheading a nationwide movement over the past three months fighting for their recognition, equal political rights and their right to self-determination.

“We are being very patient with the government and the political parties. If they fail to take their promises [to meet NFIN’s demands] seriously, we will be forced to call a blockade in both the capital and rest of the country,” Pasang Sherpa, NFIN’s chairman, told IRIN.

On Monday, Sherpa’s group called off a blockade planned in the capital after pleas from senior political leaders and key government ministers who promised to hold talks soon. But Sherpa said the government had failed to do anything further since then.

Sherpa said a blockade meant more than a transportation and business strike because it included the blocking of all the roads and entry points to prevent the flow of necessary supplies such as medicines, petroleum, food and agricultural products – most of which come from India.

Sherpa is concerned that normal civilians, particularly in the poorest communities, would bear the brunt of any strike or blockade his group held. However, he said the government should be morally responsible if civilians suffer.

Government officials told IRIN that they were serious about talks and were planning to discuss them soon in a cabinet meeting. The government recently formed a committee, led by Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel, to hold talks with Janjati leaders.

Proportional representation

“The crucial step for the government is to ensure proportional representation of all ethnic groups in the CA [the Constituent Assembly]. But the government hasn’t even planned an appropriate mechanism for this process,” said Janjati activist Bal Krishna Mahabung, leader of the group National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination (NCAR).

So far, neither the government nor the national political parties have taken the demands of the ethnic groups seriously, said Mahabung. He added that even the Maoists - who had actively addressed these issues during their decade-long armed rebellion against the government - had shown no interest in Janjati demands following the truce in November 2006 and their becoming part of the new temporary government.

The Janjati’s key demands include having regional autonomy, the establishment of a national development commission of indigenous nationalities, and resources to empower their communities.

However, independent analysts have warned that autonomy based on ethnicity could have severe consequences.

“Federalism based solely on ethnicity and language can also ferment deep divisions and may also lead to the break up of the state for reasons of political expediency by sectarian political leaders,” said Pitamber Sharma, an independent analyst and expert in ethnicity.

nn/ar/ed