As top leaders were addressing a celebratory mass at Tundikhel Monday afternoon, reports continued to trickle in of violent clashes between the police and irate protestors in various parts of the Tarai. The inflamed passions in Madhesh will not subside unless the major parties are able to take ordinary Madheshis into confidence. The way we see it, there is a serious gap in communication between Kathmandu and the Tarai belt. The new constitution addresses many of the demands that were first raised in course of the 2007 Madhesh Andolan. For instance there is a new provision of representation from Madhesh on the basis of population. There have been notable improvements on citizenship as well, which should make it easier for the stateless people in Madhesh to claim Nepali citizenship. But so far only the vocal Madheshi parties and extremist forces have been able to get the attention of Madheshi people. These forces have often sought to downplay even genuine constitutional achievements, which, if correctly communicated, would undercut their local support. So it is long past the time that Big Three leaders headed down south and try to get in touch with common Madheshis.There should be open-air meetings in Madhesh to get public feedback. The new constitution may then have to be amended to accommodate some demands. But many locals may simply be in a mood to vent their anger at their chosen representatives for ignoring their voice. Others might be misinformed. The leaders won't know unless they are on ground zero. On the campaign trail for the second CA elections in 2013, people from across the country had repeatedly told political leaders that they felt left out. They had a point. Politicians would go around villages making big promises on the campaign trail before an important election, but then vanish into Kathmandu as soon as they got elected. We see the same problem now. After the second CA elections, there hasn't been nearly enough face-to-face interactions between our lawmakers and their constituencies. This gap in communication, in turn, has allowed extremists to deliberately obfuscate the message coming out of Kathmandu. It need not be this way. People cast their votes with the belief that their chosen lawmaker would at least have the time to listen them out. But seldom does this happen in Nepal.
At the heart of the democratic process is a built-in system of regular exchange of ideas and views between the people and their chosen representatives. Otherwise, elected leaders, caught up in the trappings of power, lose touch with ground realities. This is again exactly what seems to have happened right now. So political leaders should go visit troubled spots like Kailali and Birgunj and try to understand the sentiments of local folks. Do they have genuine grievances? Or are some provisions in new constitution being deliberately distorted? Our top politicians should go visit the Tarai to find out. And if there are indeed genuine complaints against the new constitution, these must be addressed without further ado. The constitution is a living document and should be changed based on popular demand. Before that, it is important to find out who wants these changes, if any, and why.
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