Kathmandu, March 30
Bamdev Gautam, vice-president of the ruling CPN-UML, has said there never were Madhesh and Tharuhat states in Nepal’s history. Gautam said demanding a multi-nation state is akin to seeking disintegration of Nepal.
In a political report that he plans to present at the national conference of the All-Nepal Farmers Federation, Gautam has said the movement waged in Tarai-Madhesh is against national independence, territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
There never was a Madhesh state in Nepal, he has said, adding: There never was a Madhesh state, there is no Madhesh state and there never will be a Madhesh state. “Through a movement, through blockades, through targeted killings and through attacks against Nepal, one may want to pursue this agenda. But this agenda is unacceptable, come what may.”
Gautam said: Under no conditions can we accept Nepal as a multi-nation state.”
In his report, Gautam has written at length about Madheshi people. “At some point in history, a large portion of Uttar Pradesh was called Madhya Desh. Traders, who entered Nepal from there, were called Madheshis.”
On Tharuhat, he said there never was a Tharuhat state in Nepal. “There’s no dispute that Tharus are Adivasis of Nepal, but there never was a Tharuhat state and a Tharuhat nation.”
Gautam’s report reads: There never was a Tharuhat state, there never was a Madhesh state. In the report, he said foreign forces are instigating (sections of the population) to demand Madhesh and Tharuhat states.
He has written that certain sections have portrayed Pahadi kings and Pahadi peoples as exploiters of Madhesh, pointing that this is misleading.
For a long time, Tarai’s feudals, landlords and traders have enjoyed monopoly in the Nepali economy, the report reads, adding: These are the people, who have exploited Tarai’s majority population comprising Dalits and other backward communities. These people have wieled greatest influence in the Madhesh movement.
