ETHNICITY AND POLITICS

By Nav Raj Pokharel

The political parties have capitalized issues of ethnic, poor, and marginalized people of Nepal only to accomplish their political mission and ambitions.

With a few exceptions, ethnic people in Nepal lag behind the progress achieve by the people who do not fall under ethic criteria.

In a sovereign state, various groups of the people constitute national identity, cultural and development sovereignty. Nevertheless, in the case of Nepal ethnic people are neither conferred national reverence nor access to development, since centuries.

Ethnicity in relation to political exercises in Nepal does not embrace larger meaning. It has been used merely as an issue, a political agenda, and a putative ladder. The political leaders utilize the ladder while they have to ascend to the power. When they reach the top, they push it away to prevent others from coming up.

Many reasons contribute the ethnic issue a vital, a political tenet as well as a fertile ground for the complacent political leaders. They prefer the ethnicity concerns and issues, as they are indisputable shots to accomplish their gambit in poor country like Nepal.

In poor country, the ethnic people are the ones who feel the brunt of poverty hit hard. Eyes of the state rarely reach to those groups. As a result, they lag behind in the race of economic and social progress achieved by other non-ethnic group of people.
The victims of economic and social injustice, the ethnic people are forced to fall into the economic l vicious circle. There is no way for them to break down the shackle and chain of the vicious circle, until the state stoops down and pulls them up.

The poor, meek, and impoverished people and their nationality, human right, social, and economic issues become safer playground for the acumen politician to foment their mission wrapped into national, social, and political and egalitarian cause.

However, the poor and hapless ethnic people, again with some exception in vertical line, become unwitting agenda of economic, social, political, and scholarly debate and dispute that most of the times culminates into quarrel, clash, conflict, and insurgency.

The acumen leaders, most of them do not come from the group, supplicate, advocate and even wage wars for their cause, that further ensure them as committed representative of the ethnic people and their cause. In fact, many a time, such a seemingly benevolent move has been proved merely an ostensible mission.

In reality, down in their stoic heart, such leaders are found apathetic for the ethnic concerns once they grab the power.
Metamorphosis takes place in them and their party. They immediately become new feudal in their approach, albeit chanting of ethnicity may persist for quite longer period.

If fief was the key source that germinated the seed of feudalism in the past, power is tantamount to the fief in modern age, spawning many new feudalists in the society.

Look at many poor countries around the world. Look at the metamorphosis process in the leaders of those countries and marginalized situation of the people. Look at Nepal and its ever-increasing marginalized populace. Review the leaders of the past and analyze the syndromes of the leaders at present, and tell me (again with some exception because when there is rule there springs out some exception) the impending future of the ethnic people and non-ethnic leaders of Nepal. ##