In the past 31 years, I have gone to Musikot, the district headquarter of Rukum, only three times. The first time I travelled to the place was to obtain my citizenship card. My parents and relatives had been pestering me to get the document ever since I passed my school level studies so that I would be eligible to teach at a nearby primary school or get a government job. So I left my house in dawn with the goal to reach the district headquarter in the evening. Otherwise, it could take two days to reach Musikot and two more days to return.

As an energetic young man, I reached Musikot in a day. But it took me three days to obtain my citizenship. And since there was no chance of getting a job and continuing my studies simultaneously in Rukum, I left for Dang for my studies. The reason being that the living costs in Dang were lower than in Musikot with its high rate of inflation. The second time I went to Musikot was after completing my Intermediate-level studies from Mahendra Multiple Campus, a government campus in Dang. At that time, I was searching for a job. I spent a few days in the district headquarter and left for Dang to pursue higher education. It was in Dang that I began my career as a journalist which took to me to Musikot for the third time, during the height of the Maoist insurgency.

Legacy of obstracisation

Mine is not an isolated case. Most of the people of Bijayashwori, my village in the western part of Rukum district which borders Jajarkot and Salyan, prefer to go to Khalanga—the district headquarter of Jajarkot—than to Musikot for administrative matters like land registration. However, they are deprived of state facilities like subsidised fertilisers and salt. Khalanga is just a two hour walk away from Bijayashwori. Therefore, the residents of Bijayashwori had expected the aforementioned administrative difficulties to come to an end once the unitary state of Nepal was transformed into a federal democratic republic following the 2006 People’s Movement.

The six-province model proposed by the senior leaders of the major political parties has, however, shattered the hopes of the people residing in the remote parts of the country like Bijayashwori. The model divides the Mid-West into two provinces—some of its districts are now part of Province 5 and the remaining parts, including western Rukum in Province 6 which includes the whole of the far-western region and Karnali zone. So far, leaders involved in the demarcation of provinces are yet to justify the splitting of Rukum district and the mid-western region even as the people of this region were for keeping the region intact.

Under the new structure, if the provincial capital is established in Dhangadi, as proposed by key demarcation negotiators, people living in the western part of Rukum will need to travel for at least two days to access government services. Additionally, people from the Mid-West do not share a common culture with those who live in the Far-West either. The new province is not capable of sustaining itself economically either.  

For centuries, the people of the mid-western region have suffered at the hands of a unitary state and they were the most affected during the decade-long Maoist insurgency too. Thousands of people lost their lives for change and development in the region. Yet, all of that seems to have been in vain. Under the new province, they are going to face more difficulties and the dominance of new elites who are likely to emerge in the Far-West.

Game of thrones

Even hours before sealing the so-called historic agreement to federate the country into six-provinces, Rukum remained undivided. It was divided into two provinces just before the top leaders of the major political parties signed the paper. Informed lawmakers say that the dubious role played by the lawmakers from the region led the Mid-West and Rukum to be divided into two, contrary to the people’s aspirations.

Influential lawmakers from the region, Janardan Sharma of UCPN (Maoist) and Prakash Jwala of CPN-UML, lobbied with the Special Committee Coordinator of senior leaders to divide the district and the Mid-West to secure a political constituency. Sharma pushed for it largely because areas under the stronghold of Maoist leaders—Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Barsha Man Pun, Nanda Kishor Pun and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi among others, who are considered his competitors, were already included in Province 5. Perhaps, Jwala also pushed for the proposal for the same reason: to retain his position in the party, as many senior leaders of his party—Bamdev Gautam, Shankar Pokharel, Ghanshyam Bhusal and Pradeep Gyanwali—also have a stronghold in Province 5.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress leader Purna Bahadur Khadka, who has been advocating for Surkhet to be named as the provincial capital of the region for a long time, strongly lobbied to include the western part of Rukum in Province 6. That way, he would have greater bargaining power against the demand of making Dhangadi a provincial capital.Despite his self-centered calculation, Surkhet is less likely to be named the provincial capital of the region because leaders from the Far-West have already rejected it. Furthermore, the dispute over whether the Kailali and Kanchanpur should be split from the far-western region has delayed promulgation of new constitution for years.

To expect flexibility from leaders of the Far-West—Sher Bahdaur Deuba and Bhim Rawal—is pointless, and the negligence of the top political class towards addressing the Mid-West’s concerns are worrisome. The police have already killed three protestors and injured dozens. Such abuse of state authority, even as people across the Mid-West have come out in protest demanding changes in the demarcation deal, is extremely worrying.  

Right the wrong  

Going back to Rukum, the district suffered the most during the conflict. It was in the remotest parts of this district that the Maoist insurgency began which went on to abolish the monarchy. Yet, its concerns remain unsettled. The indigenious nationalities, mainly Magars, who lost everything in the war, are still deprived of their rights. So, only an autonomous state for the Magars, Tharus and the backward people of the Karnali region will do justice to the people of the mid-western region. For federalism does not mean just changing rulers, but the current demarcation seeks to do just that. It makes no difference to the people of Karnali or Rukum whether they are ruled by Kathmandu or Dhangadhi. So, including the western part of Rukum and Salyan in Province 6 is a huge blunder.

Federalism enforced by a handful of elites cannot be acceptable to the people. More importantly, delineation of boundaries cannot be done to appease a certain class whose only intention is to use it as a ladder to power. Instead, it should seek to address the concerns of the people. So, parties have no other alternative but to correct the faulty demarcation deal.

Sharma is with the political desk at the Post