The Indian Community in Nepal.pdf

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The Indian Community in Nepal and the Nepalese Community in India: The Problem ofNational IntegrationAuthor(s): ParmanandSource: Asian Survey, Vol. 26, No. 9 (Sep., 1986), pp. 1005-1019Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2644086 .

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THE INDIANCOMMUNITY N NEPALAND THE NEPALESE COMMUNITYIN INDIA The Problem of National Integration

ParmanandSome South Asian States today are encountering theproblem of national integration in the face of rising regionalism, commu-nalism, and parochialism. Immediately after violent ethnic clashes in SriLanka, violence based on communalism and regionalism began affecting

India's Punjab and Kashmir. Nepal has of late become another exampleof ethnic and communal tension, if not also of violence. One of the reasonsis the presence of a large number of people belonging to the Indian com-munity and their nurturing of a sense of injustice and discrimination.Likewise, many belonging to the Nepalese community in India seem to besuffering from a more or less identical complex. Though both these statesare charting the path of modernization at their own pace, the feeling oflack of participationby these underprivilegedcommunities has left the ob-jective of national integration unachieved. However, there is no denyingthat the relatively open and competitive political culture of India dilutesthe problem there, whereas in Nepal the problem is becoming increasinglyacute. Besides, the magnitudeof the problemdiffers because of the ratio ofthe hill and plains residents in Nepal, on the one hand, and that of theIndian and Nepalese communities in India, on the other.

My purpose in the present article is to identify the people of Indianorigin in Nepal and analyze the problems they face and that they them-selves create, and finally to examine their prospects in that country. Like-wise, I will also try to identify the people of hill origin in India and theirproblems and prospects in that country.

Parmanand is Lecturer in Reader's Grade in the Department ofPolitical Science, School of CorrespondenceCourses and Continuing Education, Universityof Delhi.? 1986 by The Regents of the University of California

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1006 ASIAN SURVEY, VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1986The IndianCommunityn Nepal

We will consider, rather arbitrarily, the MadhesiasI to be the people ofIndian origin in Nepal. They are that part of the Nepalese populationliving primarilyin the plains or in the Tarai and differing from the rest ofthe population physically, linguistically, and culturally. These originaland predominant inhabitants of the Tarai speak Nepali usually as theirthird, or sometimes second language. A vast majority do not knowNepali, whereas most people of hill origin speak Nepali as their first lan-guage. The plains people of Indian origin are much more closely relatedtoIndia than to Nepal in terms of physical features, language, and culture,and their social structure is identical to that prevalentin India. Many alsohave matrimonial relationships in the neighboring Indian states.

NumberOne comes across a variety of figures regardingthe size of the Indian com-munity, all considered either exaggerated or belittled depending on theconcerned person's attitudes and interests. A report of the Consular Divi-sion of the External Affairs Ministry of the Government of India placesthe numberof people of Indian origin in Nepal at 3,800,000. More impor-tant, of these about 2,388,000 have accepted Nepalese citizenship.2 But onthe basis of the census showing population of various language groups (theofficial Nepali census does not give figures by ethnic groups), one deline-ates the figure of 3,014,829.3 When I checked the figures with officials inthe Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, I was told that this population wasabout 4.4 million, and that only 2 million of these have citizenship certifi-cates. Similarly, some officials in the Embassy suggested that the people ofIndian origin constitute about 35% of the total Nepalese population. Anumber of people of hill origin, however, consider these figures exagger-ated. We could, however, safely accept the approximate figure given bythe officialsof the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu-i.e., 4 million, since itis mostly they who deal with the variety of problems faced by the Indiancommunity.

ProblemsThe Indian community faces a variety of problems in Nepal, resulting attimes in problemsof national unity and to some extent of national identity

1. Madhesias is the term used for the plains people by the hill people.2. The Statesman (Delhi), June 6, 1982.3. Rishikesh Shaha, An Introduction to Nepal (Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar,

1975), p. 47.

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PARMANAND 1007for Nepal. The problems vary both in kind and degree, and in the mainconcern citizenship, agriculture, business, education, language, religion,and participationin the national mainstream politically, administratively,or militarily. I take up each of these in turn.Citizenship: Immense importance is attached to the possession of citizen-ship in any country. It bestows the right to participate in the governingprocess of a country. It grants access to power. It is a symbol of legiti-macy for people living within their national boundaries. As a bond be-tween the individual and the government of the country, citizenship playsa significant role in the process of national integration.4

The most serious problemfaced by the people of Indian origin in Nepalis related to citizenship. Allegedly, a deep-rooted conspiracy has beenhatched to drive the Indian community away from Nepal.5 It is said to beevident from the fact that this problem is absent from the hill areas.6

There are three types of citizens in Nepal. The first type consists ofpaternalcitizens who gain entry to this category by proving that their an-cestors were Nepalese citizens with some landed property. The second ismade up of inherent citizens who enter this category by proving that theywere born in Nepal, even if their parents came from somewhere else. Thethird consists of artificial citizens neither born in Nepal nor havingNepalese ancestors but who have been living there for a long time. Thisthird category of citizenship has created serious problems. Even afterproving that they have been long-time residents of Nepal, a large numberof people of Indian origin have been denied citizenship on one pretext oranother. Initially, people get temporary citizenship certificatesonly in or-der to try to obtain permanentcertificates. Since the proceduresfor com-pleting citizenship application forms are cumbersome, numerous ignorantand illiterate people of Indian origin must exhaust their energy and finan-cial resources in order to seek the help of relevant officials or influentialand articulate people in the Indian community.The various groups of officialsdealing with the question who visited theTarai areas in the 1970s did not do much to mitigate the sufferingsof thepeople on this count. Since these groups did not include officials from theTarai, there was naturally a communication gap based on language. Be-sides, there was no representation by those denied citizenship certificates.Much of the problem of citizenship arises out of the constitutional pro-visions, which are prohibitive and unaccommodative. Article 8 of the

4. Frederick H. Gaige, Regionalism and National Unity in Nepal (New Delhi: Vikas Pub-lishing House, 1975), p. 87.

5. Many people of the Tarai region told me this in separate interviews.6. I verified this from a number of hill area people.



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1008 ASIAN SURVEY,VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER1986Nepalese Constitution inter alia says that a foreigner may qualify for theacquisition of citizenship if (a) he can read and write the national languageof Nepal; (b) he, engaged in an occupation, resides in Nepal; (c) he hastaken steps to renounce the citizenship of the country of which he is acitizen; and (d) such person as defined by law has resided in Nepal for aperiod of not less than two years in the case of a person of Nepalese origin,for a period of not less than five years in the case of a female married to aNepalese citizen, and for a period of not less than fifteen years in the caseof others.7Even a scanning of these constitutional provisions suggest that the vastmasses of peasants and workers have to cope with numerous hindrances.Significantlyand relevantly, only 19% of the Nepalese population is liter-ate. Inabilityto read and write Nepali is a great handicapfor a vast multi-tude of the illiterate. All cannot be expected to be engaged in anoccupation in Nepal. An illiterate Indian is not aware of the process ofterminatinghis citizenship in India. And, the requirementof fifteenyears'residencefor Indians is not sound. Before the third constitutional amend-ments of 1980 an Indian woman marrying a Nepalese citizen had to waitfive years for citizenship. This provision has been somewhat relaxed andnow Indian women marrying Nepalese citizens become eligible for citizen-ship on renouncing their original citizenship.The problem of citizenship has been a matter of concern to the NepaliCongress, the main opposition group in the country, notwithstanding thatthe party has been banned for more than 25 years. The party's WorkingCommittee meetings of Februaryand August 1977 discussed the gravity ofthis problem, and party President Suvarna Shamsher emphasized the ne-cessity of solving this problem in his meetings with King Birendra. Butthe problem persists. The royal proclamation of the referendum of May24, 1979, however, prompted some leaders of Indian origin to become ac-tive because only people having citizenship certificates could participateinit. Gajendra Narayan Singh emerged as the most unequivocal and articu-late champion of this cause and raised the voices of some 2.2 million peo-ple who were being denied citizenship. Later on leaders like BhadrakaliMishra, a one-time General Secretaryof the Nepali Congress, MakeshwarSingh, a one-time National Panchayat member, and Gunjeshwari PrasadSingh, another former National Panchayat member, also spoke out. Sub-sequently, hill leaders like Tanka Prasad Acharya and B. P. Koirala, for-

7. Nepal Ko Sarnvidhan2019 (Kathmandu: Shri Panch Ko Sarkar, Kanun Tatha NyayaMatralaya, 2035), pp. 4-5.



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PARMANAND 1009mer prime ministers, and Ganeshman Singh, a prominent Nepali Congressleader, also expressed their concern.8

Undoubtedly, these demands and concerns had a positive impact and alarge number of people got their citizenship during the referendum elec-tioneering. Significantly, the then Nepalese Prime Minister, Surya Baha-dur Thapa, told me in July 1979 that the government had no intention ofdenying citizenship to the people of Indian origin. But he pointed out thatusually people from the Tarai were not particularabout getting citizenshipcertificates and at times procedural wrangles were also responsible for de-lays.9It is true that a large number of people obtained citizenship certificatesduring 1979-80, but the problem of citizenship for a vast majority of theIndian community in Nepal has yet to be resolved. The artificial distinc-tion of the three classes of citizens, which does more harm than good, alsoneeds to be removed.Agriculture: The Tarai, dominatedby people of Indian origin, is justifiablyknown as the granary of Nepal. Called the backbone of the economy, it isNepal's most productive agricultural and industrial region. Besides rice,the Tarai produces surpluses of jute, tobacco, oil seeds, sugarcane, herbs,spices, timber, hides, and many other agriculturalitems in smaller quanti-ties.I0 According to a noted Nepalese economist, 88% of Nepal's invest-ment is in this region, as is nearly all of the nation's industry.I I The Taraiis responsible for producing 59% of Nepal's gross domestic product and76% of its revenue, yet paradoxically it faces numerous problems in theagriculturalfield.A plan called the Land Reforms Programmewas introduced in 1963-64with the stated goal of achieving a more equitable land ownership andtenancy system. But the more important goal for some influential ele-ments in the royal regime was the replacementof landowners and tenantsof Indian origin in the important Tarai region with Nepalese from the hillareas.12 Having implementedthe maximum ceiling provisions, only 3% ofthe land was found to be in excess and some 27,000 hectares of land was

8. See Parmanand, "TaraiwalaNepal," Dinaman (weekly), (New Delhi), September2-8,1979, pp. 30-32; "Bhentwarta: Gajendra Narayan Singh," ibid., pp. 9-10; "TaraiwasionKeSath Sautela Vyavhar,"ibid., November 11-17, 1979, pp. 31-32; and "Koi Bhram Na Pale,"ibid., July 20-26, 1980, p. 32.

9. Parmanand, "Nispach Janmat Sangraha Ke Liye Sanyam Avashyak: Surya BahadurThapa," Ravivar (weekly), (Calcutta), September 2, 1979, p. 34.

10. Gaige, pp. 29-30.11. Badri Prasad Shrestha, The Economy of Nepal (Bombay: Vora, 1967), p. 156.12. Leo E. Rose, "King Mahendra's China Policy," in S. D. Muni (ed.), Nepal: An Asser-

tive Monarchy (Delhi: Chetna Publications, 1977), p. 233.



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1010 ASIAN SURVEY, VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1986

distributed among 13,000 families, but no such land was given to people inthe Indian community, as if they were all well off. Under the Panchayatsystem a large number of tillers have been dispossessed from their hold-ings. In addition, a huge part of the Tarai forests was cleared but there,too, the people of Indian origin got nothing. And if these actions were notenough, a member of the Nepal Planning Commission and National De-velopment Council, Govind Prasad Lohani, wrote in 1978 that in the com-ing years a large part of the Nepalese population would be in the Tarai.Instead of the "small holding," he emphasized the "minimum holding."Currently, 62% of the cultivable land is located in the Tarai, so the effectof the envisagedeconomic and agrarian changes can easily be imagined.13

Another problem pertainsto excessive Malguzari (land tax). The peopleof Indian origin, mainly dependent on agriculture,are subjectedto a rap-idly increasing Malguzari reaching Rs. 70 to 80 per bigha. Any delay inpayment results in a heavy fine, and this has led many to think of migrat-ing to India in desperation.14

The Mohiyani system, in which the land is owned by comparativelyrichfarmers and is tilled by landless tillers who give 50% of the crop to theowner, is yet another problem afflictingthe rich farmersof Indian origin.This complicated system often results in violence in which the Indian com-munity is at a disadvantagebecause officialswho enforce law and order arepredominantly from the hill region.Business: Numerous restrictions, including arbitrarytaxation, are imposedon the businessmen of Indian origin to hamper their growth. Taxes areallegedly levied without any proper scrutiny of the records by officials.Income tax officials set up a committee that has final authority to deter-mine the amount of tax for any individual or enterprise. Any representa-tion often increasesrather than reduces the grievance. In 1979, the BhajuRatna Engineering firm at Birganj with an annual income of Rs. 70-80million had to pay about Rs. 200,000 in taxes, whereas Shankar Kedia, abusiness enterprise belonging to a businessman of Indian origin, paid anannual tax of about Rs. 2 million. In addition, people without citizenshipcertificatesare subjectedto double taxation.Surprisingly, though less than 10% of Nepal's national income is de-rived from trade and industry, the Indian government is often made ascapegoat for economic ills. An editorial in a Nepalese paper said, "If theGovernment of India wants to see Indians in Nepal looked upon in the

13. Mavin Kurve, "Lively Debate in Nepal on Collective Land Ownership," The Times ofIndia (New Delhi), January 19, 1978.

14. A numberof people from the Tarai area told me this.



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PARMANAND 1011

same way as Indians in Ceylon, Burma and Africa, it has only to continuethe present policy of attempting to protect its economic monopoly of Ne-pal."15 Such critics forget that more than 90% of Nepal's trade is withIndia and most of the Indian currency-earningexports are produced in theTarai. Besides, it tends to be easier for the hill people than the plainspeople to obtain the necessary government licenses for numerous businessenterprises.Education: Educationally, the people of Indian origin are apparentlybelit-tled and demoralized. India gave financial assistance of more than 10 mil-lion rupees toward the establishment of Tribhuvan University, the onlyuniversityin Nepal. Thousands of Nepalese have received various kinds ofeducation in various Indian educational institutions. A large number ofIndian teachers went to Nepal under the Colombo Plan. But the visibleeffect of all this is the devaluation of marks by 10% from the grand totalobtained by students at Indian universities for the purpose of competitionor selection. Undoubtedly, a majority of such students are of Indian ori-gin. The Central Committee of the now defunct but the only officiallyrecognized body of students before the Referendum-the RashtravadiSwatanra VidyarthiMandal-had only one student of Indian origin in thetotal membershipof twenty-three in 1979. It is relevant that this was anofficially nominated body of students. Also, some discrimination is dis-cernible against the students of Indian origin in the award of scholarshipsunder the Colombo Plan.16Language: The people of Indian origin speak Maithili, Bhojpuri, Avadhi,Tharu, Rajbanshi, Satar, Danwar, and Santhali. Hindi is the lingua francaof these linguistic groups. Even among the intra-language groups, edu-cated people speak in Hindi. Nepali is used by the people of Indian originas their third or at best their second language, and the illiterate among theIndian community, forming a substantial section, rarely speak Nepali. Butthese Indian languages are grossly neglected. The only constitutionallyrecognized language is Nepali, which is also the national language. Up toClass Eight, neither Hindi nor Maithili is taught in any manner. Hindi orMaithili can be offered as an optional language after Class Eight, but thelanguage capacity of the students availing themselves of this opportunitycan be easily imagined. Again, these languages are made impotent at thecollege level. In a personal interview with me, the then Nepalese PrimeMinister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, asserted that Hindi was being taught inNepal at the matriculation, college, and universitylevels and even research

15. Samaj (Kathmandu), June 19, 1969.16. See Parmanand, "Taraiwala Nepal."



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1012 ASIAN SURVEY, VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1986was being encouragedin Hindi, but for all this students themselves wouldhave to come foreward. They cannot be forced, Prime Minister Thapaasserted,to study Hindi. But the facts speakfor themselves. Lesser jobs inthe job market for people adept only in Hindi is bound to be a big deter-rent.

Up to April 1965 Radio Nepal had a ten-minute daily news bulletin inHindi, but it was terminated. The numberof journals published in any ofthe Indian languagesis hopelessly negligible. Only one daily newspaperinHindi-called Nepali-is published in Nepal. Able and notablejournalistsof Indian origin including Chandralal Jha, Indrakant Mishra, and BadriPrasad Gupta are editing Nepalese newspapers. They told me in separateinterviews that they had to do so, for registration of Hindi newspapers isdiscouraged.In 1959-60, Hindi was accepted as a medium of debate in the first everelected Parliament, but this practice was discontinued after the introduc-tion of the Panchayat polity, and even those trying to express themselvesin Hindi at local-level government-sponsored unctions are hooted and hu-miliated.17 Official invitations to international Hindi conferences are dis-couraged either by not sending any group or by hindering an individualinvitee. There was, for instance, no official delegation representing Nepalat the Third World Hindi Conference in Delhi in November 1983.All this when no less a person than B. P. Koirala, the first elected PrimeMinister, is on record stating that Nepal should have two national lan-guages-Nepali and Hindi.Religion: In the only declared Hindu state, the Hindus of Indian originhave reasons for religious dissatisfaction. Whereas priority is given to thedevelopmentof Lumbini (Lord Buddha'sbirthplace)to make it an interna-tional religious and tourist spot, the same is not being done for the devel-opment of Janakpur (the capital of Sita's father Lord Janaka). Ironically,a huge mosque is being constructed, reportedly with the help of Arabmoney, just adjacent to the famous Ramjanki temple in Janakpur, creatingtension between the Hindus and the Muslims. Numerous protests to thegovernment earlier had evoked no response, but construction work hasbeen stopped under local pressure. It is now well known that a request byone of the Sankracharyas o establish an International SanskritUniversityin Nepal was turned down.Implicit in these efforts is said to be the intent to crush the sentiments ofreligious-minded people. A numberof Hindus of Indian origin are smart-

17. See Gajendra Narayan Singh, "Chhetirya Bhasa Aur Aashtriyata," Dinaman (weekly),March 21-27, 1982, pp. 29-30.



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PARMANAND 10 13ing under the impression that the authorities initially engineer tension be-tween the Hindus and Muslims in the predominantly Muslim areas andthen try to create an impression in the minds of the Muslims that thegovernment is with them.18Participation in the National Mainstream: A clarion call coined by theapologists of the Panchayat polity for the disenchantedor non-conformistsis to join the national mainstream. But the Indian community easily dis-cerns that the various doors of the national mainstream are not wide opento them, and there are not many channels for articulationof their interests.The position of the people of Indian origin in governmental jobs is un-satisfactory. Since they can be easily recognized during interviews con-ducted by the Public Service Commission, it is easy to reject them. Themembers of the Indian community holding posts as Secretaries,Joint Sec-retaries, and Deputy Secretaries are few. But even if a member of thiscommunity reaches any of the top posts, his role in the decision-makingprocess is negligible. There is no member of this community among theimportant diplomats.The proportion of members of the Indian community in the Nepalesepolice is said to be around 2%. In the Royal Nepalese Army, they arequite negligible. Of the total of 185 high-ranking Army officials, only onebelonged to the Indian community. Reportedly and significantly, no mem-ber of this community serves as a palace guard.The Panchayat polity has also devised a number of mechanisms to pre-vent members of the Indian community from gaining entry to the main-stream of national politics-not that there is much scope for participativepositions and playing a role in the decision-making process in this systemas such. But even in the narrowsphereof getting elected to various tiers ofthe Panchayat system, until recently one could find mechanisms that pre-vented entry of Indian community members at the various levels of thesystem.An oft-repeated criticism of the Panchayat system all these years hasbeen that King Mahendra had introduced this system with a view to mini-mizing the political influence of the Indian community and that variousdevices were designed to achieve this purpose. Constituencies (districtsand zones for the purpose of elections to the National Panchayat) were socreated as to make the people of Indian origin seeking entry to the Na-tional Panchayat dependent on the mercy of the hill people. Second, theTarai districts with more population were put at a disadvantage. For in-

18. This information is based on the talks I had with a number of Tarai people who, forobvious reasons, do not want to be quoted.



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stance, Manang with a population of 10,000 sends one representative tothe National Panchayat, whereas Dhanuha with a population of 330,600and Saptari with a population of 312,500 send two representativeseach.Third and most important, by according constitutional status to a bodycalled the Back-To-Village National Campaign,it was made to interfere inthe selection of candidates at various levels after 1975 in the name of "un-opposed elections" or "consensus"-imposedcandidates of its choice. Nat-urally, it hindered the proportional representation of the people of theIndian community.19As for representation, whereas the members of the Indian communitynumbered 20 (18.4%) of 109 in the first-everelected lower house of Parlia-ment, their number was reduced to 13 (10.4%) in the single-chamber 125-member National Panchayat in 1967. In 1977, the members of the Indiancommunity numbered 13 (9.62%) in a house of 135. The hill people havehad a distinct numerical predominanceover the Indian community in ob-taining nomination to the National Panchayat ever since its inception.But despite these heavy odds, the people of Indian origin succeeded inincreasing their strength in the National Panchayat to 17.77% by ob-taining 24 seats in the first-everdirectly elected National Panchayat. Infact, if one were to take only elected members of the Panchayat into ac-count, one finds that of 112 elective seats, members of the Indian commu-nity succeeded in capturing 21 seats (18.75%), which surpasses theirperformance in the first-ever elections in 1959. Needless to say, in anyopen political system the influence of the Indian community is bound toincrease, the odds notwithstanding.

Recent DevelopmentsAs if the plight of the Indian community were not already enough, a TaskForce of the government-appointed National Commission on Population,headed by a noted Nepalese economist and demographer,Harka BahadurGurung, in its August 1983 report, held the Indian community in Nepalresponsible for numerous ills affecting the country. The Task Force hasinter alia recommended strong control on alleged immigration from India,issuance of "work permits" to the people of Indian origin, and a ban onHindi films, songs, and magazines. The recommendations are alleged to bea contrivance to drive many in the Indian community away from Nepal.The issuance of work permits would go a long way in this direction, be-cause a huge numberof those who were hitherto denied citizenship certifi-

19. See Rishikesh Shaha, "Nepali Voting Trends-1: Caste Instead of Ideology," TheStatesman, August 30, 1982, and Banwari, "Yah Samvidhan Asamvaidhanik Hai: ManMohan Adhikari," Dinaman (weekly), May 3-9, 1981, p. 30.



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PARMANAND 10 15cates would automatically be deprived of permits to work. Besides, thetiming of this report, in the wake of alarmingethnic violence in Sri Lanka,seems ominous.

In addition, an organization called the RashtriyaSamaj Sudhar Sanstha(National Social Reformation Organization) for a number of years hasbeen demanding that "Indians" (obviously Nepalese of Indian origin) bedriven away from the kingdom.20A Tarai leader of national repute, Ram Janma Tiwari, was arrested inJanuary 1984 when he drew the King's attention to the discriminationmeted out to the Indian community in Nepal.An Overall AssessmentDiscussion of the problems faced by the people of Indian origin in theforegoing paragraphsshould be a sufficient indication of their status. Theyare at best treated as second-class citizens. Scornful words are used by thehill people for the members of the Indian community.On the other hand, all is not well with the members of the Indian com-munity. Some have been found to be indulging in many objectionablepractices sufficient to bring a bad name to India, such as forgery, smug-

gling, manipulating admissions into various medical and engineeringcolleges by fraudulently becoming Nepalese citizens and getting recom-mendations from the Indian Embassy. There have been instances of In-dian citizens being elected to the various tiers of the Panchayat politythrough unfair means. These practices must be abandoned.But, on the whole, the problemsfaced by the people of Indian origin areenough to suggest that their role in nation-building and national integra-tion has not been properly accepted. Channels have not been properlyopened for their participation in the mainstream of national life, and ef-forts must be made in that direction. Help and facilities must be given tothe Indian community to enable it to develop in the spheresof agriculture,language, religion, education, business, government service, and politics.There should be reservations for those of Indian origin in the army, police,and various other services.21 Continuous, even if gradual, liberalizationofthe system will go a long way in mitigating their sufferings n various ways.What is needed is the political will on the part of authorities in Nepal.There is no denying that efforts to belittle or manipulate these problemswill not help.

20. Parmanand, "Bharat-Nepal Sambandhon Ke Liye Khatre Ki Ghanti," Ravivar(weekly), November 6-12, 1983, p. 41.

21. These reservations should be in proportion to population, or at least 10-20% to beginwith.



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1016 ASIAN SURVEY,VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER1986The Nepalese Community n India

Because of the open border between India and Nepal and the better socio-economic prospects in India, people of Nepalese origin have been comingto India in large numbers since the mid-nineteenth century. The govern-ment of India also recruitsGurkhasfor the Indian Army, making the exo-dus of Nepalese to India still greater. During the era of absolutemonarchy in Nepal, those falling from grace had to live in exile in India,and Banaras became a center for the exiled Nepalese. After parliamentarydemocracy in Nepal was terminated in December 1960, many politicalleaders not falling in line with the King decided to stay in India in self-imposed exile. Many students of Nepalese origin come to India under var-ious plans to receive their education in India, which is natural in view oflesser educational opportunitiesin Nepal. If anything, the number of peo-ple of Nepalese origin is on the increase.

NumberUnlike the numerical strength of people of Indian origin in Nepal, there isno controversy worth the name about the number of people of Nepaleseorigin in India. Theirnumberis said to be around6 million, which, signifi-cantly, accounts for 40% of the total Nepalese hill population. The peopleof Nepalese origin are concentratedin the Indian states of Sikkim, Assam,Manipur, and West Bengal. They are also found in almost all Indianstates performingone kind of job or another. The problems faced by thepeople of Nepalese origin in India range from their identity to citizenship,language, and participation in the national mainstream.

The Problem of IdentityThe first problem faced by the people of Nepalese origin in India pertainsto their very identity. Because of their physical featuresand linguistic sep-aration, many in India just take them as Nepalese citizens without ques-tion or enquiry. An author and researcher of repute who has delveddeeply into the problemsof the northeastern India has rightly pointed out:

A casualvisitor o the north-easts baffled ythequestion.WhendidyoucomefromIndia?It maybe heard n Mizoran,Nagaland,Manipur,Meghalaya, ik-kimandnow in Assam. Theothersideof thecoinis thereceptionmetedout tovisitorsfromthese frontierregions n our metropolitanities wherethey areoften takento be foreigners ndaskedto produce heirpassports.22

22. A. C. Sinha, "India's Outer Darkness: Why The North-East Is Estranged," TheStatesman, March 4, 1984.



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PARMANAND 10 17This situation certainly leaves much to be desired as far as the Indians of

Nepalese origin are concerned. India is a vast country and the attitude ofits people has to be broadened so that they are able to identify Indians ofvarious shades and ethnic stocks. It is only then that national integrationcan become a reality.

CitizenshipNowadays one frequentlycomes across the problem of citizenship faced bythe Indians of Nepalese origin in various parts of the country. Both thegovernment and some opposition leaders have been demanding that citi-zenship be granted to about 30,000 people of Nepalese origin in Sikkim.In fact, the Sikkim Chief Minister, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, had gone tothe extent of saying in 1983 that unless the problem of the vast number ofpeople in the Nepalese community was solved, any election to the Legisla-tive Assembly would be a farce. The Chief Minister made bold to say thateven his party would lose badly if this problem was not solved.23 Thegovernmentof India has taken a sympathetic attitude toward this problemand is thinking of giving citizenship to all Sikkimese of Nepali origin.However, the final decision is yet to be announced. The Indian govern-ment's positive attitude is also evident from its notification regarding theproblemof citizenship in Assam, which also affects a large number of peo-ple of Napelese origin there.When the Government of India issued rules and guidelines for tribunalsto detect foreigners in Assam under the Illegal Migrants (Determinationby Tribunals)Act on February 2, 1984, it also clarified its officialpositionvis-A-visNepali nationals. An official announcement in New Delhi saidthat all Nepalese nationals in possession of restricted area permits wouldnot be considered illegal migrants. They, therefore, stand protected.Those exempt from the permit under a government notification of August14, 1976, and staying in India under lawful authority are also protected.24

LanguageMore important than the problem of citizenship is the problem of lan-guage. Many in the Nepali community in India have been for the pastseven years demanding the inclusion of Nepali in the Eighth Schedule ofthe Indian Constitution, which already includes 15 languages. The Janatagovernment (1977-79) headed by Morarji Desai and especially the partypresident, Chandra Shekhar,appeared quite sympathetic to this demand,

23. Nepal Sandesh (Patna), December 12, 1983, p. 6.24. The Statesman, February 3, 1984.



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1018 ASIAN SURVEY, VOL. XXVI, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1986but this government did not last long enough to make it a reality. TheSikkim Assembly has already passed a resolution to this effect.25 An or-ganization called "All-India Nepali Bhasa Samiti" started a relay hungerstrike in New Delhi's boat club (situated near Parliament House) lastingfor a week.26But the position of Nepali cannot be said to be as unfortunate in India asis Hindi in Nepal. The All-India Radio broadcasts a number of bulletinsin Nepali that are popular not only in India but also in Nepal. The WestBengal governmenthas already accorded a special status to Nepali in thatstate that enables the speakersof this language to avail themselves of sev-eral privileges. Also, a number of journals in Nepali are publishedin Indiafrom time to time.Considering how receptive the government of India has been to the de-mands of variouslanguage groups, one should not be surprisedif Nepali isalso included as an official language at the regional level in the EighthSchedule of the Constitution before long.

Participationin the National MainstreamThe questions of citizenship for the Nepali community in Sikkim and thereservation of seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly for people ofNepalese origin can be said to raise the problem of their participation inthe nationalmainstream. Until 1979 there were a number of seats reservedfor the people of Nepalese origin in the Sikkim Assembly, an arrangementthat was to the satisfaction of the people of Nepalese origin there. But thePeople's RepresentationAct 1980, enacted during Indira Gandhi's regime,changed the earlier provisions by reserving 6 seats for the Lepchas, 6 forthe Bhutias, 3 for the Scheduled Castes, and 1 for the Buddhists, therebyleaving 17 seats open for all communities including the Nepalese. TheNepalese community, led by Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari (him-self of Nepalese origin), has been demandingthe restorationof reservation,claiming that although the Nepalese community constitutes 70% of thetotal population, it is being denied equality of opportunity in electoral poli-tics. In fact, the President of the Sikkim Congress, Ram ChandraPoudyal, has requestedthat the SupremeCourt quash the 1980 Represen-tation Act. Apparently the Indian government is taking a sympatheticattitude on this question, too, and some modus vivendi may be arrived atsoon.

The people of Nepalese origin, on the other hand, certainly cannot com-plain that they are being denied the opportunity to join the Indian Army.25. The Times of India, September 25, 1982.26. The Statesman, February 24, 1984.



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PARMANAND 10 19

However, an organization called the Gorkha National Liberation Front(GNLF) has demanded the abrogation of the 1950 Treaty between Indiaand Nepal since in its view the Treaty is inimical to the interests ofNepalese in India. Its leader, Subhash Ghising, has gone to the extent ofdemandingan autonomous Gorkha State in India. In October 1983 Ghis-ing met Prime Minister Chand of Nepal and apprised him of the Front'sdemands. Needless to say, it is the Nepalese who have received the maxi-mum advantagefrom the Treaty of 1950 in terms of obtaining employmentand owning property in India. In fact, it is sometimes alleged that theyhave the double advantage of citizenship of both India and Nepal.Recent developments in India's northeast, however, leave much to bedesired. Some 3 million Nepalis spreadover the hill districts of West Ben-gal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Assam have been placed in a difficult situa-tion by both their leadershipand the inept handling of the situation by thelocal administration. The entire Nepali community in India has begun abattle to acquire legitimacy and defend its rights in its adopted land. Theepicenter of this gathering storm is the Darjeeling district of West Bengalwhere the GNLF, primed by the eviction of 7,000 Nepali immigrants byMeghalaya in March 1986, is increasing its demands for a separate statecalled Gorkhaland. Nepalis all over the northeast are exhorting their lead-ers to come out in support of the Gorkhaland movement while GNLFemissaries are fanning out all over the country preaching about the Indiangovernment's policy of "apartheid" toward the community.27

ConclusionThere is no denying that the people of Nepalese origin living in India arefaced with a number of problems. But since India is an open society, theIndian government cannot dismiss any community's genuine problem forlong, and this holds true for the problems of the Nepalese community inIndia. The best solution to the problems experienced by the Indian com-munity in Nepal and the Nepalese community in India, however, consistsof face-to-face dialogue between the governmental leaders of these twocountries without any loss of time. Apart from solving the day-to-dayproblems of migration and emigration, it will also ensure greater coopera-tion between these two countries in the context of the movement towardSouth Asian Regional Cooperation.

27. India Today, June 30, 1986, pp. 68-70.

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