Madhes Diary 2: You Named Me!

You named me

“You made me

Everything that I am

You called me names till I became a name

Now that’s all that I understand

I’m that boy with the ball and chain

Now I’m looking down from a jet plane” – Yelawolf’s Ball and Chain

You would wonder what these lines from a rap artist’s song has to do with Madhes Diary. Here ‘I’ refers to ‘Madhesis’ who are often given derogatory names. Today, the Madhesis are proud of their identity as the people of Nepal. Madhesis patiently tolerated the jokes made on them until they understood their true identity and became united. Madhesis were helpless, as if they were tied to a ball and chain, but now they are determined enough to take on the responsibility of building a better Nepal.

How did this happen? Recall these words, “manu makhu: marsya kha” (not human, they are Marsya, a derogatory word for Madhesi)’, ‘Dhoti’ (mocking the cultural attire), ‘Bhaiya’ (Hindi for brother, mocking Indians). From the first to the third Madhesi uprising, what has changed is that Madhesis have emotionally and psychologically managed to overcome the suffocating discrimination embedded in these words. Words that were meant to humiliate now evokes “a sense of identity” and ignites their fervent desire and struggle to reaffirm the lost dignity and respect.

Let us go to the context straight away. Recently, a friend asked me, “Who is a Madhesi?” However genuine the question was, I was taken aback for a moment. The fact that we Nepalis are still asking this question reminds us of our inability to get out of this prejudiced mindset. It reminded me of my college days at Shankar Dev Campus in the capital, and my frequent journeys by bus from Janakpur to Kathmandu. Sights of murals proudly displaying “Say With Pride, ‘I Am Madhesi, Not a Traitor but a Son of a Soil’” were common alongside the highway from Thankot to the East-West highway.

Nepal had just seen the 2006 Jana Aandolan and the subsequent Madhes uprising in 2007 and all Nepalis were hopeful for a ‘Naya Nepal’. The yearning for a new constitution that will undo the fault lines, dissolve the differences (Pahade vs Madhesi etc.) came from hope that the constitution will break the barricades that have made Madhesis feel like prisoners in their own country. Perhaps, every Madhesi has her or his own story to narrate the discrimination that they felt in Nepal and the longing they had for a change that the new constitution would bring about.

Then, the same friend asked me, “What would happen to the ongoing Madhesi revolt?” My sincere reply – let us turn it to an opportunity and undo the wrongs of the past.

“Come on in, I’m [like all other Madhesis in Nepal] making room for you, her, and him

Also for those, we, them, and they

Opportunity is in place, and it might never comeback this way

You better go and get ALL ABOARD !!!”

Sohan Prasad Sha hails from Janakpur, Nepal. He is a PhD candidate in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India. He can be followed at @sohan_sk.