Definition of a person in Kathmandu

Nepalis from Madhesh complain to Kathmandu – “We are not considered human beings in Kathmandu.”

It is a very sad and sensitive complaint. I first heard this in the month of Bhadra in 2052 BS. I was surprised and could not believe it. I was traveling through the villages of Siraha district with another friend for work and since we were unable to return to Lahan in the evening, we kindly asked for a place to stay at a teacher’s house. We were kindly accommodated for the night. It is a custom in the village to gather in the evening at the entrance of a leader or elder there. We discuss various issues. The kindly person who offered us a place to stay said – “Let me go there for a while, I will introduce you, it is considered good.”

After being introduced, he jokingly said – “The hill people do not consider us human beings, they say ‘Manu Makhu Marshya Kha’.

I was surprised. My friend replied, “We don’t say this, the Newars say it. My district is Nuwakot. I am not a Newar.”

I became a Newar. A small kerosene lamp was burning dimly in the darkness. All eyes were on me. I was surprised. I said I didn’t know that. Then another bitter experience was revealed, “Kathmandu is the capital, we also have rights in the capital. We can do everything in the world there, but we can’t even hold a meeting?”

The incident was that some time before that, the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (then Sadbhavana Parishad) was going to hold a meeting in an open space, and people disrupted it in protest, saying that the program would be conducted in Hindi. I asked the question – “Are the people who came to disrupt the meeting Newars?”
I got the answer – “I don’t know, but they are Pahadiyas.”

“When Newar organizations themselves organize programs on issues such as caste, language, religion, culture, etc., let alone come to see them, how could Newars who don’t even see the need to be informed or interested in them, go to a program of goodwill and do something like that?”

A voice came from the darkness – “I was also at the program.”

I replied – “I have seen the scene of the program being disrupted on Nepal Television’s news broadcast.”

After returning from Madhesh, the sentence “Manu Makhu Marsya Kha” kept me awake. But another thing struck me, although the sentence was in Newar, there was no Newar in it at all. I later came to the conclusion that it was a sentence made by translating it word for word. When the same sentence is translated into Nepali, it becomes like this – ‘Manchhe noi, marsya (Newar dialect denoting Madhesi) ho’. Perhaps if this is said by a Newar, its sentence structure would not be like that.

In recent days, I have heard the complaint of the sentence ‘Manu Makhu Marsya Kha’ many times in many contexts. Madhesis consider Kathmandu as a part of the hills. But the Newars of Kathmandu do not place their Kathmandu in the hills that Madhesh sees. Nor do they consider Kathmandu as part of the hills, meaning that the hills visible from Madhesh are whole, but in reality that hilly region is divided. What is even more interesting is that the hilly people outside Kathmandu who meet in Kathmandu also consider each other as people from Kathmandu. A Nepali who comes to Kathmandu from somewhere in the Mechi region considers a Nepali who comes from Mahakali to be a person from Kathmandu. If there is any ups and downs in their mutual feelings, they make it clear that the people of Kathmandu have done them injustice. Another established belief is that any non-Newar is considered a Newar before a resident of Kathmandu. The Newars of Kathmandu are also mistreated in this way.

In general, Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. But for a long time, it has also been a powerful symbol of exploitation, injustice, oppression and discrimination. When the Gorkha army moved west to expand the border, it could not bear the injustices that were happening, so it went to the British government for help, and when it came to help, there was a clash with the British and the Gorkha army. Although a large area was liberated from the Gorkha army, the residents of Mahakali Wari had to endure the atrocities of the Gorkha army. At that time, the word Gorkha had become a symbol of oppression. Even a few decades ago, when an official from Kathmandu reached there, there was panic in the villages and there was a stampede. The image of the Gorkha gradually transformed into Kathmandu. Even a few decades ago, everything had to be dependent on Kathmandu. Why should we rely on Kathmandu? The rulers of this country lived in Kathmandu and the rulers did not make any effort to know the country except to stay in Kathmandu and govern. Let us take the latest example, even though the Federal Republic of Nepal has been divided into seven provinces, all the powers have been vested in Singha Durbar, depriving it of its rights.

Kathmandu is not only the capital but also a place where people from all over the country gather, so it is not surprising that people from all over the country meet or are seen here. But in this way, everyone except those who come from outside is considered to be from Kathmandu. The indigenous people of Kathmandu are called the Newar caste, and no matter what, good or bad, Kathmandu is made a part of it. That is, when you say Kathmandu, you mean Newar, and when you say Newar, you mean Kathmandu. If you look at the percentage of the population, there is a huge number of non-Newars who have come from outside, and even if you look for native Newars in that crowd, it is very difficult to find them. In such a situation, the interference in the open forum program of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party must have come from the hill people, and since it was held in Kathmandu, the hill people also misunderstand it as being directed at the Newars of Kathmandu. It was understood and understood. The interference was made by objecting to the fact that the Sadbhavana Party was going to hold a program in Hindi on the open forum. The situation where a Newar organization is harassed even when conducting public programs in the Newar language in Newar land is a reflection of the Panchayat era's 'one language, one disguise'. This is not just a problem in 2052 BS, it is the same in 2082 BS as well. Here, it is not only the Medhsis who are not considered human beings, but the Newar themselves are not considered human beings.