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Ashok Mathuran:
THE GLOBAL AND THE LOCAL: The United Federation of Nepal
Sushma Joshi
What does the United States of America have in common with St. Kitts (68
square miles
wide), a small island in the Eastern Caribbean? Both
countries, it appears, follow
the federal system. Despite the naysayers
who have been saying federalism won't work
for Nepal due to its small
size and multicultural and multiethnic nature, there is
evidence that
multicultural countries perform quite well within a federal system.
The
United States is federated. So is Switzerland, another European country
that Nepalis
often use as a model of what Nepal should be like. So is
India, the world's biggest
democracy. None of them are falling apart at
the seams, as we are. So why do Nepalis
fear the idea of federalism?
After listening to a lecture by advocate Dinesh Tripathi,
it appears to
me that people are afraid of federalism because they don't quite
understand
what it is or how it's going to work out. Federalism is not
the country splitting
off into various ethnic states, as it may appear
from current events. Federalism is
also not just decentralization, which
was practiced in Nepal before and is shown to
have failed. In
decentralization, the center can withdraw the power, whereas in
federated
states the power is inherent in the Constitution. Federalism
is the actual devolution
of power to the local level, which would allow
those areas the right to self-
"Conflict," says Mr. Tripathi, "is caused by the inability to recognize
diversity.
Conflict cannot be solved by bullets, but by developing a
democracy which is "of the
people, for the people, by the
people"" (Original quote from Gettysburg Address by
Abraham Lincoln and
not Mr. Tripathi.) Periodic elections is not enough, this just
leads to
a "procedural democracy." The solution, it appears, is to achieve a
substantive
democracy by devolving the power from a centralized and
unitarian government, as we
have at present, to active local self-
Federalism is a contract between people
and the state, and will be based
on voluntary will.
Current models floated by Maoists
envision 11 states, with many of them
based on ethnic lines. Neighbouring India has
been more prudent,
splitting its states along the basis of geography (Madhya Pradhesh,
Uttar
Pradesh), language (Tamilnadu, West Bengal), and ethnicity
(Gujarat, Andhra Pradhesh)
and combinations of above. In Nepal, we need
to take into natural resources and level
of development as well when we
federate the country.
Setting up a federal system should
be mapped out by not just the demands
of the grassroots (surely we cannot have one
federated state for each
100 languages and 58 ethnicities) but a federalism board
composed of
linguists, anthropologists, demographers, geographers, lawyers and other
professionals
with the expertise and stakes in creating a functioning
nation-
government has finally decided to start a Commission
on restructuring,
according to news reports.
People fear that large chunks of Nepal
are just going to float off into
the ether, or possibly into India. Others fear Balkanization
-
of little states quarreling and killing each other. This shouldn't be
the
case if we do our homework carefully, and teach and learn on how a
federated system
will function. In particular, the need to protect
minority rights within a federal
state would have to be made very clear.
A strong Bill of Rights would ensure that
anybody can live inside any
state with equal political rights, and that minorities
will be protected
even if they happen to be inside a state based on ethnic lines.
The
Constitution, of course, remains the supreme law of the land. The
beauty of federalism
is that absolute power is checked by different
levels of government. The executive,
the legislative and the judiciary
would be found at all three levels of central, provincial
and local
levels. The provinces and the center would share power and both will not
dominate.
The
central government would deal with national security and defense,
immigration, currency,
foreign relations, custom taxes, and other
national level issues. Most other functions
would be devolved to the
provincial and local government, effectively ending Kathmandu
hegemony.
Brahmin, Chettri and Dalits, whose population is scattered all over
Nepal
and who do not have a majority in any geographical area, could be
the "Superglue"
to hold the population together. Even the states which
advocate division along ethnic
lines do not have more than thirty
percent majority of their ethnic groups -
multicultural country. According to Subash Darnal of Jagaran Media,
50
lakh Dalits are scattered across the country, and he envisions a model
in which
an extra-
representatives (one male,
one female) from each state, would protect
the rights and represent the concerns of
the Dalit population at the
central level.
In the USA, the world's oldest federated
country, each state has its own
court system. Although the USA has the busiest litigation
industry in
the world, the national Supreme Court of the USA only sees around 70
cases
per year -
and local courts.
Localizing courts in this manner would end the present
crisis of access to justice,
in which overwhelmed appellate courts try
to take on too many cases and end up delivering
justice to very few.
The federal system can only function when there's respect for
law, and
that may be the biggest challenge in Nepal. All parties, from central to
the
local, must obey the law, especially the Constitution which has the
final authority.
There
have historically been two models of federalism -
which smaller states
have come together to form a union, otherwise known
as "coming together" federalism.
The second model, in which a state
about to fall apart adopts federalism, is known
as "holding together"
federalism. Nepal needs to hold together -
be the best solution for how to go about doing this.
Federalism, Nepal's biggest
challenge, may also be its biggest
opportunity. The key is to keep an open mind and
gather as much
consensus on this issues as possible before the window of opportunity
closes.
Nepal's federated form will probably have some states based on
ethnicity (the irrepressible
Limbuwan who've already welcomed their
neighbours from the neighbouring country of
Nepal and who need to
understand the rules of federalism -
question, and self-
Constitutional
rights of all citizens) while others will be based on
geography and language, or combinations.
Karnali's natural resources
will flow to Nepalgunj, and Nepalgunj have custom duties
from the border
that will be redistributed by the center to Karnali, balancing out
unequal
resources. All things considered, federalism might create a
wealthier, more equitable
country -
after all.
Posted on: 2009-
SUSHMA JOSHI
Writer
and filmmaker
Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: sushma@alumni.brown.edu
Phone: 977-
