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Lumbini,
Kathamndu (Nepal): Crossing the rickety steel wire
bridge, Sheikh Islam puts his arm forward, showing the expanse of
the valley that unfolds here in the Kathmandu Valley just south of
Bandipur, a few hours from Nepal’s capital city.
“We are Muslim, but we are Nepali as well,” said the sheikh, the local
community leader here in this small village an hour’s drive and
walk from the main highway.
“But we are a growing segment of society and we hope to have our
voices heard as political leaders write a new constitution.”
According to recent government statistics, of the 30 million
Nepalese in the country, some five percent are Muslim. With a
Constituent Assembly currently drafting a new constitution that
will lead the country into its latest democracy effort, 6 years on
from the end of the Maoist “insurgency” the Muslim population
feels ostracized and absent from the proceedings.
“Here in our village, we are struggling to make life tolerable and
our community has hopes that Muslims will have a voice in the
drafting process,” his English near flawless after having spent
three years studying in the UK in the late 1990s, at the height of
the Maoist war with the government. “I learnt a lot from London
and believe that we can have a representative democracy for all of
Nepal.”
But his optimism is not shared by the wider Muslim community. In
the impoverished southern Terai region near Lumbini, Yussuf and
his family of 7 are not convinced the politicians understand
Muslims and fears their prejudice toward Islam will prevail in the
constitution, which is to be completed by the end of this month.
In his small hut, with no electricity and limited fuel, he boils
water for tea, searching for two cups, then pouring the steaming
black tea into one of the two cups on the wooden plank that
doubles as a table and a cooker.
“We have no income. What we earn is from the land and the land is
drying up. Our community here is small, but we are strong in our
faith and believe God will help us in the future,” he says,
relaxing against the straw wall of the one room house. “People
often say very insulting things to us daily because of our
religion and I fear that the conservative Hindus will not give us
our right as a citizen of this country.”
For him, and others in the Terai region, faith takes precedence
over hope. The Muslim community has not seen much representation
in the few democratic stints the country has witnessed in the past
half-century, despite their growing numbers. Now, as political
leaders aim to develop a federal system that can incorporate the
over 100 ethnic groups in the country, Yussuf, like Islam, are
banking on tolerance and understanding to prevail.
“In many ways, the Muslims in Nepal struggle like everyone else,
but with the rising fear of Islam across the world, Nepalis remain
scared of Muslim a leader, that’s why we are pressing for change,”
Sheikh Islam said. “It is something that we can achieve, but it
requires having a say in the process.”
Making matters hard still for the community is the police
crackdown on Muslim activism in the country. On April 24, 23
Muslim activists, including 7 politicians, were detained for
protesting at the District Administrative Office in Kathmandu, a
prohibited zone.
Although they were released later in the day, it revealed the need
to heed Muslim calls for inclusion.
The activists issued a letter demanding issues of the Muslim
community be addressed in the new constitution, which they argued
had not been dealt with in the past.
According to National Muslim Federation Chairman Taj Mohammad Miya
memoranda were submitted to the government offices across the
country.
The community has been demanding the formation of a constitutional
commission and a federation that recognizes the Muslim community
as an integral aspect of Nepali society. In the memorandum, they
called on the state to adopt the policy of positive discrimination
for the community.
“Places with less than 500 Muslim people should be declared Muslim
conservation zones,” the memorandum demands.
Since then, on numerous occasions, the Muslim community has taken
to the streets to demand a greater say in a country with 103
different ethnic groups, and where the majority makes up less than
20 percent.
Yussuf and his family are part of the proposed “conservation
zones” and upon hearing the proposal were sparked with interest.
But they fear the Hindu nationalists and the Communists could move
to allay their hopes.
“If the discrimination we face is anything, then it will be hard
for the Hindu leaders to agree to something like this because they
do not like us and believe us to be dangerous,” he argued.
But Nepal Congress Party negotiator Ramchandra Paudel said that
all issues are being addressed in the new constitution, including
the Muslim community.
“The Muslims have a right to be heard and a need to be represented
in the new democracy we are building here in Nepal. I know they
have been left out of many discussions of our future in the past,
but now is a time for change and unity and we can achieve this for
Muslims and all Nepalis,” he said.
His statement is likely to go over well with the community, said
Sheikh Islam, but he still is hopeful that the community, which
largely lives at or below the national poverty line, will see
action from the country’s political leaders.
“We are a strong minority and we will survive either way, but it
is our hope that the new constitution will help bring us into the
political and social society that is Nepal’s future,” he argued,
pointing that the vast land that unfolds here in the Kathmandu
Valley. “There is no better place that Nepal, for us Muslims and
for all people.”
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