Sunday, May 20, 2012

Newa Rajya - mass meeting and rally in support of


Mass meeting and rally is being planned for today demanding Newa Rajya with right to self determination, autonomy as well special preemptive right to Newa populace in Newa Rajya. Selfishly thinking, I also fancy having a Newa Rajya where all ministers including governor, chief minister and other officials of the state will be from amongst Newars.

However, thinking hard, I also realize that this will disenfranchise Newars residing outside Newa Rajya. Similarly, in order to justify creation of a Newa Rajya as such we will have to create other 117 ethnocentric states with right to self determination, autonomy as well special preemptive right to the particular ethnocentric community in whose name the state is created.
While doing introspection, it is clear that this will not be simple geographic delineation like 75 districts or 14 zones or even 5 development regions. These 118 ethnocentric states will be enshrined with right to self determination, autonomy as well special preemptive right. This will be a very costly affair for a backward country like ours.

Having said the above I am sure that many people will point out to me that there is no talk of creating over 100 states; it is merely a matter of creating around 10 states. In this respect what people are ignoring is the normal human behavior that if you give something to only a few ethnocentric communities, it will not take too long for other ethnocentric communities to rise and assert their right. This is very well demonstrated by the demand for separate states for Thamis, Rana Tharus (not all Tharus), etc. Besides, it is also it amounts to discrimination to create a few states with right to self determination, autonomy as well special preemptive right while others aren’t availed the same. Therefore, state restructuring on ethnocentric lines will be tantamount to opening a Pandora’s Box from which demands for creation of new states will be made every day (when they start facing and feeling the discrimination).

Moreover, let’s presume that remaining 108 ethnocentric communities will not demand their own states but these will be deprived from right to self determination as well as right to autonomy. This amounts to blatant discrimination which is against the tenet of human right internationally accepted. Further, due to the provision of especial preemptive right, those not getting their own states will be relegated to minority rule and also will be rendered second class citizen.
In above backdrop I am not in favor of a separate Newa Rajya with right to self determination, autonomy as well special preemptive right. I had to stop being selfish due to above reasons.
I firmly believe that we should have 3 states on the basis of 3 major river systems of Nepal.

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