Title: Whole Terai is not a Madhesh

'Whole Terai is not a Madhesh'

Noted geographer Dr. Pitambar Sharma has said that the entire Terai is not a Madhesh.
In an interaction organised by Social Science Baha on Sunday, Sharma said there is diversity in Terai in terms of geography, culture and language.

"There are various ethnic and caste groups as well as migrants from India and hilly region of Nepal in Terai," he said. Citing the census of 2001, Dr. Sharma said, "There are 600,000 people of foreign origin in Terai out of which 80 percent are of Indian origin."

"Most of them lived there due to marital relationship across the border," he said.

Dr. Sharma stressed that no single culture and language should be imposed on federal units given the minority condition of all communities in a certain geographical area.

"If certain language and culture are imposed for having relatively bigger population of certain community, that will be like a strategy adopted by the Bramhins and Chetris in the past," he said.

He also stressed on the need to think about the resources required for survival of certain federal unit. "Considering the availability of resources, the area consisting different communities in majority can remain in a single federal unit," he said.

The discussion was based on Dr. Sharma's book 'Unraveling the Mosaic: Special Aspects of Ethnicity in Nepal.'

nepalnews.com June 16 08

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