Muslims of Nepal's Terai Author(s): Mollica Dastider Reviewed work(s): Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 10 (Mar. 4-10, 2000), pp. 766-769 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4408986 . Accessed: 30/03/2012 15:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic and Political Weekly. http://www.jstor.org origin as around97 per cent of the total Muslims of Nepal's Terai Muslimsin Nepal reside in the plains of Terai [Ansari 1981b; Siddiqa 1993]. Accordingto the figures given in the TheMuslim minority of Nepal, especially of the Terai region,faces StatisticalYear Book of Nepal (1995), the a dilemma.The Muslims no longer wish to accept their inferior highest numberof Muslimsare found in status in But as soon as articulate their the central Terai district of Rautahat society. they identity,they followed the westerndistrict inviteon themselves the attentionand Hindu (71,379), by hostility of of Kapilbastu(62,512), andthen again by fundamentalists. the centraldistricts of Mahottari(53,852) andBara (48,648). The next Terai district, MOLLICADASTIDER however,only refersto the plain stripof which is famous for its Muslim popula- land lying within the southernboundary tion, is the mid-westerndistrict of Banke M uslims constitutethe most dis- of Nepal, i e, the Terairegion that exclu- (45,787). The growing significance of tinctand well-definedminority sively belongs to Nepal. Muslimpresence in the Teraidistricts has groupin the Hindukingdom of The Terai area of Nepal has its own been rightlyunderlined in a recentstudy Nepal. Besides theiradherence to Islam, share of multipleethnic, linguistic,reli- by HarkaGurung, where he has pointed theirethno-cultural affiliation too, gives gious and cultural groups of people. out that Muslims, in fact, constitutethe Muslimsa distinctidentity in a predomi- Among themTharus are numericallythe single largestsocial groupin the districts nantlyHindu-Buddhist set-up. According largest and historicallythe oldest indig- of Parsa,Rautahat, Kapilbastu and Banke to the 1991 census report,the 6,53,218 enous people of the area. The Gorkha [CBS 1995b].3 Muslimsin Nepal comprise3.5 per cent rulers'policy on encouragingnew settle- The other conclusion drawnfrom the of thetotal population. Nevertheless, they ments in Teraiever since its unification census data is that while the centraldis- formthe second largest religious minority (in 1768), and later on followed by the trictsof Terairecord the highestconcen- group,next only to the Buddhists(7.78 Ranasduring their rule till 1950,had greatly trationof Muslims,there has been a sub- per cent in 1991). influencedthe demography of Nepal.The stantialincrease in Muslimpresence in the The 1991census data, which for the first beginningof settlementof people of 'In- easter regionof Terai,i e, theregion border- timelisted 64 ethnicand caste groups,is, dian origin' is thus inseparablylinked ing Darbhanga,Saharsa and Purneadis- however,termed misleading by most of with the history of settlementsin Terai. trictsofBihar.ThedistrictsontheNepaliside theseethnic/caste groups. Many Muslims A sizeableincrease in the populationof and the populationof Muslimsthere are as well as Hindus in Nepal believe that Indianorigin occurredwhen the British Morang(26,987), Sunsari (45,737), Saptari theexact figure of the Muslimpopulation governmentreturned the territoriesof far- (35,020)and Siraha (32,116) [Yadav 1992]. in Nepalis muchhigher than shown in the westernTerai to Nepal(which were taken In one of the CNAS studies, Bista at- census,and they constitutenot less than away by them duringthe Anglo-Nepali tributesthe population increase to thelatest 6 per cent of the total population[CBS War of 1814-16), as a goodwill gesture arrivalof BihariMuslims and caste Hindus 1993a, 1995a].1 to the Ranas,who had providedmilitary from across the border into the Nepal TheMuslim population in Nepalis quite assistanceto the British to suppressthe Terai[Bista 1985]. Thereare also reports dispersed,and mainly concentrated in the IndianMutiny in 1857-58.The restoration of allegedinfiltration of Bihari(Muslims) outlyingareas along the Indianborder. of Teraidistricts like Banke, Bardia, Kailali refugees from Bangladesh,who entered Populationdata, based on the 1991 cen- and Kanchanpurby the Britishto Nepal the easternTerai region of Nepal in the sus, shows thatexcept for north-western increasedthe numberof Muslimsin the post-1971period [Sharma1994].4 How- districtsof Manang,Muslims can be found westernTerai, as these districtsalready ever, due to lack of adequatedata on in all otherdistricts, i e, they are present had a sizeableMuslim population before such infiltrations,it is difficultto confirm in 74 out of the total75 districtsof Nepal integrationinto Nepal. such reports. [CBS 1993b]. Also duringthis period,the bordering Like their Hindu counterparts,Terai areasof mid-westerndistrict of Muslimstoo have socialties across The Kapilbastu strong Region saw the settlementof big Muslim land- theborder and receive cultural sustenance The narrowplain strip of land of the lords from Awadh region, as they were fromthe larger Muslim population of Uttar Teraibelt starts from the foothills of Siwalik invitedby the Ranasfor theirzamindari Pradeshand Bihar. rangeof the Himalayasand stretchesup skills. They were given vast areasof for- As for the legal statusof the Muslims to the Gangeticplains of Biharand Uttar estedlands at nominal rates for maximising as a religious minoritygroup, the Legal Pradeshin India. For this geographical agriculturalproduction and revenues from Code of 1963 (the presentcode) which regionthe word 'Terai' is usedinterchange- the lands.2 abolishedcaste based social stratification, ablywith 'Madhes'which is derivedfrom Muslims in Terai constitute3.28 per guaranteesequal rights and opportunities the Sanskritword 'Madhyadesh',mean- cent out of theirtotal 3.53 per cent rep- forall peopleof Nepal,regardless of ethnic ing the mid-countrybetween the foothills resentationin the wholeof Nepal.Among origins and faith. Accordingly,Muslims of the Himalayanmountains in the north the Terai caste/ethnicgroups, they form of Nepalare free to practisetheir customs and Vindhya mountainsin the south. the thirdlargest group, coming only after and have been treatedas an integralpart People living in this regionare therefore the Tharus(6.46 per cent) and Yadavs of Nepalesesociety. They are also free to describedas MadhesisorMadhesiyas [Jha (4.01percent). Thus the Muslim population engage in religious activities and build 1993]. In this study, the word 'Terai', in Nepal is predominantlyof Madhesi mosques.5 While Muslim traditional 766 Economic and Political Weekly March4, 2000 marriage(nikah) is recognisedby law, the Mahendranagar),Muslims form a signifi- ligious) for being 'bideshi'(foreigner) by traditionaldivorce known as 'talaaq'is not cant part of the small traders. As for the stateenacted legal codes (forexample, so recognised. Nepalgunj, due to historical reasons, Codeof 1935,vol5: 15-16and 29 andCode Nepal being a Hindu state, the legal EklainiBazaar, the maintrading centre, is of 1963:223). In generalusage, Islam was provisionsthere naturallyallow Hindu dominatedby Muslim shopownerswho furtherderogated as 'Ulto(wrong) Dharma' customsand tradition, in contrastto other are the directdescendants of the original [Gaborieau1972:92-93]. With this reli- religions,feels Hamid Ansari, a Nepali traders,who were invitedby Ranarulers gious and social status in a traditional Muslimscholar. He pointsout thatthough around1860-75 from the Awadh region society and an authoritativehierarchy, Muslimshave readily acceptedthe laws (Nandpara)to establish a tradingcentre Muslimsin Nepalhad no optionother than of the land thatprohibit proselytism and alongthe Indo-Nepalborder. Nepalgunj is acceptinga low andsubordinate position. ban cow slaughterand in the hills have theonly placein thewhole of Nepalwhere In the post-1990Nepal, MadhesiMus- even got assimilatedwith the local tradi- Muslim tradersare found in substantial lims have acceptedthe establishmentof tions and customs, their position in the numbers[for a moreexhaustive study see popular democracy with a mixture of society has not changed much [Ansari Sharmand]. hope andapprehension. While welcoming 1981a].The introductionof the new legal Barringthe few shopkeepersand small the newly acquireddemocratic freedoms, code (1963)may have officially ended the tradersand even fewer landlords, the overall the Muslims in Terai are also concerned discriminatorycaste based provisions that economiccondition of the TeraiMuslims about the fallout of majorityrule on the existed in 1853 and 1952 codes, but in hasremained one of impoverishment.The community.They feel thatpolitical parties practicethe 'mlechcha'or impurerank of economic statusof the Muslimsin Terai would only be interestedin the majority the Muslimsstill dominatethe minds of matches their inferior social status. A voters,