Ramdayal Rakesh

The long-awaited stalemate came to its end after a two-thirds majority in the assembly endorsed the proposal to name Province No. 2 as Madhesh on January 18, 2022. This is a welcome step taken by the state assembly. Likewise, the second meeting of the provincial assembly passed the proposal to name Janakpur as the province's permanent capital with a two-thirds majority. Out of the 99 lawmakers, 78 voted in favour of making Janakpur the permanent capital. Most parties represented in the provincial assembly and its lawmakers were in favour of making Janakpur the permanent capital city of the province.

At the same time, some lawmakers from Bara and Parsa were in favour of making Birgunj the permanent capital. They were on the wrong tracks because they should have forwarded the proposal of making Simraungadh the capital city as it was the capital city of the Karnat dynasty. They were unaware of the ancient civilization and culture of Simraungadh. Anyway, they missed it. In a functional democracy, the decision of the majority is always respected by all at any cost.

Janakpurdham was the royal capital of King Janak in ancient times. So, this decision is quite right in the present context as Janak was the first republican king who made Janakpur his capital city, though ancient Janakpur has lost all of its charm, glory, importance, pride, and significance to a great extentsin the present day.

This rightful decision is the outcome of three Madhesh movements. This decision is also the fruit of federalism. About forty-five people sacrificed their lives in this movement. Birendra Mahato of Siraha District was the first one to sacrifice his valuable life in this movement. Finally, their long-cherished dreams have been fulfilled now. They are the real martyrs of Madhesh.

The provincial government did nothing remarkable or noticeable during its tenure of four years. One more year is still left. They just ruled province no. 2 and exploited its resources in every field. Moreover, this government was also engrossed in corruption. The province is still considered the most backward region of Nepal in the true sense of the term, though it is full of resources.

There is enough flora and fauna which we have witnessed in the past decades. That forest of commercial and biological value in the tropical Terai region has suffered from high rates of deforestation and degradation. There is loss and degradation of natural habitats such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and some rare species. Once upon a time, we had pride in the green forests in Madhesh. There is a great exploitation of the Chure region.

The farmers of Madhesh province do not know the proper use of insecticides and pesticides due to a lack of proper training. The burning problem in Madhesh is the widespread mining of sand, stones and gravel from streams and riverbeds of Kamala, Koshi, Bagmati, Lakhan Devi and Ratu. This has proved to be a major problem in the aquatic biodiversity of Madhesh. The leaders should have framed several projects and programmes to protect the aquatic biodiversity, but they did not try to frame such plans and programmes rather helped the owners of crushing machines, smugglers of forest products and illegal smuggling of medicinal plants and trees. Soil is the soul of a living country but soil erosion is the crush of problems. So, the Madhesh province is facing the problem of desertification and deforestation.

Model Madhesh
Now, the first and foremost duty of the leaders is to make Madhesh a model province among seven provinces. It is viable to make the province self-sufficient in agricultural products because it is very alluvial and fertile. If there is a suitable and sufficient facility in this province, it can yield sufficient food grains and can feed the whole of Nepal, let alone Madhesh only. This is the granary for Terai Madhesh.

There is an ample possibility of cash and other food crops. There is no lack of budget but there seems to be a lack of proper planning. There are countless ponds in the whole Madhesh province and some people are doing fish farming and they are proving very beneficial to them. There is no spending on the province at all, still it is getting very popular and profitable.
It is a matter of great regret that all famous and profitable industries have disappeared from this province such as cigarette factories, tobacco factories and sugar factories. They can be revived if the province's rulers are active and effortful they can make it possible if they are sincerely and honestly interested to make it possible.

They can seek funds and money from neighbouring countries by taking permission from the federal government or they can forward plans and programmes to the central government. Besides, there is a vast scope of small factories which can be executed with a small amount of money such as mango, guava, litchi, watermelon, peaches, and plums. These fruits grow in the warm climate of South Asian countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

Centre of Domestic Tourism
Today's Janakpur is the centre of attraction for South Asian countries especially it is famous for pilgrimage tourism. Pilgrims of the Hindu world are interested to make a journey to Janakpur, named after the legendary king Janak. Once upon a time, Janakpur was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mithila.
It is the birthplace of goddess Sita, the wife of the god Rama and is the heroine of the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is clear that today's Janakpur has become a great pilgrimage site for many Hindus all around the world. The most sacred religious sites are, the Janaki temple dedicated to goddess Sita.

The Ram Sita bibaha (Marriage) mandir, was built on the sacred spot where Rama and Sita were said to have married. Ram Mandir, dedicated to god Ram and the holy ponds like Dhanush Sagar and Ganga Sagar. Thousands of Indian devotees gather here every year to pay their respect to the goddess at this temple.

According to religious sculptures, Rama and Sita tied their wedding knot at a spot called Mani Mandap, some 5km northwest of Janakpur town. But it is a matter of great concern that this Mandap or platform surrounded by green trees is being ignored and neglected by the provincial government, the Tourism Board of Nepal, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, as well as by the Greater Janakpur Development Council. The Salhesh garden can become a golden egg in the basket of Madhesh. It can be a source of foreign currencies if managed properly.

Mithila Art, Craft
Mithila art and craft is famous all over the world now. Among Mithila art, the first (floor paintings) Aripan, the second wall painting and the Third (terracotta figurines) are the main works of women of Mithila. They are the painters of this art from ancient times. This is their dominance but now a day's some men artists are also very active in this field of Mithila art. The artists of the Women Development Centre have depicted 17 goals of SDG successfully.

In the first ever incident in the history of Nepali philately and postal stamp management, the government had, on 29 Dec, 2021 issued 17 postal stamps. In association with the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, Mithila centre USA organized the first-ever Mithila Festival USA and these paintings had been initially exhibited with the theme 'Art for SDGs: the Mithila Heritage Exhibition at the headquarter of the United Nations in New York, USA for five days from 8 to 12 April 2019. So the Madhesh Pradesh is supposed to establish Mithila Museum in Janakpurdham as soon as possible for the promotion and protection of Mithila art.

(The author is an expert on Madhesh culture, arts and lifestyle)