Musahars in Sarlahi lack will to vote

By Janarjan Khatri Sarlahi, May 12: Despite the local elections now being just two days away, Bishnu Majhi Musahar of Majurba, Haripur Municipality-5 is not excited at all. He feels that the previously elected representatives have not done much to uplift the Musahar community and to solve their problems.

“Many of us don’t have a house or property,” Bishnu complained. Showing the narrow unpaved road, he said, “This is the condition of our settlement.”

“The people we elected did not come back to our villages. Why vote for such leaders again?” he questioned.

Many Musahars of the district voice the same complaints as Bishnu. Sita Devi Majhi of Tandi, Barahathawa Municipality-8 complained that the Musahar community did not get to feel the presence of the local government during the last five years.

“Many do not have their own homes here. They live in tents pitched on others’ land,” Sita said. “Many also do not have citizenship certificates. Children are without birth certificates.”

“Our people’s representatives did not even bother to ask how we were over their past term. Our elected officials did not even consider us as human beings,” she expressed her sadness.

Ajay Majhi of Laxmipur, Haripur–5 claimed that he had been deprived of citizenship. “Those who migrated from India a few years ago received citizenship easily, often at the initiation of our mayor and ward chairs. But we have not despite living here for generations,” he expressed grief.

Ajay said that the lack of citizenship impacted multiple generations of Musahar families as families without the nationality certificates would not be able to register their children’s births which would then hurt their chances at getting citizenship. “This is a vicious cycle,” he said.

This lack of citizenship card has also deprived many Musahars of their right to vote, according to Ritu Raj Rishi, Sarlahi district president of the Nepal Musahar Association. 

“My locality in Chandranagar Rural Municipality–6 has 800 Musahar residents. But only 150 of them have voter identity cards. 

“This is a serious problem that no one pays any attention to,” said Rishi.