Madhesi leader Parmananda Jha today re-took the oath of office and secrecy as the vice-president in Maithali and Nepali, ending the language row after Nepal's Supreme Court last year ruled his pledge in Hindi "unconstitutional".
Jha, a former judge, had been rendered defunct since August 31, 2009 after he refused to abide by the Supreme Court order directing him to retake the oath in Nepali language. The apex court had ruled his oath in Hindi "unconstitutional".
Jha, whose position remained defunct for about five and half month, was administered the oath in Maithali and Nepali languages by President Ram Baran Yadav following last weeks' approval of a landmark parliamentary amendment that made it legal for president, vice-president and prime minister to take the pledge in their mother tongue, including Hindi.
This was for the first time in Nepal's history that an oath of office was taken in two languages. Today the Madhesi leader also swapped his usual wear, the dhoti and kurta, for the traditional Nepali dress, the daura-suruwal, a long shirt over tight trousers. He will attend the office from Monday, sources close to Jha said.
Maithali and Hindi languages are widely spoken among the Madhesi community based in Nepal's Terai plains, which is the home to about half of the country's 30 million people.
The three major parties — ruling CPN-UML and its key partner Nepali Congress along with main opposition UCPN (Maoist) — in a rare political consensus introduced a resolution to reactivate the defunct vice presidential post after the seventh amendment of the interim constitution. Jha, a prominent leader from the Terai plains bordering India, has been supported by the parties from the region in the language row. They have urged the CPN-UML-led government to recognise Hindi as the official language.
Jha's refusal to retake the oath of office in the Nepali language last year had sparked a language row and protests in the country as many questioned his loyalty to the country.
Nepal's Terai plains are home to about half of the country's 30 million people, and the residents of the region, known as Madhesis, have long complained of discrimination by the country's hill communities.
The pro-Terai parties argue that people in the Madhesi-dominated southern plains have long been treated as second-class citizens in Nepal, where hill-origin elites dominate politics, the security forces and business.
Madhesi leaders from the Terai have often threatened to launch an agitation if the embattled government fails to provide Hindi the official language status and give greater economic and political rights, including more autonomy, to the community living in the plains bordering India.
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