After the 2062/63 people's movement, eastern Nepal became a fertile ground for identity struggles. From Panchthar to Jhapa, slogans of 'No Limbuwan, No Entry' echoed. Now, there is an election atmosphere, but the issue of identity is silent.

While the political consciousness created by the movement is disappearing in the crowd of party changes, the issue of identity is also becoming marginalized. This is the same geography, at one time, there was a campaign to boycott those who supported the name 'Koshi'.

After the people's movement, Panchthar became the center of the Limbuwan movement. The then Federal State Council had held its first national general convention at the Sumhatlung temple in Phidim-4 and vowed to establish a Limbuwan state in the 9 districts east of Arun. After this, there were several movements in the east. Along with the Federal Limbuwan State Council, the Federal Democratic National Forum, Limbuwan Krantikari and Janmukti, and other parties and pressure groups remained in the movement for almost two decades.

Two people, Rajkumar Mangatok and Manil Tamang of Jhapa, have already lost their lives in the same movement before 2079 BS.

After the naming of the state as ‘Koshi Pradesh’, on Chaitra 5, 2077 BS, a group supporting the identity was demonstrating in front of the Chief Minister’s Office in Biratnagar. The police started lathi-charge during the demonstration. Padam Bahadur Limbu (Lajehang), 42, the central co-commander of the Limbuwan Volunteers, was seriously injured. He died during treatment at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan five days later.

On Chaitra 24, a meeting of the Council of Ministers declared Limbu a martyr. It was decided to provide compensation to the family. But on the main issue, the government backed down, saying that it would facilitate the 'naming movement' by negotiating with the province. The process of backing down continues to this day.

In the 2064 and 2070 Constituent Assembly elections, campaigns like 'No Limbuwan, No Entry' were launched in Panchthar against parties and candidates who did not make a commitment to Limbuwan. In the 2074 election, this issue was also approved in the parliamentary politics of the province, and the Federal Limbuwan State Council led by Kumar Lingden from the former Province 1 won one seat in the Koshi Provincial Assembly on the proportional representation route.

However, the 2079 election reduced the representation of identity-supporting parties to zero. Despite the street protests on Falgun 17 of the same year, the Provincial Assembly adopted the name 'Koshi'.

Researcher Dilvikram Angdembe comments that the issue of identity has not been awakened due to the fact that the parties that previously dominated the parliament and the government used the issue of identity only as a ladder to power and did not reach the supporters of identity.

Even after the former Province 1 was named Koshi, the nomination movement continued in stages. Continuing this, the pro-identity forces united in the 'Remove the Cable Car' campaign under construction in Pathibhara. But before these two issues were concluded, pro-identity leaders and activists themselves admit that the Gen-G movement of 23 and 24 Bhadau took the country to a new phase.

In the House of Representatives elections to be held on Falgun 21, there are few candidates supporting identity. Most of the parties that participated in the 2074 Provincial Assembly elections along with the 2064 and 2070 Constituent Assembly elections had prioritized the issue of identity. In 2079 BS, only the then CPN-Maoist Center, Federal Limbuwan Forum and Janata Samajwadi Party raised this agenda, while UML and Congress were in the middle lane.

But this time, only three candidates from the Federal Limbuwan Forum, JSP and National Progressive Alliance who participated in the election have prioritized the issue of identity.

Sanjuhang Palungwa, the founding chairman of the Federal Limbuwan State Council, is a proportional candidate from the National Progressive Alliance in this election. Palungwa, whose name was number one on the list submitted by the party, is now planning to raise the voice of identity that he has made on the streets so far in the House.

In the past, he focused on the demand that the former Province 1, including nine districts in Arunpur, be renamed Limbuwan State, but in this election, he is seeking votes by shifting slightly from the name struggle and now saying that the influence of Western culture should be stopped and multiple identities should be established.

‘Identity could not be established through street struggles alone, I will hold a debate in the House with your votes,’ he says, ‘The task now is not only to name Limbuwan but also to protect the original culture and civilization of Nepal. For the original civilization, the eternal Hindu culture, Buddhism and Kirat civilization must be protected here.’

Not only the candidates, but also the issue of identity has not found a place in the party manifestos. Therefore, analyst Balkrishna Mabohang believes that this issue may be marginalized constitutionally. ‘The public opinion of the party raising the issue of identity is not visible in the land where identity has been raised, the issue of identity has not been raised in the manifestos of the main competitors, that is why it is doubtful that this issue will find a place in the constitutional discussion,’ he said.

The silence of the parties on the issue of identity is surprising. The parties that bring impractical and baseless plans in the name of development seem to be silent on the very issue demanded by the people.

Not only the party, but also the pro-identity leaders and activists are gradually abandoning the issue of identity. Most of the leaders and activists who have held district, provincial and central responsibilities of the Federal Limbuwan State Council and the Democratic National Forum are joining the old parties like the Congress and UML, while some have taken refuge in new parties like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Ujjain Nepal, Shram Sanskriti (Labor Culture Party).

In the Ilam-2 by-election held in 2081, Dakendra Singh Thegim, who came third with 11,457 votes as an independent, has joined the Ujjain Nepal Party. The pro-identity camp was criticized a lot after the person they considered their Mio changed parties in the by-election. Thegim is now almost anonymous.

Even though the pro-identity groups have been divided, they have not stopped claiming that their issue will be institutionalized. Mitra Lingden, a direct candidate from the National Progressive Alliance in Panchthar, said that his candidacy is continuing to give continuity to the issue of identity.

Subash Kerung, Panchthar District Secretary of the Federal Democratic National Forum, admits that while the pro-identity parties are preparing to contest the elections together, they have not been able to unite due to insufficient preparation.

Laxman Lawati, President of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Panchthar, who has been advocating for identity, points out that this issue that has been going on for years may become a trap for the parties at some point unless it is managed constitutionally.

The emotional energy raised by the movement is waning amid the party change and the silence of the manifesto. Some analysts say that the suppressed issues of identity do not disappear completely, they come to the surface again at some point.