Consider the following pairs:
| Community sometimes mentioned in the news | In the affairs of | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kurd | Bangladesh |
| 2. | Madhesi | Nepal |
| 3. | Rohingya | Myanmar |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) 2 and 3
The Kurds are a West Asian people spread across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, so pairing them with Bangladesh is wrong. The Madhesis of Nepal's southern Terai plains were in the news for their 2015-16 agitation over Nepal's new Constitution, and the Rohingyas are a Muslim minority of Myanmar's Rakhine State.
- ✗ 1. Kurdish nationalist movements are found in Turkey and Iraq (and Syria and Iran); the Kurds have no connection with Bangladesh.
- ✓ 2. Madhesis (also spelt Madeshi) are the people of the Terai plains of southern Nepal; the UN human rights office described the 2015 protests in the Terai against Nepal's new Constitution as led by ethnic Madeshi groups demanding that their concerns be addressed.
- ✓ 3. The Rohingyas are from Myanmar; their movement into India and Bangladesh has been a source of friction in South Asia.
Remember · Kurds: Turkey-Iraq-Syria-Iran. Madhesis: Nepal's Terai. Rohingyas: Myanmar's Rakhine State (refugees in Bangladesh).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Political Theory, Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Contemporary World Politics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Political Theory, Chapter 7 “Such separatist movements have developed among the Quebecois in Canada, the Basques in northern Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, and the Tamils in Sri Lanka, among others.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Contemporary World Politics, Chapter 3 “Nepal and Bhutan, as well as Bangladesh and Myanmar, have had disagreements in the past over the migration of ethnic Nepalese into Bhutan and the Rohingyas from Myanmar into India and Bangladesh, respectively.”
- UN OHCHR, Press briefing notes on Nepal and Bangladesh, 24 November 2015 ↗ · reference work “The protesters, from ethnic Madeshi groups, have been demanding that their concerns be addressed in the Constitution. … during protests in the Terai area of southern Nepal. The latest killings bring to at least 50 the death toll since protests against the new Constitution began in August this year.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·