Madhesis call for fresh stir in Nepal

Nepal’s Indian-origin Madhesis on Friday announced fresh protest plans over the new Constitution saying talks with the government have become irrelevant even as Nepalese Premier dismissed their over three months-long stir as unnecessary.

The agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front announced new protest programmes as they believe the government was taking the talks lightly.

The Madhesi Front held a meeting here to review the protest programmes and formulate new strategies in the wake of the Constitution Amendment Bill the government tabled at the Parliament and announced new programmes, the Himalayan Times reported.

The new protest programmes include burning copies of the Constitution Amendment Bill, holding protest rallies and assemblies and obstructing representatives of the government, including ministers and legislators, from visiting Tarai districts.

The Madhesi Front, however, maintained silence on if its border blockade programme.

The Front concluded that the talks turned irrelevant as the government did not have any clear view on demands of the protesting parties, a statement issued after the meeting said.

It said the Constitution Amendment Bill did not address concerns of Madhesis, Janajatis, dalits, Tharus, Muslims and other agitating communities.

“It is not acceptable to us,” the Madhesi Front asserted.

The meeting was held as the months-long political crisis showed no signs of resolution.

Madhesis, Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal’s Terai region, are protesting division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution.