Miscellaneous
Deaths ‘diminish’ talks prospect
Even as key leaders of the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for back-channel negotiations with major parties, the deaths of protesters have diminished the prospect of immediate dialogue.Even as key leaders of the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for back-channel negotiations with major parties, the deaths of protesters have diminished the prospect of immediate dialogue.
In the past 24 hours, six people died in Bara and Parsa districts with a majority of the fatalities reported in Birgunj.
The casualties have shattered whatever little confidence was being built out of the major parties’ informal engagement with the disgruntled parties and forces.
SLMM leaders Upendra Yadav and Mahantha Thakur, who returned to the Capital from Madhes, said the Birgunj incident
had also widened the rift between the Tarai and the establishment in Kathmandu. They have ruled out the possibility of talks unless the major parties show seriousness to resolve the issues of the new constitution.
“Madhesi people will not compromise. They can see and feel how the major parties are ignoring their demands while addressing the concerns in Karnali and Surkhet. What stops them from addressing the Madhesi people’s demands?” Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav questioned.
Yadav, along with Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party chief Thakur, reached Kathmandu on Tuesday for talks with the major parties and the government. But as the day unfolded, the protests in Birgunj took an ugly turn, resulting in the death of five protesters. The duo decided not to hold talks fearing backlash from their constituencies.
Yadav said they could not sit for talks while the state appeared “bent on suppressing our peaceful agitation”.
“What happened in Birgunj today is a premeditated act of ethnic cleansing. It should be treated as a crime against humanity. This should stop,” Yadav told the Post.
Morcha leaders said the protests would not stop unless the major parties implement the 22-point and eight-point agreements signed with them in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Sadbhawana Party Chairman Rajendra Mahato said the top parties should halt the constitution drafting process, lift “emergency” and send the Army back to the barracks. He said that protests were unlikely to stop unless all the demands of Madhes are addressed.
With violence escalating in the plains, other parties in the alliance have also started internal consultation to walk out of the Constituent Assembly.
“There is immense pressure from people on the ground to leave the CA.
The remaining three parties in the Morcha might quit the CA too if the confrontation lingers,” said an aide to Thakur.
Mahato is said to be more rigid on talks with the establishment. His party has already walked out of the CA.
“The major parties should come to Madhes for dialogue, instead of holding it in Kathmandu. People will not forgive those who deceive them,” said Mahato, hinting at Yadav and Thakur’s visit to Kathmandu.