National
Tharus to launch protests from Friday
The Tharuhat/Tharuwan Joint Struggle Committee (TJSC), an alliance struggling for separate Tharu provinces in the plains, on Tuesday unveiled its own protest programmes beginning May 6.The Tharuhat/Tharuwan Joint Struggle Committee (TJSC), an alliance struggling for separate Tharu provinces in the plains, on Tuesday unveiled its own protest programmes beginning May 6.
The protests, which coincide with programmes announced by the Madhesi and Janajati forces, also include general strikes.
The TJSC will hold mass assemblies a various places of the Tarai beginning while enforcing a general strike in Tarai districts on May 15.
At an event in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Tharu leaders, intellectuals and activists said they were forced to announce protests due to the government’s apathy for addressing their demands. Rajkumar Lekhi, former chairman of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, accused major parties of ignoring their concerns. He said the indigenous people would continue their stir for identity and autonomy until separate Tharu provinces were ensured.
Tharus make 6.6 percent of the country’s total population. Like Madhes-based parties, Tharu groups are also demanding two provinces in the Tarai. Their demand mainly includes formation of a separate province from Nawalparasi to Kailali in the West and a separate Kochila province in the East.