Frustrated at the absence of dialogue between the government and the agitating Madhes-based parties for months, Nepal Bar Association, the umbrella organisation of lawyers, has decided to step in as the facilitator to bring the two sides to the negotiating table.

The NBA, which has representation of lawyers considered close to all the major parties as well as professionals, has formed a committee to facilitate the resumption of dialogue. The nine-member committee led by Senior Advocate Shambhu Thapa has started the preliminary process by holding consultation with the agitating parties united under the Sanghiya Gathabandhan and taking note of their grievances.

Despite correspondence, there has been no dialogue between the government and the agitating parties for five months. The protesters, who accuse the government of being non-committal to their demands, want their preconditions for talks met first.

These include announcing the deceased as martyrs and releasing those arrested during the Tarai agitation. Thapa said his committee will listen to the agitating forces and the major parties before publicising its view. “We want to facilitate the dialogue process. For that, we are collecting views from all quarters,” he told the Post. Though the government and the agitating parties sat for talks 37 times, there was no headway.

Around 30 Madhesi and Janajati parties have been agitating since September last year, expressing their dissatisfaction over several provisions of the new constitution, mainly the seven provinces. They have been demanding rewriting of the Constitution of Nepal.

“After hearing their grievances, I am hopeful that their demands can be addressed,” Thapa added. Though the disgruntled forces want the statute rewritten, Thapa said this was in principle an amendment to the charter.

The nine-member committee will record the parties’ concerns in the first phase and then press both the sides to sit for dialogue. The NBA team is scheduled to hold talks with the ruling and other parties within a week.