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“The government, however, is yet to finalize the location of the proposed university in the far-western region,” said government spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara while emerging out of the cabinet meeting at Singha Durbar.
Students, civil society members and locals in the far-western region have been launching demonstrations since Monday to protest the government decision to open three universities – one each in Chitwan and Surkhet and the third one being an open university. The protests against the government decision intensified in the far-western region from Tuesday, leading the local authorities to clamp an indefinite curfew in Mahendranagar, the district headquarters of Kanchanpur.
Within a decade, first Tharu museum in ruins
On Wednesday, the cabinet also decided to hold dialogue with agitating Tharus and other indigenous people based in Tarai in order to address their protests. They have been launching a series of protests in the capital and Tarai districts to protest the proposed definition of Madhesi that has listed Tharu and other Tarai-based indigenous groups.
A cabinet formed-committee headed by Minister for Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly Affairs (Dev Gurung) had prepared a report defining 92 Tarai-based castes, including Tharu and other indigenous people as Madhesi. The government is yet to approve the definition.
"The definition is unauthorized as the government has not taken any decision in this regard," said Mahara. “The government will talk to Tharus and other indigenous and ethnic communities before taking any decision in this regard.”
The decision comes in the wake of protests launched by various ethnic bodies, including Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) and Tharu Kalyankari Sabha, an ethnic-based group. They have maintained that the proposed definition of Tharus and other indigenous people violated ILO 169 Article that relates to the rights of indigenous people, including Tharu and other Tarai-based ethnic people. They said that they are not Madhesis.
Talking to media persons after the cabinet meeting, Mahara said that the cabinet decided to send the tourism and industrial policies to the bill committee of the parliament. The cabinet meeting also approved a regulation relating to the Nepal Trust Office.
Likewise, the cabinet meeting also appointed Constituent Assembly member Usha Gurung as the head of Arrears Settlement Committee. The cabinet also dissolved the High Level Information Technology Commission.
