Madhes-based leaders want PM to lay ground for meaningful talks

KATHMANDU, Aug 28: Leaders of Madhes-based parties have argued that the government has called on them for talks without preparing a proper environment. They also said that the Madhes-based parties want the prime minister to lay the ground for meaningful talks and to do so by expressing his commitment to address issue on the basis of the past agreements reached with them.

In the wake of violence in different parts of the country over the delineation of federal provinces, the government on Wednesday sent formal letters to the agitating groups, including Madhes-based parties and Tharuhat supporters, calling on them for talks. The government has reiterated its commitment to resolving their demands through negotiations, while also urging them to shun any violence."We are not in a mood to sit for talks for the shake of talks, but if the government wants meaningful talks, we are ready to sit at the table since we want a constitution through the Constituent Assembly," said Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) spokesperson Sharbendra Nath Shukla.

"Our party chairman has already made it clear to the PM that the Madhes-based parties have no new demands amd that the state should comply with agreements reached since the Madhes uprising. We want the PM and his coalition partners to make their views clear on implementing previous agreements," Shukla added.

TMDP Chairman Mahantha Thakur, Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) Chair Upendra Yadav and Sadbhavana Party chief Rajendra Mahato were in Mahottari on Thursday and are scheduled to attend protest programs in Sarlahi on Friday.

"They will return to Kathmandu in some days. Our alliance can discuss the government's letter only then," said Shukla.

Likewise, FSFN Chief Whip Shivajee Yadav said that the Madhes-based parties want a concrete proposal from the government and the major political parties on how they are going to address the demands of the agitating groups.

"We are not against talks but we want it to be serious, not just a formality. The recent activities of the government do not signal that the government is serious," said Yadav.

Sadbhavana Party co-chair and lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna, who has submitted his resignation at the CA Secretariat because of dissatisfaction over province delineations, said the government's calling on them for talks will have no meaning until the CA halts the ongoing process of constitution drafting .

"When the major parties are not ready to stop the ongoing process in the CA, to halt the deployment of the Nepal Army and refrain from using brute force against the protestors, we cannot sit for any kind of talks," said Karna.

According to the Republica correspondent in Lahan, former general-secretary of Tharu Kalyankari Shabha, Raj Kumar Lekhi, also said that the government should withdraw its decision to deploy the army and lift the curfew in several places, to create an environment for talks.

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