A meeting of an 11-member joint taskforce of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and various Tharu organizations held Tuesday reached the agreement. [break]
"We have different identity though we reside within the same territory. Therefore we have agreed to respect each other," said a member of the taskforce.
The taskforce members stressed the need for ensuring proportional representation of all ethnic groups in all state organs on the basis of population in line with the new constitution.
Similarly, both sides have united voice on the issue of inclusion. They demanded that the separate identify of dalits, women and indigenous communities living in the Tarai, hills and mountains should be clearly ensured through the bill on inclusion.
According to leaders, they have agreed that the federal provinces to be formed must be autonomous.
The taskforce is yet to forge consensus on the issues including state restructuring, number of federal units in the Tarai and the peace process. "We will sort out the remaining contentious issues through next three or four rounds of meetings" another member of the taskforce told Republica.
On August 2, the leaders of the Madhes-based political parties and Tharu organizations had formed the taskforce to forge a common stance on various issues including state restructuring, peace process and constitution writing.
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