Jhapa, September 10

Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Democratic Chairman Bijay Kumar Gachhadar today warned of bloodshed in the country if the demands put forth by the agitating Madhesi, Indigenous Nationalities and Tharu communities were not fulfilled.

Speaking at a protest meeting in Birtamode of Jhapa today, Gachhadar claimed that they had to resort to the street due to lack of options. He demanded that the state stop its suppression of the ongoing peaceful protests at the earliest. He said, “Protest in the far-west was going on as per my advice. However, senior leaders of big three parties are turning their deaf ears to the burning problems despite my frequent appeals.”

If the major parties had been serious from the beginning, the Tarai region would not be on fire and dozens of people would not lose their lives, he argued. “I tried a lot to bring the leaders of the big three parties to one direction, but they did not heed to the demands of the Madhesi people. As they did not agree to address the concerns of Madhesi, janajati, Tharu and marginalised communities, I did not have any option but to turn to the people. We could settle the problems arising from the seven federal provinces model, if they had agreed to take up my three alternatives,” he said.

He also urged the big three to halt the constitution writing process for a few days and open the option for dialogue. “If they are not serious about addressing the genuine demands of the Madhesi people, the agitation will bring the parties on the right track,” he argued.

Gachhadar appealed to people from indigenous nationalities, among others, demanding the unification of Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts as a separate state. If these three districts are not merged, these districts have to be detached from hill districts and an autonomous state can be declared merging these districts with Siraha, Saptari and Udaypur. A large number of leaders and activists of indigenous nationalities and organisations were present at the protest gathering.