KATHMANDU, August 2 Chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Mahantha Thakur said citizenship provision of draft constitution would victimise Madhesis more than any other group and could even lead to profiling of the naturalised citizens. Talking to THT, Thakur said the draft constitution proposed to give naturalised citizenship to the children of Nepali citizens and those naturalised citizens would be barred from holding constitutional posts. Citizenship provisions, he argued, will thus victimise Madhesis more than others. “Not only that, employers may racially profile naturalised citizens calling them foreigners. Article 282 of the draft constitution can thus affect citizens’ right to employment,” Thakur argued. Citizenship provision can lead to profiling of naturalised citizens, and can affect their right to employment Thakur said draft constitution was without boundaries of the federal units and Madhesi forces could not accept the same. “Draft constitution violates the spirit of the Interim Constitution and the order of the Supreme Court,” Thakur added. “They say that a new constitution would be a document of compromise. Wasn’t the Interim Constitution a document of compromise? These big parties are not honouring the Interim Constitution. How can they talk of another compromise? Even if there is another compromise, there is no guarantee that they will respect the deal,” Thakur said. He said the draft constitution proposed to demarcate election constituencies on the basis of both geography and population and if that happened, out of 165 election constituencies, Madhes would not have more than 60-65 constituencies. Election constituencies should be demarcated on the basis of population, he argued. Another major flaw, Thakur argued, in the draft constitution is that it does not contain the word proportional inclusion. He said the ratio of proportional election was brought down from 58 to 40 per cent which meant that some of the minority groups that could see their representation in the Constituent Assembly after 2008 might not be able to ensure their representation in the Parliament in future. He said the Madhesi forces rejected the 16-point agreement and the draft constitution based on it for it wanted to postpone federalism. Thakur said Madhesi forces had a reason to suspect the motive of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML for they had weak commitment to federalism. “What prevents these parties from delivering a complete constitution?” he wondered. Thakur said the NC and the UML had framed their constitution in 1990 but now Madhesis, Janajatis, women, Dalits and all marginalised sections needed a new constitution that could ensure their rights. The Madhesi leaders said he told the four parties recently that in 1980 people endorsed Panchayat system through referendum but the democratic forces continued to protest against the system. “We will continue protesting against the constitution that does not ensure our rights,” he added. Thakur said electoral mandate could change after another election and warned the ruling parties not to show arrogance of their numerical strength. Thakur said the struggle to establish the agendas of change would not stop just because change seeking forces deserted the opposition alliance.