Birgunj, January 7:

Chairman of Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Mahanta Thakur today said that the area from Mechi to Mahakali from Chure in the north to the plains in the south should be included as Tarai.

“Rights of the people living in the Tarai region cannot be guaranteed if we raise the slogans only for Madhesi people and ignore the Pahadi, Muslim and Hindu communities living in the region, which is home to 49 per cent of the total population,” he said. Speaking to journalists he said: “We have to know that people of other castes, religions and groups, apart form Madhesis, also live in Tarai.”

He said that attempts are on to form a larger front to push the Madhes agitation and that it would realised soon.