Kathmandu, May 23:

Coordinator of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Form Upendra Yadav today said emancipation of the

Madhes would be possible only when the Madhes was declared an autonomous region.

Addressing a function organised here by the Madhesi Journalists’ Society, Yadav said an autonomous Madhes could have its own administration, identity, ownership and access to resources only when autonomy was compounded with the right to self-determination.

“By right to self determination, we do not mean right to secede,” Yadav clarified, adding that a new constitution should be framed on the basis of consensus, as the Constituent Assembly election has given the mandate for consensus politics.

“The new constitution should be framed on the basis of democratic principles and those principles should be outlined before drafting the constitution,” he said.

Tarai Madhes Democratic Party leader Hridayesh Tripathi said Madhesis still needed to intensify their struggle for their rights, as they would not easily get their due rights easily.

He warned that it would only fuel the ongoing-armed conflict in the Tarai if the efforts to empower the Madhesis through constitutional process did not yield anything positive.

“The days ahead are full of challenges,” he said adding the Madhesi Constituent Assembly members should break free from the party whip in order to empower the Madhesi people.

General secretary of the Nepali Congress Bimlendra Nidhi said his party wanted to carve the country into as many regions as the people wanted. “We can successfully manage the conflict only when the division of provinces is done in line with the will of the people,” he clarified.

He urged all the Madhesi Constituent Assembly members to work unitedly for the cause of the Madhes. “Let’s not just work to rule the Madhes but the whole country,” he urged the Madhesi politicians.

UML leader Ram Chandra Jha said the division of provinces should be done with the consent of all stakeholders.

Maoist Constituent Assembly member Prabhu Sah urged Madhesi leaders not to make the Madhes movement a struggle of geography.

Janata Dal Constituent Assembly member Gayatri Saha said she would leave no stone unturned to entitle the women with their due rights in all walks of life.

Chairman of the Madhesi Professionals’ Alliance Jaya Nishant said that there was a danger of ethnicity centric politics in the days ahead and the Madhesi leaders should be cautious to it.