Kathmandu, July 9:

Kishore Kumar Biswas, who recently quit Gupta-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum to join the movement of indigenous people, particularly the Tharus, said part of Tarai from Morang to Kanchanpur should be named a Tharuhat province.

Addressing an interaction organised here today, he suggested dividing Tarai into not more than three provinces. “Jhapa could be named Kochila province and the area from Morang to Kanchanpur can be named Tharuhat. There could even be two Tharuhat provinces,” Biswas said.

He said language, not geography, should be the basis of autonomy in the Tarai and all the issues of autonomy should be determined by the Constituent Assembly.

Alleging the infiltration of royalists into Madhes-based parties, Biswas said all the castes should have proportionate representation in all state organs, but the indigenous people of Tarai should be given priority in their region.

Chairman of the Nepal Democratic Socialist Party Upendra Gachhadar urged that all the provinces be carved together. He said Tarai was the land of the Tharus and the government should rightly address their concern of an autonomous Tharuhat province.

Chairman of Tharuhat Autonomous State Council Laxman Tharu said the proposed

Fifth Amendment bill should remove the word Madhes from the interim constitution.

“We’ll wage a resistance movement if the Fifth Amendment bill defined Madhes autonomy,” he threatened.

Meanwhile, newly formed Tharuhat United Struggle Committee released a press statement saying it would continue to struggle to get ‘Madhes’ removed from the constitution and get the region from Morang to Kanchanpur districts declared an autonomous Tharuhat province.

The TUSC has called a general strike on Thursday across Madhes to draw the attention of all the stakeholders towards their causes. The organisers claimed that all the 13 organisations standing for the welfare of the Tharu community had supported their cause and protest programmes.