Kathmandu, June 21:

Indigenous rights activists have demanded that the remaining 26 Constituent Assembly members be picked from the ethnic and indigenous communities.

Speaking at a programme in Kathmandu today, Om Gurung of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) said, “The remaining 26 CA members should be appointed

from the indigenous groups.” He said indigenous people in Nepal were marginalised and that they should be incorporated well in the new federal democratic order.

President of NEFIN Pasang Sherpa said, “Indigenous people need to unite themselves for the protection and promotion of their culture, language, religion, custom and tradition.” The entire indigenous population needs to be represented in the CA to ensure a proportional development of all the castes, Sherpa added.

He said there was no sign of an indigenous group member to be appointed the President or Prime Minister in the present political situation.