Kathmandu, July 2 :

The Loktantrik Madhesi Alliance (LMA) begun a six-day sit-in protest from today to create pressure on the government to include Madhesis in the peace-building process.

On the first day of the protest, they staged a sit-in protest at the main gate of the Singha Durbar.

The parliament and the government established by the people’s movement, seven-party alliance, CPN-Maoist, human rights organisations, civil society have not made their stance clear about the age-old suppression and domination against the Madhesi community, according to the LMA.

“The discriminatory policy of the concerned authorities against the Madhesi community has been clear with the exclusion of Madhesi representatives in the peace process,” a press release issued by the alliance stated. “Therefore, we have declared protest programmes to safeguard our dignity, right to live as citizens and equal participation in all sectors of the society.”

The alliance has demanded citizenships for hundreds of thousands of Madhesis before the nation goes for election to the Constituent Assembly (CA).

They have also demanded that an “authentic census” should be conducted before determining the electoral areas for the CA polls.