Solve Tarai woes before constituent assembly election, says Mahato

Biratnagar, January 21:

Minister of State for Home Affairs Ram Kumar Chaudhari said today that the government is ready to address all demands if armed forces in the Tarai come for talks without raising the issues that disrupt the sovereignty and national integrity.

He warned of taking strict action if the armed forces did not come to the negotiating table, saying: “The government has an obligation to take action to control criminal activities.”

Speaking to journalists at the Biratnagar airport, he urged the JMMM-J and JTMM-G to put

forth their demands on the negotiating table.

Stating that the date for the polls is nearing, he urged the JTMM factions to give up weapons and join politics of agreement and inclusiveness.

Noting that the Maoists, who were involved in a decade-long armed conflict, joined mainstream politics through talks, he suggested the JTMM factions to follow suit. He said demands should be raised in a peaceful manner.

He said the government is going to make public a new security strategy within two days to make the CA polls a success.

Meanwhile, a report from Rajbiraj quoted chairman of Nepal Sadbhawana Party Rajendra Mahato today as warning of grave consequences if the election to a constituent assembly is held without addressing the issues raised by the Madhesis.

Speaking at a press conference here, he said: “CA election will be meaningless if it is held without declaring the Tarai an autonomous region. It will invite grave consequences.”

He claimed that there was mistake in the election law and that there would be no Madhesi representation if the election is held without making proper changes in the law.

He said that the government was trying to disrupt the CA polls. “Nobody can take part in the polls if the security situation is not favourable,” he said, adding that the Madhesi people were in urgent need of an election to CA.

He also said that an agreement has been reached with the Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party for unification of the parties and that a working unity would be reached with the armed forces in the region. “We urge the armed groups in Tarai to lay down their arms for some days and take part in our peaceful agitation,” he said, adding; “The weapons of the armed forces will be managed after our agitation ends successfully.”

Mahato also demanded that the agitating armed groups in the Tarai region be invited for talks with the process that had been adopted to tackle with the Maoists.

Armed forces will join the talks if the government guarantees an environment conducive for talks, he said.