Kathmandu, November 14

A group of civil society members led by former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today met Unified CPN-Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and urged him to take initiative to resolve the Tarai unrest.

The team included CK Lal, Pitamber Sharma, Krishna Hachhethu and Devendra Raj Pandey. Columnist Lal said Tarai unrest was affecting the livelihood of the people, especially daily wage earners, as factories and industries remain shut for the last four months.

He also said that children face the risk of losing an entire academic year due to the prolonged agitation.

Lal said civil society members urged Dahal to take a lead in resolving the Tarai unrest, saying he knew what the problems were and hence was capable of finding a solution.

According to Lal, Dahal told the group that the main cause of Tarai unrest was provincial boundaries set by the new constitution. He said the UML leaders were against changing the provincial boundaries while Nepali Congress leaders were divided on the issue.

Dahal said he personally believed that solution could be found if Kailali was kept in the Tarai province in the west and Morang and Sunsari in the Tarai province in the east. “I do not think parties (NC and UML) would be ready to keep Jhapa and Kanchanpur in Tarai province,” Lal quoted Dahal as telling the civil society members.

Similarly, civil society members also met UDMF leaders today and urged them to seek a peaceful solution to their problems.

“When peaceful agitation continues for long, there is a risk of the parties losing their control over the agitation. We cautioned the UDMF of this danger,” Lal said and added that they also requested the UDMF leaders to seek a negotiated settlement.