Kathmandu, May 5:

The government talks team today held the first round of talks with Janajati representatives.

While the government talks team was headed by minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel, the Janajati talks team was headed by Dr Om Gurung.

The two-hour talks, held on the premises of the ministry, concluded at around 10:30. The teams agreed to hold talks again once the government holds talks with other agitating parties, including the Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum, women, Dalits and the Indigenous Nationalities Joint Struggle Committee. “We focused on the process to continue talks,” minister Poudel, coordinator of the government talks team, said. “Both the teams will study efforts made during previous rounds of talks. A decision on holding the second round of talks will be made once the government completes the first round of talks with other agitating groups.”

“The issues being raised by agitating parties are common issues of all Nepalis. We should focus on how we can defend our national interest,” he told reporters after the talks. As the talks began, Dr Krishna Bahadur Bhattachan, a member of the Janajati talks team, questioned whether the team led by Poudel was authorised to hold talks with the Janajati talks team.

However, Dr Gurung said the government talks team had assured them that it was authorised to hold talks with the Janajati talks team.

The government talks team will hold talks with other agitating parties, Poudel said, adding that decision on the next round of talks will be held in eight days.

Dr Gurung said the Janajatis have been demanding restructuring of the state on the basis of ethnicity and representation in the constituent assembly with ethnic and lingual identity, among others.

Dr Krishna Bahadur Bhattachan, Kripasur Sherpa, Manjul Yakthumba, Ganga Khasu Magar and Dikki Sherpa were other members of the talks team of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN).

Earlier in the day, various indigenous groups organised a sit-in in front of the northern gate of Singh Durbar for an hour, demanding resignation of Education Minister Pradeep Nepal for commenting against education in mother tongues. They also demanded that the issue be raised during the talks.

Minister Poudel told the reporters that the comment of minister Nepal was not the authentic voice of the government.