Itahari, November 24:

Leaders of the indigenous and janajati communities today warned of a new revolt if the comprehensive national peace treaty between the government and the Maoists ignores them. They warned against any attempt to use them as a votebank or cannonfodder during elections to the constituent assembly.

Speaking at the eastern regional gathering of the Nepal Indigenous Janajati Federation in Sunsari, general secretary of the Investigation Department of Nepalese Indigenous & Janajati Federation (NIJF), Nityananda Tajpuriya, said there is no alternative but to struggle to ascertain the rights of the indigenous communities living in the country.

NIJF’s student wing chairperson Chandra Bikram Rai accused the government and the Maoists of forgetting the issues of janajatis and indigenous people.