Kathmandu, February 2:

Mahendra Paswan, vice-president of the Madhesi Rastriya Mukti Morcha (MRMM) and member of legislative parliament, said today that the MRMM had decided to take hold of the ongoing Terai movement so that genuine demands of Madhesi activists can be addressed.

At an interaction programme organised by the Youth Initiative, Paswan said some of his party members had left for the Terai. “We know some regressive elements are involved in the movement to fish in troubled waters,” he said.

He urged the government to meet demands of the Madhesis at the earliest. “The announcement of a federal system and proportional representation in the constitution can help bring the situation in the Terai under control,” he said.

Speaking at the programme, Amaresh Narayan Jha, president of the Maithali Samaj Mahasangh, said the ongoing movement could be taken as a struggle for identity of the Madhesis, the occupants of the Terai since Vedic times, in their own land. “I take the movement as a manifestation of suppressed sentiments of the Terai people,” he said.

He said the movement would go out of control if leaders failed to meet demands of the Madhesis. “It could go out of our hand anytime,” he said, adding, “Apparently, it is still a non-issue for the state,” he said.

Deepak Gupta, a student leader affiliated to the ANNFSU, said, “The Madhesis are questioned as they go to acquire citizenship at the local bodies, whereas a native of Sikkim is never questioned as his looks are similar to that of a resident of the hilly region,” he said.