Kathmandu, September 12:

United Tharu National Front, Nepal (UTNFN), an umbrella organisation of 15 Tharu organisations, today demanded that the government make an amendment to the interim constitution, which has mentioned all districts in the plains as “Madhes.”

Article 21 of the constitution mentions 20 districts lying in the plains as Madhes. The UTNFN said it is opposed to this classification because it does not reflect the identity of the Tharu community.

“The interim constitution has categorised even the Tharus, who are indigenous community of the Tarai, as Madhesis. This is a wrong categorisation. The constitution must be amended and the plain region must be called the Tarai because this region has been known as the Tarai for long,” Yogendra Tharu, the coordinator of the UTNFN, said.

Surendra Pandey, a leader of the CPN-UML and member of the government team that held talks with the UTNFN, said that both the sides had agreed to discuss the issue with the Speaker, government talks team, UTNFN and chief whips of the eight parties in the next meet. Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel had led the government team.

Yogendra Tharu said that even the first amendment of the constitution has used the term Madhes. “An appropriate name should be given to the 20 districts in the plains only after consultation with all the communities, including the Tharus,” he said.