Kathmandu, May 12

United Democratic Madhesi Front today sent its response to the government’s invite for talks saying that the government was not serious about finding a negotiated settlement of the agendas raised by agitating forces.

The UDMF wrote a letter to the prime Minister today saying the government spoiled the environment for talks by falsely indicting Madhesi leaders and cadres and subjecting them to torture, and unless that was corrected, there will be no relevance for talks.

The UDMF said it was always ready to sit for meaningful dialogue and forge consensus, but the government must build conducive environment for the same.

The front said that the government was not serious about negotiated settlement of constitutional issues as the government had not made its stance clear vis-à-vis its 11-point demand.

The front said that the Coordinator of the political mechanism formed to settle issues related to provincial boundaries himself was negative about republicanism, federalism, proportional inclusion and secularism and the mechanism had no terms of reference.

The front said it had held 36 rounds of negotiation with the government and major parties but those negotiations produced no results. The UDMF accused PM Oli of unilaterally breaking off negotiations on February 16.

The front said the government had not formed a probe committee to investigate cases of rights violation and use of excessive force during the Madhes movement despite the   fact that national and international stakeholders had demanded the same.

The front said the government had not declared the movement victims martyrs and had deviated from its responsibility to provide treatment to people who were injured during the movement.

The first two amendments, the UDMF said, were made to the constitution not to address the agitating forces’ concerns, but to mislead the international community.

The front said the fact that those two amendments were a farce was evident from the nomination of 11 Supreme Court justices mainly on the basis of political quota (among the major parties).