The eight political parties are in consultation over possible further measures to address the issues raised in the present protests organised in some half a dozen districts of the Terai “more fully”. By way of input, an 11-member civil society team on Sunday presented to the government’s talks team led by minister Mahanta Thakur and parliamentarians its report on the Terai violence based on its two-week field trip. The report blames the absence of political parties and police “high-handedness”, besides the government’s failure to punish those guilty of acting against Jana Andolan II, thereby making demonstrations anarchic through “infiltration of people with vested interests”. They told an all-party meet that had the top political leaders gone there to guide the masses, the demonstrations would have been “less aggressive”. A “round table conference attended by all other oppressed ethnic communities” has been suggested.

Top leaders’ absence is conspicuous, police high-handedness to a certain extent is quite probable, and the widely perceived role of the royal diehards may well be true, albeit its extent is yet to be determined. However, the civil society leaders do not seem to have thrown much light on what they have made of the widely alleged extraneous hand. Nor much on the ominously violent nature of the protests — a number of journalists engaged on their duty of news collection have been beaten up, ambulances destroyed, let alone other vehicles and property, houses of people, particularly belonging to those of hilly stock, have been set on fire, a policeman has been killed after taking him into custody, etc. These are certainly a far cry from the nature of the April uprising.

These things will detract from even those causes with merit. At least three outfits have come to the fore for leading the agitation in the Terai in mutually reinforcing ways — the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF), whose claim of peaceful movement has taken a severe beating, and the armed groups led by Jwala Singh and Jaya Krishna Goit have, besides killing people, attacked police posts and taken away arms. The main force of the present agitation lies in and around the areas where these two armed outfits have been active, not in most of the Terai as is made out to be. But that said, the government should spare no efforts to reach a peaceful solution, at the same time upholding its duty of keeping the peace but not without ensuring that excesses are not committed. This government, which has the mandate of the Jana Andolan II, is also supposed to demonstrate that it does not hesitate to bring to book all the officials and security personnel who have crossed limits. Well placed is the OHCHR-Nepal’s suggestion that the security forces should not fire live bullets in situations that are not life-threatening. As regards the demands raised by the agitators, the government should take into account the nationwide implications of its decisions. The CA polls are going to be held just to consider all shades of opinion from all sections of the country and write the best possible constitution.