Nepal to lose sovereignty if Terai is separated: Deputy PM

Nepal will loose sovereignty if Terai plains is separated from the hilly region by delineating the federal provinces established by the newly-enacted Constitution, Deputy Prime Minister Chitra Bahadur K C warned today.
"Terai, the southern plains, hilly region and mountain region are interdependent and it is necessary to keep them intact," said veteran communist leader Chitra Bahadur, who is also Minister for Poverty Alleviation.
"It has become crystal clear why the Madhesi parties are demanding Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari of the east and Kailali and Kanchanpur of the west in their provinces.
"The hardship facing the people of Nepal today due to the ongoing blockade on the Nepal-India border is enough to show why separating Terai from the rest of the country can be disastrous for the country," he said.

"We are being punished in the form of economic blockade for promulgating the Constitution as per the wishes of the Nepalese people," he said.
He also added that the Madhesi problem is Nepal's internal issue and they don't need external help for resolving it.

The major demands of the Indian-origin Madhesi people are to re-draw the federal provinces by separating the Terai plains from the hilly region and inclusion of more rights and representation for them.
Madhesi groups have been staging protests in various parts of southern Nepal against the seven-province model of the newly-promulgated Constitution for more then two months now.

Meanwhile, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare C P Mainali alleged in a TV interview yesterday that India had a plan to merge Nepal's Terai region with its territory.
Last week also Mainali had made the same allegation, prompting the Indian Embassy here to issue a statement dismissing his claims.