Nepal's Indian-origin Madhesis today announced a fresh 11-day protest over the country's new Constitution, saying the government was not "serious" during the talks "despite our maximum flexibility" even as Nepalese Premier dismissed their three-month-long stir as unnecessary.
The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) announced the new round of protests, which will begin on Sunday, as they believed the new government of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was taking the negotiations with the protesters lightly.
In a meeting held here to formulate the strategy ahead, the UDMF reviewed protest plans in the wake of Constitution Amendment Bill the government has tabled in the Parliament.
The new protest programme included burning copies of the Bill, holding protest rallies and assemblies, and obstructing government representatives, including ministers and lawmakers from visiting Terai region -- largely inhabited by Madhesis, who constitute nearly 52 per cent of Nepal's population.
"We did not find the government serious despite our maximum flexibility that we maintained during over a dozen rounds of talks," said Mahanta Thakur, president of the Terai Madhes Democratic Party, one of the constituents of the UDMF.
"We will not hold talks with the government in the capital from now onward, but in the Madhes (region)."
Thakur said the UDMF will not agree to the Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at addressing some of their demands.
The Madhesi Front, however, maintained its silence on the ongoing blockade of India-Nepal border check points.
The front concluded that talks were irrelevant as the government does not have any clear view on the demands of the protesting parties, said a statement issued after the meeting.
It said the Bill did not address concerns of Madhesis, Janajatis, Dalits, Tharus, Muslims and other agitating groups.
"It is not acceptable to us," the front said.
The UDMF meeting was held as the months-long political crisis and border blockade following the promulgation of the Constitution in September showed no signs of resolution.
Madhesis are protesting the division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution, which, they say is discriminatory to their interests. They demand a redrawing of the provincial boundaries as proposed in the new Constitution.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli said the protests in the Terai region have no significance.
Addressing a gathering of his CPN-UML party in Kailali district, Oli said that the new Constitution has ensured rights to Madhesis and thus the protests were unnecessary.
"There is dishonesty in the name of Madhesi people. What is the protest for?" Oli asked. "The schools are closed in the Madhes, but children of the protesting leaders study in Delhi and Dehradun. They ride cars but torch ambulances carrying patients from the Madhes."
He said his government would resort to constitutional and legal means if the talks fail. "No one has right to create a situation where people would have to suffer," Oli said.
He, however, said that as the Constitution is ever amendable, everything can be corrected anytime.
