The model best represents the spirit of past agreement signed between the government and indigenous nationalities, said the Janajati leaders, who are spearheading a struggle for identity-based federalism under the banner of “Adibasi Janajati Rastriya Andolan”.

As many as 53 groups representing the Janajati communities in political, social and academic sectors of the country have announced to launch a stronger protest across the country after Tihar holidays to press for ethnicity-based federalism.

Janajati leaders from the parties, including Barsha Man Pun of UCPN (Maoist), Dev Gurung of CPN-Maoist, Ashok Rai of Federal Socialist Party Nepal and Parshuram Tamang of Sanghiya Ganatantrik Samajbadi Party, Pasang Sherpa of the Federal Democratic Party Nepal and Kumar Lingden of Limbuwan Rastriya Party, are in the 40-member coordination committee of the protest.

Leaders in the alliance said the federal model proposed by the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML threaten to avert historical achievements like federalism, identity, and secularism. NC and UML, the two largest parties in the CA, have stood in favour of federating the country into a maximum of seven states based on capacity and identity.

Padma Ratna Tuladhar, the leader of the movement, said 10-state model could be a point of compromise, if NC and UML do not want to settle for 14 states as proposed by the State Restructuring and Devolution of the State Power Committee of the previous CA.

“There should not be any attempt to subvert the achievement of people’s war, Janandolan and the movements launched by Janajatis and Dalits. If that happens, it will only plant seed of discontent among the suppressed,” said Tuladhar.

The alliance has demanded that the government give utmost priority to bring the excluded and backward communities to the mainstream.

Prof Om Gurung, spokesperson of central coordination committee of the movement, said the more the states the wider the platform for oppressed people to participate in developmental process. “There should be a provision of autonomous, protected and special areas for the people who were always neglected by the state,” said Gurung.

He said that the earlier division of country was ‘highly ethnic’ and gave certain communities an upper hands in state function.

“Some parties who desire old ways are blaming that we want to divide people on ethic line. It is they who want ethnic states, not us,” said Gurung, adding that the purpose of their protest is to unite the people and make the country prosperous.

A number of Janajati organisations, including the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin), its women chapter and other sister wings, have supported the protest. Parsuram Tamang, who is also in the core team to draft the modalities of the protest, said this will be more of a cultural protest like the one they staged in 2012. He said the political allies in the alliance will continue parallel protest within the 22-party alliance led by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.