Miscellaneous
Tharu leaders commit to social harmony
Six days after the violent clash in Tikapur, leaders of the Tharuhat movement expressed their commitment on Saturday to maintain social harmony in Kailali.Ganesh Chaudhary & Thakur Singh Tharu
Six days after the violent clash in Tikapur, leaders of the Tharuhat movement expressed their commitment on Saturday to maintain social harmony in Kailali.
“It’s the government that should address our demand for a Tharuhat province. We don’t have anger or hatred towards any community,” Tharuhat movement leader Laxman Tharu told a news conference on Saturday. He said their problems would not be solved by attacking the Pahadi (Hills) people. Stating that the Tharus and Pahadis have been living in the area peacefully for years, he said the clash was a result of the undivided Far West campaign.
“The incident has saddened us,” said Laxman, adding that the government should take responsibility for the deaths of eight police personnel and an 18-month-old, and property vandalism.
Laxman, a central member of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik, said the Tharuhat movement was launched as the proposed seven-state federal model failed to address the Tharus’ concerns. “We are firm on a single Tharuhat province from Kanchanpur to Chitwan,” he reiterated.
Another Tharuhat leader Meghu Tharu, who led Monday’s protest, admitted that the demonstrators were armed with catapults and batons during the agitation. He claimed that the peaceful rally turned violent after security personnel fired at the protesters.
“There was no infiltration in our movement. The incident happened as the enraged protesters retaliated police suppression,” said Meghu. He claimed that the Tharuhat protest was not out of their command.
Meghu denied responsibility for the baby’s death saying that the protesters had not fired bullets during the clash.