After holding several rounds of informal talks, the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) has formed a four-member team to sit in formal talks with the government side.

A meeting of the SLMM, an alliance of four Madhes-centric parties, held in the Capital on Sunday decided to form the panel comprising Laxman Lal Karna of Sadbhawana Party, Lal Babu Raut of Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, Sarbendra Nath Sukla of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, and Nam Naresh Rai of Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party.

 A cross-party talks panel comprising Forest Minister Mahesh Acharya, UML Chief Whip Agni Kharel and UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha is likely sit for negotiations with the SLMM on Monday.

The SLMM formed the talks team after the government and three-party panel was positive about addressing the genuine demands raised by the people of Madhes.

“We were never against the dialogue,” said Karna, asking the government to come up with a concrete plan to address their demands.

The SLMM leaders have said that there was no possibility of agreement unless the government comes with a convincing plan on delineation and demarcation of electoral constituencies based on

population.

The alliance also decided to withdraw its protest, but

give continuity to border blockade and non-cooperation movement.

The agitating parties are under pressure after India communicated to Nepali

leadership its intention to lift the unannounced border blockade. They have been protesting in the Tarai region for the last 50 days.

Meanwhile, the talks between cross-party panel and Bijay Kumar Gachhadar-led Sanghiya Loktantrik Morcha concluded on a positive note on Sunday.

The members from both sides said that they agreed to resolve the issues within couple of days.

Jitendra Dev, vice-chairman of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik), said that they have asked the government panel to come up with an amendment proposal in the constitution to resolve the issue of citizenship along with proportional inclusive representation and allocation of electoral constituencies based on population size in addition to a concrete proposal on resolving delineation issue. “The government panel is positive on our demands. We hope the reach to an agreement very soon,” Dev said.

Protest continues, civil servants rally in support

Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) supporters staged sit-in protest for three hours at Nepal-India border point in Sunauli, Rupandehi, on Sunday.

A brief clash erupted at the border when some people reportedly threw stones at SLMM cadres as they were preparing to organise a corner meet at the no-man’s-land. The SLMM protesters later moved to Sunauli Bazaar.

Though cargo trucks started to enter Nepal from Sunauli point, the SLMM is planning to obstruct the movement of vehicles as a part of their non-cooperation movement.

The government employees in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts also took out rallies expressing solidarity with the Tarai protest. They tied black armbands and supported the sit-in protest of the SLMM on the border.

Some government officers in Rautahat said they decided to stage the rally as the government was not serious about addressing the demands of Madhesi people. The government employees of Sarlahi staged demonstration at Malangawa to pressurise the government to address the demands of Madhes.

The SLMM supporters also staged a sit-in protest at Biratnagar-Jogbani customs point.

In Dhanusha, various religious outfits staged a demonstration at Janakpur expressing solidarity with the ongoing protest of SLMM.

Meanwhile, Magarat Struggle Committee has announced to organise assemblies in Palpa, Baglung, Rolpa and Tanahun districts demanding Magarat Autonomous State.

Kapilvastu schools resume classes from today

Schools in Kapilvastu are going to resume their classes from Monday. Around 500 schools in the district were closed for the past 53 days due to the protest. A joint meeting of SLMM and Madhes Mukti Sangharsha Samiti on Sunday agreed to open the schools. After the meeting, the SLMM requested the school operators in the district to run their classes between 6 am to 11 am until their protest concludes.

(With inputs from our local correspondents)