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Tharus to protest 14-state model
KATHMANDU, JAN 24 -
The Tharu community has announced its protest programme against what it has called an “expensive” and “feudal” model of the 14-state federation for Nepal proposed by the Constituent Assembly (CA) Committee on state restructuring and distribution of state power.
The community’s objection to the concept paper surfaced after the concept paper was made public on Wednesday.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha (TKS), said that it would start protests on Feb. 3 with the burning of the CA committee’s draft concept on the 14-state federation. This is to be followed by torch rallies and other symbolic programmes across the country.
“The model proposed by the CA committee is feudal in that it aims to keep the feudal rulers’ power intact and give continuity to the same old order,” said TKS Chairman, Raj Kumar Lekhi. “The model does not benefit the communities that have been excluded so far, such as the Tharus, Muslims, Dalits, and other indigenous people.”
The Tharu community has also criticised the model, stating that it has proposed the federation without identifying the real objectives behind it. “On the one hand, the CA committee has proposed a very expensive model with 14 states, which the country’s economy may not be able to bear, while on the other, it fails to iterate why the demand for federalism emerged.”
The Tharus, who make up seven percent of the total population, claim that the model is part of a “political game plan” engineered by Madhesi parties who want to rule over the entire Tarai by either imposing the “one Madhes one Province” formula or by rejecting a separate state for the Tharus, as demanded by the community. The CA committee’s concept features a Tharuhat-Lumbini-Abadh state in the western Tarai. Since Abadh is a Madhesi name derived from the local dialect Abadhi, Tharus have objected to the concept paper, stating that it has tried to box in Tharus under the Madhesi name.
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