Thursday, January 3, 2008

Thakur-led party seeks autonomous Terai guarantee

Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 3 - The recently formed Terai-Madhes Loktantric Party (TLP) Thursday handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, demanding, inter alias, a constitutional guarantee that the country’s lowland belt gets autonomy with the right to self-determination. Talking to reporters after handing over the memo to the PM, chairman of the regional party, Mahanta Thakur warned that they would launch a peaceful agitation if the 11-point demand was not fulfilled within two weeks. “(This) is a struggle for freedom. Madhes needs autonomy. We are not going to backtrack or surrender our demands,” said Thakur, who had resigned as Minister for Science and Technology and a senior Nepali Congress leader last month. Their other demands include martyr’s status to those killed during last year’s Madhes revolt, free medical treatment to the injured ones, and an independent probe into the use of force during the revolt. Inclusion of the Madhesi people in the national army and allocation of the budget on the basis of the population are their other key demands.

Posted on: 2008-01-03 09:07:41 (Server Time)

(Source : ekantipur.com)

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