With 9-point demands, the United Madhesi Front (UMF), a coalition of Rajendra Mahato-led Nepal Sadbhawana Party and Upendra Yadav’s Medeshi Janadhikar Forum, announced its first phase protest programme Monday.
Organising a press conference in the capital, UMF leaders accused the government and the seven-party alliance of trying to suppress the Madhesi movement by mobilising the special task force (STF) in Terai districts. They said they would launch a decisive agitation in Terai if the government failed to heed to the demands during the three-week long first phase protest that begins Dec 26.
The UMF demands include a caretaker government to hold constituent assembly government, establishment of “Madesh autonomous region” and action against the murderers of journalist Birendra Shah of Bara.
Sadbhawana president Mahato claimed that the state had been unleashing terror in Terai plains in order to “suppress” the movement there. He described the recent seven-party agreement to hold CA polls within this Nepali year as a trick to divert public attention, emphasising that the existing cabinet be dissolved right away to let in a caretaker government represented by various stakeholders.
The Front announced its protest programmes after days of shutdown strike in Rautahat district protesting the cases filed by the Maoists alleging MFJ local cadres of involving in the brutal killing of 27 Maoists in Gaur in March this year. nepalnews.com mk Dec 17 07
