Govt forms ministerial panel to talk to far western protesters

The government on Monday formed a three-member committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Situala to hold talks with the groups agitating with the demand for 'undivided far west'.

The committee comprises minister Barshaman Pun and minister Mahendra Yadav as members.

The government formed the high-level talks committee after the leaders of the major parties supporting the ongoing bandh in far western region said the agitation could end if the government initiated dialogue at the higher level.

The bandh entered 11th day today, bringing normal life to a grinding halt. The top leaders of the three parties had made similar call to the protesters on Saturday but it failed to impress the agitators.

Even flights to Dhangadhi's Geta airport remain cancelled for days with the protesters placing locks at the entrance of the airport.

While 22 lawmakers from the region, mostly of them representing the ethnic communities, have opposed the demand for '"undivided far-west", a number of prominent leaders including Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress, Bhim Rawal of UML and Lekh Raj Bhatta of the UCPN (M) have supported the demand. nepalnews.com