Far west agitators, govt start talks; bandh still on

Talks between the government and the delegation of those agitating for "undivided far west" started in the capital on Saturday.

Government's talks coordinator, Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Situala, speaking to...

In the first round of talks held at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, representatives of the agitating group presented their demands to the government's talks team. However, the government team headed by Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Sitaula could not present the official position on the demand of the agitators. Today's meeting did not yield any result.

Emerging from the talks, Sitaula said the government had taken the demands of the agitators positively. He also said they would consult top leaders of the major parties about the demand of undivided far west before holding next round of talks on Sunday.

“We are serious about addressing their issues in the new constitution. We have urged them to stop the protest,” he said. However, "undivided far west" campaigners said that they would not call off the bandh until the government agreed to address their demand.

Nain Singh Mahar, a member of the 36-member talks team of the agitators, accused the government of conspiring to crack down on their movement by mobilising police and provoking some people to take to the street against undivided far west supporters in Kailali.

Life in far western region has been thrown out of gear as the bandh enforced by undivided far west supporters entered day 16 on Saturday.

Over a dozen protesters were injured in Kailali district headquarters Dhangadi after a group demanding undivided far west and another group protesting against the demand clashed on Friday.

Undivided far west campaigners have been demanding that 9 districts of Seti and Mahakali zones be turned into a single province while federating the country. nepalnews.com