KATHMANDU, Nov 14: The Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) has proposed a referendum on the party´s demand for delineating the whole of southern plains of Nepal as a single province and naming it Madhes. In its federal model, the party has proposed making autonomous zones inside the single Madhes province. [break]
Presenting its federal model to CA Committee for State Restructuring on Saturday, MPRF co-chair Jaya Prakash Gupta demanded that the whole of the southern plains ranging from the Chure hill range on the north to the southern borders from Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west be made a single province. “Making the whole of Madhes as a single province is justified from every perspective. If it is denied, there will be grounds to deny the delineation of other provinces as well,” said Gupta at the committee meeting.
It may be recalled that various ethnic groups including Tharus in the southern plains of the country have vehemently protested MPRF demand. Arguing that the term Madhes has its origin in one of the Indian languages, Tharus have also demanded that it be named Tarai.
But the MPRF, which underwent split following a row surrounding the last army chief Rookmangud Katawal, has held on to its demand. Gupta argued that there are fundamentally two kinds of nationalities in Nepal based on geography -- one is Parwate and another Madhesi -- “despite the fact that there are many sub-nationalities”.
He also argued that such province be named Madhes as denying such a name is to kill the historic facts, its culture and identity. According to him, making such a single province is imperative to relieve the region from the “internal colonization”. He said the one-language policy, discriminatory citizenship distribution, conspiratorial land reform, deforestation and malaria eradication programs were behind the discriminations against the Madhesis.
He said various autonomous zones including Birat and Avadh can be created inside the single Madhes province, but the authority to make such autonomous provinces should be left at the hand of the provincial legislature. Arguing against ethnicity-based federalism, the MPRF co-chair said the region-based federalism would be appropriate for the country.
Going by the MPRF proposal, the Madhes province will occupy 27,404.33 sq km of Nepal´s 147,181 sq km area. Such a province will cover all the fertile land of the country habituated by diverse ethnic groups.
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