Chairman of Islami Sangh Nepal, Nazarool Hasan Falahi, alleged that the Madhes-based parties were using the Muslims as a vote bank just as the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML did in the previous elections. "Both mainstream as well as Madhes-based parties appear biased. Neither the political parties representing us, nor the state have shown any initiative to ensure our proportional representation in state machinary," he complained. "We are now conscious of our rights. No one should take us for granted." [break]
General Secretary of MPRF-Republican, Eqbal Ahmed Shah, vented his ire against the political parties that promised to meet their demands, but failed to keep them.
"The Madhesi parties proved to be no exception. They could secure the post of deputy prime minister by stepping on the bodies of 54 martyrs. But they could not do anything substantive to meet our demands," he said. "We can no longer afford to be just a vote bank for these cunning politicians."
Leaders of the the Madhesi-based parties, however, claim that they are seriously concerned about the issues raised by the Muslims.
"Our party has shown seriousness towards the marginalized communities of Madhes," said Spokesperson of Sharat Singh Bhandari-led National Madhesh Socialist Party, Ijharul Mikrani. "Our party will carry the agenda of Muslims in the election manifesto." He maintained that his party would get maximum votes from the Muslim pockets in Tarai-Madhes.
He argued that, except his party, all other parties of Madhes were indulging in caste politics, and that some parties were not serious towards the agenda of the Muslims and other minority communities in the region.
Central member of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP) Pushpa Thakur has said that her party was completely dedicated to the cause of the discriminated communities.
"Our party was formed with a clear motive to end all the political and social discriminations against the Madhesi people," she said, maintaining that the agendas of Muslims were high on her party´s agenda .
"As we don´t believe in vote politics, we won´t raise the issues of the Muslims just to get votes from them in the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) polls," she further said.
General Secretary of Sadbhavana Party Manish Kumar Suman said, "The Muslims are Madhesis and they are the inhabitant of Tarai from the time of Ancient Mithila King Janak," he said, adding, "There are nine central committee members in our party from the community, which demonstrates our commitment to their cause."
Refuting Suman´s claim, Falahi said, "The representation of leaders from a certain community doesn´t necessarily reflect the party´s seriousness towards the issues that concern the community."
He maintained that though there were some Muslim leaders in the apex bodies of the Madhes-based parties, they were not the true leaders of their community.
"Some Muslim leaders of Madhesi parties are engaged in fulfilling their vested interests rather than working for the uplift of their community. Have any Muslim leader from any Madhes-based party taken any initiative to institutionalize the concerns of the Muslims?" he questioned.
Political Analyst CK Lal claimed that none of the Madhes-based parties were serious towards cause of the Muslims. "I don´t see any sign of that seriousness," said Lal, adding, "Presence of some Muslim leaders at the top is just symbolic."
"Political parties should address the concerns raised by the Muslims by incorporating their agendas in their political documents," he said.
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