Stating that the recent seven-province federal map the country has completely sidelined them, lawmaker Yogendra Chaudhari, who is a well known face behind the Tharuhat movement, said, "They think we are naïve and have no strength. But they are wrong. The decision to adopt seven-province federal map shows how apathetic the leaders are toward our demand," he said.At least 22 districts of the Southern Tarai region have been affected by Tharuhat agitation continuing since the last 12 days.
Chaudhary claimed the major parties had decided to go for six and later seven-province model to serve their vested interests. "That's totally against the spirit of the people's movement. Federal states need to be delineated on the basis of linguistic and historical identity of the people, but we don't see it in the federal maps proposed by the major parties?" Chaudhari fumed.
Tharus claim that their population stands at over 3.5 million though the national census 2011 puts the number at 1.8 million. "We are the indigenous people of Nepal. Though we are scattered at different places, we demand a separate Tharuhat so that our identity is recognized," said Chaudhari.
The decision to include Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in province-7 has irked the Tharu community. It was our longstanding demand that Kailali and Kanchanpur be included in Tharuhat. We are not going to bow to any kind of pressure," said Chaudhari.
Meanwhile, Dhaniram Chaudhari, coordinator of the ongoing Tharuhat movement said Tharus are ready to pay any cost for recognition of their identity. "We are discussing new strategies to make our voice heard. Tharus are prepared to go to any extent to get their demands fulfilled," he said.
Even though they had earlier discussed whether they should spare schools during banda, Tharus have now decided to strictly close down all public institutions in the region to pile pressure on the major parties.
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