Nepalnews.com, news from Nepal as it happens

Talks with UDMF inconclusive

Talks between the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and a team of Nepali Congress held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar ended inconclusively Tuesday evening.

Emerging from the Baluwatar meeting, Anil Jha, a member of the UDMF talk team, said that UDMF reiterated its six demands including guaranteeing "autonomous Terai province with right to self determination" and implementation of the 22-point agreement signed earlier with the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), an ally of the UDMF.

Jha said the NC team assigned by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala agreed to meet some of the demands instantly, including recognising those killed during the Madhes movement as martyrs; compensation to the injured people and the families of the deceased; and release of detained protesters.

He said the UDMF would again sit for talks as soon as these demands are met and that another round of talks is likely on Wednesday.

Sadbhawa Party’s Jha, Mahendra Yadav of Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMLP) and Ratnaeshwor Lal Kayastha of MJF represented the UDMF while some central NC leaders including Madhesh Acharya and Amod Upadhyaya participated in the talks.

The NC team had held consultation with Prime Minister Koirala before meeting the Madhesi leaders.

The Prime Minister was to address the nation if the talks had arrived at a breakthrough.

UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, Maoist chairman Prachanda and NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba were also present in Baluwatar when the meeting was underway.

An emergency meeting of senior leaders of UDMF, an alliance of TMLP, Sadbhawana and MJF, held in the morning had decided to resolve the Madhesi problem through dialogue, describing the home minister’s call for talks as 'positive'.

Issuing a joint press release after the meeting, TMLP chairman Mahantha Thakur, MJF’s Upendra Yadav and Sadbhawana chairman Rajendra Mahato said they were ready for talks with the government.

“We have decided to sit for talks with the government as we find its call for talks positive,” TMLP central leader Ram Chandra Raya told reporters.

He, however, said that the Front was rooting for “meaningful talks” and that it wanted the six-point demands fulfilled at any cost. nepalnews.com mk/ag Feb 19 08