KATHMANDU, AUG 17 - CA members from the Mid West have proposed three ideas to resolve the protests raging in the mid-western and far-western regions for over a week against the proposed delineation of the six states.
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More than 30 lawmakers from the region, together with local leaders, on Sunday urged Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to include all the districts of the Mid West and the Far West in a single province in order to calm down protesters in several districts who have conflicting demands.
Within the province, they have suggested carving out special autonomous regions for the Tharus and the Karnali residents. The Tharus in Kailali and Kanchanpur of the Far West have been protesting for a separate province incorporating Banke and Bardiya--two Tharu strongholds--while a section of the people in the Mid West, which includes Banke and Bardiya, are demonstrating for a separate mid-western province. Additionally, locals of Karnali, also part of the Mid West, demand a separate state.
“Protests in mid-western and far-western regions can be pacified if a single state includes all the districts of the two regions,” said Prakash Jwala, a lawmaker from the Mid West. In the second option, they have proposed carving out a province by including Rukum and Salyan and all the districts of Bheri and Karnali. The third option is to create a province that comprises all the districts of the Mid West if lawmakers from other regions do not agree on the first two options.
Convinced with the first option, PM Koirala and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam, who represent the mid-western region, have assured the lawmakers of tabling the idea at the Special Committee of senior leaders from the Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee.
Maoist lawmaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Yubaraj Gyawali of the CPN-UML, who are lobbying for including Salyan and the whole of Rukum in Province 5 and naming Dang as the provincial capital, did not attend the meeting with the PM.
The major parties have divided the mid-western region and Rukum in the federal set-up. A larger area of Rukum, and Dang, Pyuthan and Rolpa districts have been included in Provinces 5 while some parts of Rukum, and Salyan, together with Karnali and Bheri zones, are included in Province 6.
3 suggestions
A: Include all districts of Mid West and Far West in Province 6
B: Create a new province by including Rukum and Salyan and districts of Bheri and Karnali zones
C: Create a new province by including all of the mid-western region
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