Tharu community stages protest in Kathmandu as demands remain unaddressed

Members of the Tharus minority group on Tuesday staged a protest in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu, demanding the release of those imprisoned during the Madhesh Movement that roiled the Himalayan nation in 2015.

Demonstrators gathered in the capital with the demand that the Lal Commission Report - which was formed to investigate atrocities during movement in Southern Plains in the year 2015 -- be made public. The community also called for the release of Rashtriya Janata Party-Nepal lawmaker Resham Chaudhary, who was held guilty for the Tikapur carnage.

"By not making the Lal Commission Report public we are denied the right to information. How did the incident of Tikapur happen? Who are the actual culprits? Are the Tharus only to be blamed? The answers to all these are there in the Lal Commission Report. Why aren't we allowed to see it?" Prema Tharu, coordinator of Tharuhat- Tharuwan National Women's Front told ANI.

The front also held a hunger strike in Dhangadhi city in Kailali District and called on for a two-day total shutdown from March 3 on self-proclaimed Tharuhat province to pressurise the Nepal government to address its demands.

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, an amalgamation of the-then Madhesi Alliance who fought for amendment of constitution back in 2015 has long been demanding for the release of a report which was submitted to the Government of Nepal in December 2017.

The report was prepared by a commission formed under the leadership of Supreme Court former judge Girish Chandra Lal in the year 2016 to investigate human rights violations in Tarai/Madhes movements.

The high-level probe commission on Terai-Madhesh unrest was led by Former Justice of the Apex court of Nepal formed in the year 2016.

The restive Southern Plains of Nepal witnessed bloodshed and widespread protest after the promulgation of the constitution in the year 2015.