NEPAL: MADHESI LEADERS SAY GOVERNMENT OFFER NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000265 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2017 TAGS: PGOV SOCI PTER PINR NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: MADHESI LEADERS SAY GOVERNMENT OFFER NOT ENOUGH REF: KATHMANDU 232 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Upendra Yadav, head of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF),and Awadesh Kumar Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer and senior MPRF member, told Emboff February 1 that the Prime Minister's January 31 speech was not enough to stop the ongoing movement in the Terai. Yadav stated that the demands of the MPRF and the Madhesi people remained the same: proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly elections and a federal system of government with an autonomous region for the Terai. The MPRF leaders claimed that they were "in control" of the ongoing protests in the Terai and opposed the use of violence, but conceded they were unable to prevent the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), a Maoist splinter group (reftel),from instigating violence. Yadav and Singh asked the Embassy to press the Government of Nepal (GON) to enter into an effective dialogue with the MPRF to solve the unrest, and for the resignation of the Home Minister, whom the MPRF blamed for mishandling the protests. PM's Speech Not Enough for Demands -------------- ¶2. (C) On February 1, Upendra Yadav, leader of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF),and Awadesh Kumar Singh, a lawyer in the Supreme Court and a senior member of the MPRF, told Emboff that the Prime Minister's speech on January 31 was not enough to fulfill the demands of the Madhesi people. (Note: In his January 31 nationwide address, the Prime Minister promised there would be more electoral constituencies on the basis of population and a federal system, but provided few details. End note.) The main demands of the MPRF were two-fold: a proportional representation system for the Constituent Assembly elections, and a federal system of governance with an autonomous state for the Terai. Secondary demands included proportional representation in the civil and foreign service, and in the security forces, and compensation for the families of those killed during the recent unrest in the Terai. Yadav stated that the only solution to the current protests was for the GON to enter into a serious dialogue with the Madhesis. MPRF Controls Protests in the Terai -------------- ¶3. (C) Yadav claimed that the MPRF was in control of the protests in the Terai, and could stop them whenever it wanted. He emphasized that his organization opposed the use of violence. Both Yadav and Singh acknowledged, however, that the JTMM was instigating violence in some of the protests. They said that the MPRF was in communication with the JTMM and other groups in the Terai regarding political issues, but that it did not have the ability to prevent those groups from engaging in arson and other destructive acts. Yadav blamed the JTMM, for instance, for the killing of a policeman January 31 after the PM's speech. Singh stated that the protests currently gripping the Terai could continue "indefinitely;" the Terai produced its own food and supplies and did not need to re-open the roads to the hills, including Kathmandu, anytime soon. MPRF Asks for Embassy Assistance -------------- ¶4. (C) The MPRF asked for Embassy assistance in two ways. First, the MPRF asked the U.S. to press the GON to enter into an effective and serious dialogue with the Madhesi protesters in order to fulfill the demands of the Madhesi people. Second, the MPRF asked post to press the GON to replace Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula. Yadav said the MPRF viewed Sitaula as the root of the problem and wanted him removed. He blamed Sitaula for the Government's mishandling of the law and order situation in the Terai and the resulting deaths of almost a dozen Madhesis since the protests began January 16. KATHMANDU 00000265 002 OF 002 Yadav and Singh both stressed that if Sitaula were involved in the negotiations between the MPRF and the GON, the MPRF would walk out immediately and intensify their protest programs in the Terai. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The Prime Minister's speech on January 31 failed to address the Madhesi demands in a sufficiently concrete way. The PM appears to have acknowledged this by selecting Agriculture Minister Mahantha Thakur, a Madhesi, to lead the talks instead of Sitaula, a Pahadi (hill person) whom the Madhesis despise. Meanwhile, the Maoists are also scrambling to salvage their position in the border region. Maoist Supremo Prachanda, who has been burned in effigy repeatedly during the protests, expressed some contrition in a press conference February 1 and voiced solidarity with the Madhesi demands for proportionality and a federal state, as well as a call for dialogue. This contrasted with his previously harsh words for the Madhesi protesters and his push to prevent talks. Thakur, who reportedly visited the region last week, will not have an easy task ahead of him if he is to negotiate peace in Nepal's troubled Terai. Bio of Upendra Yadav -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Upendra Yadav has been the Chairman of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) since 1998. He is a lawyer by profession. He first got involved in politics as a student and joined the Communist Party of NEPAL - United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) when it was formed in 1990. He contested the general election of 1991 as a CPN-UML candidate from Sunsari District, but was defeated by Bijaya Gachchedar of the Nepali Congress Party. He subsequently became very close with the Maoists, as the MPRF and the Maoists had the same political objectives for the Terai. He was arrested in New Delhi in August 2003, along with Maoist leaders Suresh Ale Magar and Matrika Prasad Yadav. He was released after one and a half months in an Indian jail. Yadav is in his mid-40s, and was born in Sunsari District. He holds a Masters degree in Mathematics and a Bachelors degree in Law from Tribhuvan University. He is married and has one son. MORIARTY