By IANS
Kathmandu : The Nepal government Friday began formal talks with one of the most powerful groups in the Terai plains, reviving memories of the motions it had gone through with the Maoist guerrillas.
A day after the government announced elections in November, a three-member ministerial team went to the pilgrim city of Janakpur near the Indian border to hold the first round of formal talks with the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum amidst secrecy and tight security arrangements.
The team is headed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's deputy, Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel.
Like the first rounds of peace negotiations with the Maoists, the venueof the talks was kept secret till the last moment, apparently for the security of the Forum leaders who have been facing increasing animosity since an incident of violence in Gaur town in the plains in which 29 people were killed.
With the Maoists, now in the government, being the biggest foe of the Forum, the talks are being held in the plains, where the latter has a strong hold.
Nepal's state media said the talks are likely to be successful in reaching an understanding since both sides have already met informally earlier.
The Forum shot into limelight this year when it began a powerful movement demanding greater rights for Madhesis – people living in the Terai plains, most of whom are of Indian origin.
A series of closures and blockades at Nepal-India entry points by the Forum forced the government to concede their demand for a federal form of government and a commission to probe the violence in the plains in which nearly 80 people have been killed.
However, the ethnic protesters are also demanding that Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who is close to both the prime minister and the Maoists, be removed – a demand that has been rejected by the government.
Just like the Maoists, Forum chief Upendra Yadav went to India recently to garner support of Indian politicians for the Madhesi cause.
They have registered as a party with the Election Commission to take part in the November election, where they are expected to wean away a large number of voters from the Maoists.
Though the Maoists formally signed a peace pact last year, the Terai plains erupted in violence as the Forum began its Madhesi movement.
Now, even if the Forum reaches an understanding with the government, there are nearly a dozen newly armed groups in the plains that have begun separate armed movements.
The two biggest armed groups are bands of former Maoists: The Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha, led by former senior Maoist leader Jaykrishna Goit and a splinter headed by Jwala Singh.
Three other fledgling groups, the Terai Cobra, Janabadi Ganatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha and Madhesi Mukti Tigers, have come into notice recently after organising regional shutdowns.
Two more new groups are thought to be supporting monarchy in Nepal: the Nepal Janatantrik Party and Nepal Defence Army (NDA).