Agreement between the GoN and Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, Nepal

Realising the sentiments of the movement of the Madheshi people as a continuity of the historic People’s Movement of 2006/07, and in order to end all forms of discrimination against Madheshis, Adivasi/Janajatis, Dalits, women, backward classes and minorities, including the Muslim community, practised by the centralised and unitary state for a long time and to create an environment enabling all Nepalese people, inclusive of Madheshis, to join the single national mainstream and move forward by restructuring the state as an inclusive democracy and federal structure, the Government of Nepal and the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum [Madheshi Peoples' Rights Forum], Nepal, today, conclude the following agreement:

1. To immediately implement the government’s decision to honour all Madheshi activists killed during the Madhesh movement and to provide compensation to their families.

2. To provide relief to those injured, rendered blind and disabled during the Madhesh movement and to provide immediate medical treatment for all injured people who are yet to receive treatment.

3. To withdraw all cases filed against the leaders and activists of the Forum during the Madhesh movement.

4. To ensure proportional representation and partnership of Madheshis, Adivasi/Janajatis, Dalits, women, backward classes, disabled people and minority communities, including Muslims, who have been excluded for generations in all organs and levels of government and in power structures, mechanisms and resources.

5. To immediately establish a commission of experts for state restructuring and ensure that its constitution is inclusive.

6. While restructuring the state, provision shall be made for a federal governance system with autonomous provinces/states, while keeping the sovereignty, national unity and integrity of Nepal intact.

The rights, nature and limits of the said autonomy will be as determined by the Constituent Assembly.

7. To accord national recognition to the dresses, languages and cultures of the Madheshis.

8. To ensure appropriate proportional representation in all political appointments made by the government and all services, including in Foreign Service and the education sector, as well as in commissions.

9. To give public holidays on major festivals of the Muslims.

To enact laws to protect Madrassa Board as well as the community, language, sexes, religion, culture, and customs and traditions of the Muslims.

10. To fully guarantee human rights by ending all discriminations based on ethnicity, language, sex, religion, culture, national and social origin, political and other ideologies.

11. To establish a trilingual language policy consisting of (a) mother tongue, (b) the Nepali language and (c) English for official transactions, education and international communication.

12. To solve the following Dalit-related problems:

a) Make provision for severe legal punishment for practising caste discrimination and untouchability.

b) Effectively implement the policy of free and compulsory education, at least up to primary level, for Dalits.

c) Make provision for special opportunities and reservations in education and employment.

d) Make provision for alternative means of livelihood for landless Dalits by providing them with land for building houses.

13. To solve problems related to citizenship by redeploying the Citizenship Distribution Teams to villages for easy and accessible distribution of citizenship certificates.

14. To adopt a balanced and just policy for the distribution of revenue and income from the State to the Madhesh and remote regions.

15. The process of returning houses, land and other property seized by the CPN (Maoist) is continuing and will be continued with urgency along with the return of weapons seized by them [CPN (M)] to their rightful owners.

16. To establish an Industrial Security Force to industrialise the country and to guarantee industrial security, as well as increasing production.

17. Both parties to stay committed to conducting the Constituent Assembly election in an impartial, peaceful and fear-free environment.

In order to ensure the impartiality of the Constituent Assembly, make necessary arrangements to prevent the misuse of the State’s mechanisms, resources and power, including by the current Legislature-Parliament.

18. The Ministry of Information and Communications to appoint Madheshi media experts and journalists in all organs and levels of government-owned media, including electronic and print media, and to ensure inclusive proportional representation of Madheshis in the government communication commission, agencies and delegations.

19. To create a search team to conduct a special investigation into the abduction and disappearance of Jitendra Sah, chairperson of the Madheshi Youth Forum and to immediately make his status public.

20. To immediately establish a High-level Task Force for Inclusion to formulate policies and laws necessary for the inclusion of Madheshis, Adivasi/janajatis, Dalits, women, etc.

in all organs and levels of the State.

21. To accord constitutional guarantee for the rights of ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities based on the principles upheld by the United Nations and international human rights organisations on the rights of minorities.

22. To withdraw the various movements being carried out by the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum.

The GoN shall immediately fulfill those agreements that can be implemented promptly and shall fulfill other provisions in course of time.

A joint Monitoring Mechanism shall be established to carry out and oversee the implementation process and to periodically review the implementation.

Sd. Upendra Yadav

Coordinator

Madheshi Janadhikar Forum,

Sd. Ram Chandra Poudel

Coordinator

GoN Talks Team

Date:

August 30, 2007

NOTE:

While still demanding the establishment of a republic and a proportional electoral system, the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, Nepal shall give top priority to the Constituent Assembly election and shall participate in it while continuing its efforts to make it a success.

Sd.

Upendra Yadav

Coordinator

Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, Nepal

Date:

August 30, 2007