The government has formed a team under Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa for dialogue with Tharu Welfare Assembly.
Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that the talks team has been formed for dialogue to address the 19-point demands of the assembly, Tharuwan Joint Struggle Committee and its central agitation mobilization committee.
Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli's foreign affairs advisor Rajan Bhattarai and former lawmaker Bhagawati Chaudhary complete the three-strong dialogue team.
CPN-UML lawmaker Mahesh Basnet had met Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) leader Resham Chaudhary at the Dilli Bazar Jail as envoy of PM Oli on Friday
Oli's confidant Basnet met Chaudhary, who is one of the main accused of the Tikpaur incident in which eight police personnel including an SSP of Nepal Police and a toddler were lynched on August 24, 2015, at a time when Oli is negotiating for a deal to grant his release in return for JSP support for the government.
JSP leaders Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato are ready to ally with Oli if the government were to release Chaudhary who is convicted by the court of murder.
"I have been informed that the Cabinet has taken a special decision regarding their demands. I, therefore, went to meet him," Basnet confirmed the meeting with Setopati. "I have reached to meet him as Cabinet has taken the special decision in spirit of the deal to release cadres of Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN."
The Kailali District Court had slapped life sentence on Chaudhary over the Tikapur incident and the Dipayal High Court endorsed the life sentence. The case is currently sub judice at the Supreme Court (SC).
Basnet claimed that Chaudhary told him that the party is positive about Oli who can address the party's agenda. "We are ready for cooperation if our agenda is addressed" Basnet quoted Chaudhary as telling him.
Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, who had imposed a ban on demonstrations at Maitighar within a month of assuming office three years back, had reached Maitighar on Thursday and addressed JSP protesters through a hand mike assuring them that the government is ready for dialogue to address their demands.
Chaudhary has been at Dilli Bazar Jail after surrendering before the Kailali District Court on February 26, 2018.
He was sworn in as House of Representatives (HoR) member on January 3, 2019 even as the case was sub judice in the district court. He remained in judicial custody and was not allowed to attend the House meeting even after being sworn in. He lost the post of lawmaker after the district court gave life sentence.
Chaudhary, who was absconding after the Kailali killings, had surrendered before the Kailali District Court on February 26, 2018. Chaudhary had lodged the candidacy for federal parliament from Kailali-1 on Rastriya Janata Party ticket through an agent. He had won the election by a margin of around 19,000 votes securing 34,341 votes.
The government had filed a case against Chaudhary in the Kaliali District Court considering him to be one of the main accused of the Tikpaur incident. The Supreme Court (SC) in December, 2017 had refused to register a writ petition he tried to file through an agent on his behalf demanding he be released on date.
The single bench of Justice Tanka Moktan had ordered Chaudhary to seek legal remedy through the court if he were innocent when he again moved the SC against the administration's decision to not register his petition. "The applicant must get acquittal through a legal process of the court if he were not guilty and the charges against him were false," the bench had said. "Knowingly allowing an accused a means of receiving the facilities and rights provided by the state by evading or defying the court process will promote impunity in the country," the bench had said.
The Kailali District Court then had slapped life sentence on him and the Dipayal High Court had endorsed the district court verdict.
