Talks with Terai armed groups after Tihar festival, says Nepal Education Minister

Nepal Minister for Education Renu Yadav on Thursday said that the government would start the dialogue process with armed groups operating in Terai immediately after the Tihar festival.

Speaking at a programme here, Yadav informed that the government has already established contact with half a dozen armed groups in Terai and is holding "informal talks".

She said that the Maoists shouldn't insist on heading the soon-to-be-formed special committee that is about to start work on integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants.

"If the Maoist go on to head the special committee then it will only raise doubt in the national and international level," she said.

"The Maoist army shouldn't be integrated into the national army, if it is indeed done then "the Nepal Army would never become inclusive," she added.

Yadav said that if the government disagrees with the demand of a single Madhesh province then her party would opt out from the government.

On Wednesday, a meeting of the four major political parties including the CPN (Maoist), the CPN-UML, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and the Nepali Congress- ended inconclusively as they failed to reach consensus on who should head the special committee, Nepalnews reported. (ANI)

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