NC proposal on indigenous peoples irks NEFIN

KATHMANDU, April 10: A day after the Nepali Congress (NC) proposed to redefine indigenous people in the new constitution, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), the umbrella organization of indigenous people across the country, has warned of taking to the streets, if the proposal is endorsed by the ongoing Mahasamiti meeting of the party.



Terming the proposal ridiculous, NEFIN President Raj Kumar Lekhi said NC proposal is aimed at suppressing voices in favor of identity-based federalism. [break]



Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, Lekhi has maintained that the NC proposal contradicts with the government´s definition of an indigenous group. The government had listed 56 ethnic groups as indigenous people following a study in 2002.



“Likewise, the NC proposal also makes a mockery of the universal principles and norms related to indigenous nationalities,” reads the press statement.



NEFIN has accused NC of floating the proposal with an ill-intention to end the identity of indigenous people across the country. It has also termed the NC proposal “regressive” and “status quo-ist”.



Talking to Republica, Lekhi said they would launch protests against the NC proposal from Thursday.



In the NC ongoing Mahasamiti meeting in Nawalparasi, the party´s vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel has proposed that indigenous people be redefined in the new constitution, saying the existing definition is not “appropriate”.



Paudel has argued that all castes and ethnicities living in Nepal since unification by King Prithivi Narayan Shah be defined as indigenous nationalities. Shah had unified Nepal some 250 years ago. The party has also maintained that it will make the issue an election agenda.

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