World Indigenous People's Day was marked in Kathmandu on Wednesday with a two-day political conference on constituent assembly elections and re-structuring of the state. The National Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN) and along with the seven-party affiliated Indigenous People's United Struggle Committee also issued a manifesto. The 24-point document includes, among others, demands for a representative national political convention to decide the interim government and interim parliament, a representational election system to vote in political and community representative, and 50 percent seats reserved for women at all levels.
Dr Om Gurung, NFIN general secretary, academics Dr Harka Gurung and Krishna Bhattachan, and former NFIN general secretary Krishna Mabuhang also met with Maoist leaders Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai last week to discuss janajati-related issues.