Butwal, April 10: Marking the historic popular movement day, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Rupandehi district chapter organised an interaction programme around the topic ” The 1990 people’s movement and the past ten years” here recently.

On the occasion, MP Pari Thapa said the country has not been able to take a definite direction of progress because of the dominance of the anti-nationalist and anti-people power centres following the restoration of democracy through the 1990 popular movement.

He said the very people on whom the people reposed their faith and respected have fallen like the angels on moral grounds and these very people were demeaning the moral basis of the country and the society.

Deputy Mayor of Butwal Municipality Bimal Bahadur Shakya said all hopes of better life and development following the success of the popular movement of 1990 were belied.

Senior journalist Surya Lal expressed the view that democracy cannot become successful until and unless the political parties and their leaders are honest towards the country and the people.

Litterateur Dil Sahani, CPN-ML national council member Tej Prasad Kadel, president of the Progressive Journalists’ Forum Lal Krishna Chapagain and former Deputy Mayor of Butwal Ram Prasad Khanal also evaluated the ten years of democracy in the country.

The programme was presided over by FNJ Rupandehi district chapter president Binod Pahadi.

Likewish in Kapilbastu, the Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of the Nepali Congress, organised a “Youth March” and mass meeting in the district headquarters of Taulihawa recently to mark the historic popular movement day.

Addressing the mass meeting, central member of the Tarun Dal Basudev Junglee said that the youths of the country have extra responsibility of ridding the country from widespread corruption and irregularities and they should move ahead with this mission in mind.

Chairman of the District Development Committee (DDC) Ramesh Sharma said that there have been some lapses in governance by the Nepali Congress belying the people’s expectations and the party should rectify its acts of omissions and commissions.

At the programme presided over by Nepal Tarun Dal Kapilbastu district president Mukti Raj Pokharel, Nepali Congress district secretary Lalit Singh Baskota, former district president of the Nepali Congress Aditya Raj Gyawali, the Landless Squatters’ Problem Resolution Commission district committee convenor Arjun Bahadur Rayamajhi, Tarun Dal district secretary Hari Acharya, Nepal Students’ Union district president Rajesh Gyawali and Tarun Dal district members Kamal Dev Malla and Mrs. Indira Bhattarai expressed their views.

Earlier a procession of the Tarun Dal went around different parts of the town.