Kathmandu, 7 January: The main opposition party CPN-UML is to hold a Mechi-Mahakali peace march appealing to people to maintain peace, stability and social and communal harmony in the country. The standing committee of the CPN-UML, second most powerful body of the party, that met today decided to hold the Mechi-Mahakali peace rally starting next week.

Yuva Raj Gyawali, standing committee member, issued a statement today saying that the meeting condemned the recent violent incidents in the country that killed seven people. ” The meeting came to conclusion that the communal violence in different parts of the country was instigated by those elements who wanted to weaken Nepal’s nationalism and democracy”, the press release said. According to Gyawali, the objective of peace march is to build public opinion for communal harmony in the country.

There are ten members in the standing committee (previously known as politburo) of the CPN-UML. The standing committee members are party general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, Khadga Prasad Oli, Amrit Kumar Bohora, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Modnath Prashrit, Ishwar Pokhrel, Pradip Nepal, Yuva Raj Gyawali, Jhalanath Khanal and Mukunda Neupane.