Former Indian ambassador to Nepal KV Rajan has said that poverty, deficit of democracy and lack of development in the South Asian region are the root causes of conflict.

Speaking at a seminar organised by Universal Peace Federation Nepal on “Regional Conflict in South Asia: The Human Dimension” in the capital on Wednesday he said “Whether the Maoist demand for constituent assembly is necessary or not, it is up to the Nepali people to decide, but the real cause of conflict can be attributed to rampant poverty, deficit of democracy and lack of development.”

He further said that King may think that democracy made mistakes in the past 12 years and the parties and the Maoists may think that the King made mistakes, according to reports.

“Everybody may have made mistakes in the past. So, it is time to communicate with each other and have compassion, tolerance and positive views of either side to find peaceful solution to the problem,” he added.

“It seems that everything has failed but I am still hopeful that leaders of the political parties and the civil society will find a solution to the conflict,” he added

Speaking at the same programme, former minister Nilambar Acharya said the two-pillar theory of democracy had been redundant as the King, which is merely a part of the whole, is trying to dominate the whole. Tthe people should be left to decide how they want to resolve the crisis, he added.

Acharya expressed dissatisfaction over the detention of democratic leaders who he said tirelessly tried on their part to bring the Maoists into the political mainstream through the 12-point understanding.

CPN-UML leader Sahana Pradhan said that it is the women and children who have become ultimate sufferers of the decade-old conflict.