Student leaders said Friday they will not give up their demand for a republican state even if the political parties were to kneel down before the “regressive force”, according to published reports.

“There is no way that we will give up our demand for republic even if our leaders opt for constitutional monarchy,” Gagan Kumar Thapa, general secretary of Nepal Students’ Association (NSA) said in an interaction program, according to the Himalayan Times.

“We will not allow the leaders to use the students’ movement as a ‘bargaining chip’ to secure their positions,” he said. “The leaders maybe answerable only to the King but we have more responsibilities on our shoulders.”

The political leaders should not be fooled by the latest development of consultations with political parties, as it could be a move to suppress their movement, according to Prakash Pokhrel, general secretary of ANNFSU (Unified).

According to the daily, students also accused the Tribhuvan University of adopting double standards by announcing Free Students’ Union poll date in such a short span of time.

“It could be nothing but a bid to split students,” said Gururaj Ghimire, president of NSA. nepalnews.com mr Jan 17