Reports say supporters of the Seven Party Alliance have taken out “victory rallies” in various parts of the country welcoming the “historic” proclamation passed by the House of Representatives that has drastically curtailed royal powers and brought the army—for the first time in the country’s history—under the control of the legislature, among others.
Rallies have been taken out in Kathmandu, Bara, Sarlahi, Dolakha and Baglung districts, among others. People came out to the streets, greeted each other and chanted pro-democracy slogans.
People could be soon glued to their radio and TV sets as the state-run Radio Nepal, Nepal Television, Kantipur TV and a number of F. M. radio stations carried live the proceedings of the reinstated House of Representatives from Singha Durbar Thursday afternoon.
In front of Singha Durbar – the main government secretariat– despite fresh ban imposed by the local administration over procession, gherao, meetings, sit-in etc., hundreds of people gathered near the statue of late King Prithvi Narayan Shah in order to draw the attention of lawmakers who were meeting inside the House of Representatives.
People representing various indigenous groups, unions, institutions and the
civil society were present during the demonstration cautioning political parties not to betray the spirit of the people’s movement 2006.
Addressing the public gathering in front of the West Gate of Singha Durbar—a restricted area– leader of the pro-Maoist student body, ANNFSU (Revolutionary), Lekhnath Neupane, challenged the present government not to undermine the Maoist contribution in restoring citizen’s rights in the country. “ If the present government fails to address the people’s sentiment
then they will have to face unforeseen consequences,” he warned.
Neupane said the government should immediately address the issue of hundreds of captured and missing Maoist cadres who played important role in the people’s movement. He also demanded that the parliament should not spare a single moment on declaring country a secular state.
Women’s rights activist, Dr. Renu Raj Bhandari, warned the current government not to repeat the same mistake made by all the previous government of denying women from their basic rights and not granting them appropriate opportunity in decision making.
Interestingly, the gathered crowd took no time to shoo away as soon as the news of country being declared the secular state flashed out of the parliament. A leader of the civil society movement, Malla K Sunder, announced the news for the gathered public outside Singha Durbar.
Talking to Nepalnews after the declaration of the country as a secular state, one of the members of the indigenous communities, Dandu Sherpa, said that the declaration was just a first step towards a democratic Nepal based on equality.
The participants were euphoric as soon as they heard about the HoR proclamation that made sweeping changes in the country’s constitution.