Appeal by Pragyik Vidyarthi Parishad to all people of Nepal
Expressing serious concern over the present political problems in Nepal and agitations in Tarai, the Pragyik Vidyarthi Parishad (PVP), Nepal appealed to all the citizens of Nepal not to make any prejudiced comment through any means, media or social sites, that can potentially hurt the sentiments of any caste, linguistic group, region, community or section. “We also appeal not to indulge in any sort of activities or comments that can engender a threat to the nation and nationality. The need of the hour now is patience,” the PVP leaders said in a statement signed by president Dr Ramji Gautam, organising secretary Deepak Kumar Adhikari, joint organisation secretary Narayan Prasad Dhakal and general secretary Ramesh Kandel.
The statement said it has been a staunch belief of the PVP that people of the Himals, Hills (Pahad) and the Tarai are brothers, and none of them is an outsider. On the basis of the same belief, we appeal everyone to contribute to their ends to maintain social relations and harmony and social understanding and abandon violent agitation that soils the specialty of the Nepalese society. “Let our relation with all our neighbours remain friendly and intimate. We appeal all the Nepalese citizens to seriously contribute towards this,” the statement said.
The statement said the coming of a constitution in Nepal after a decade-long struggle, ending the long phase of transition, is an extremely salutary development that needs to be welcomed heartily by everyone. It is a historic and glorious achievement. While the constitution was being drafted, various regions, groups and organisations staged demonstrations to get their demands addressed by the constitution, and some of these are continuing even today. Every demand raised by such demonstrations has not been fulfilled. In various parts of Madhes, various agitations started taking place simultaneously with the constitution drafting process, leading to the death of dozens of civilians and security personnel. However, the major parties of Nepal decided to continue with their unilateral decision to move ahead with constitution making, neglecting the need to move ahead by addressing everyone’s demand. This led to the emergence of a painful situation in Nepal. “It is the duty of the political leadership of Nepal to analyse which demands of their citizens are authentic and which are not. PVP Nepal is of the opinion that failure to address domestic problems with amicable solutions in time reflects the myopic political behaviour and diplomatic failure of Nepali politicians. Nepal is a single family and people living in Himal, Pahad and Tarai are children of the same mother. When a member of any family is in pain, the entire family is drawn into the pain. This is the situation of we, the Nepalese, at this hour,” the statement said.
We opine that the state should address the authentic and rightful demands of the Madhes movement through dialogue and discussion, and if any of these demands is anti-national and wrong, it should be identified along with reasons and should be resisted by taking everyone into confidence. Such democratic and peaceful initiatives, we opine, are the best ways to solve the present debacle permanently. Simultaneously, Parishad humbly appeals the agitating parties and groups to immediately sit in dialogue and repeal blockage imposed upon Madhes so that people can live life of normalcy, the statement added.
The statement said adding that there are some international players which want to see disturbance in Indo-Nepal relations. To ensure the same, they managed to get a few divisive terminologies included in the constitution. For example, they used the word ‘Khas-Arya’ as denotative of a community, when in reality is a word that stands for a civilisation. Similarly, they included divisive words like Madhesi, Pahadi, Dalit, Adivasi, Janjati, Vaidik, Avaidik, etc., aimed at slicing Nepali society into many factions. The word 'Secular' too has been used in the Statute hurting the sentiments of 98 per cent Nepalese Hindus (Omkar Parivar). “The present situation of crisis in Nepal showcases complete failure of Nepali politicians and Indian diplomats. Top political leadership of Nepal and India should consider this reality very seriously. At such a time of crisis, the top leadership of Nepal and India should honestly respect Nepal’s sovereignty, national integrity and security and democratic practices, and should immediately take steps to address the problem emerging at present. PVP Nepal appeals top Nepali and Indian political leadership to move in this direction,” the statement added.
—Bureau Report
