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Sixth Anniversary Of ‘Loktantara Diwas In Nepal
By KTM Metro Reporter
April 24, 2012: Nepalese political leaders and Nepalis in general mark the Sixth Anniversary of ‘Loktantara Diwas’ in Nepal yesterday. The April 23 when the then king bowed to the people’s demand in 2006 for reinstating the dissolved parliament, and thus reinstated the democracy, is the ‘Loktantara Diwas’ day. For nineteen days, Nepalis took to the streets in protest against the then king taking over the absolute power, and finally succeeded to force the king to revive the democracy in Nepal. This has been possible after the Seven-party Alliance entered into the alliance with the Maoists signing off the 12-point understanding in New Delhi, India on November 22, 2005. Maoists joined the protest against the absolute power after they entered into an agreement with the Seven-party Alliance that had been unsuccessfully taking the issue to the streets for three years. However, the Maoists did not stop at the point of getting back the democracy. They pushed the then interim prime minister to elect a Constituent Assembly and then forced the prime minister to propose the end of the dynastic monarchy at the parliament to vote in 2008. Then all the parliamentarians except for four voted for ending the monarchy and removing the king from the palace within 15 days. Thus, the monarchy was done with peacefully although more than 15,000 Nepalis had lost their lives to the guns of both the then Royal Nepal Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to bring to the stage of ending the monarchy peacefully.
The Maoists don’t take ‘Loktantara Diwas’ seriously; as they believe that their target was not just to reinstate the parliament they had fought against for ten years. They were for making Nepal a republic, and they made Nepal not only a republic but also a federal democratic republic following the Madhesh movement that demanded to make Nepal a federal democratic republic.
In a statement issued by the prime minister’s office on the occasion of the ‘Loktantara Diwas’, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai paid tributes to all brave men and women that lost their lives for the country and promised to make their dreams come true. He has said that the country will have a new constitution with the provisions for a lasting peace, federalism, secularism and inclusiveness, and participatory democratic values by May 27, 2012.
On the occasion of marking the ‘Loktantara Diwas’ on April 23, 2012, President of NC Sushil Koirala urged all Nepalis to contribute within their capacities to a lasting peace and to promulgating a new democratic constitution. He has said that ‘Loktantara Diwas’ is to remind the people's struggle for their own rights, and recalled the 19-day People’s Movement during which more than 20 people sacrificed their precious lives for their rights.
President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Chairman of Constituent Assembly Subash Nemwang, Chief Justice, government ministers, top officials and dignitaries attended a special function called a tea party held by Vice-President Parmananda Jha to mark Loktantra Diwas.
The government did not hold any functions to mark Loktantra Diwas but declared it a public holiday under the pressure of the opposition parties in the parliament. Similarly, the government did not hold any functions to mark the democracy day on February 18, 2012 but made it a public holiday for anybody to mark it.
