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WI THOUT F EAR O R F A V O U R Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 172 | 10 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 34.7 C 14.0 C Monday, August 09, 2021 | 25-04-2078 Dhangadi Jomsom Deuba’s double trouble: timely party convention and managing coalition Pressure building on Nepali Congress president to keep house in order and expand the Cabinet. ANIL GIRI president again, factionalism has KATHMANDU, AUG 8 deepened in the party. Shashank Koirala, Bimalendra Nidhi and When the Supreme Court installed Prakash Man Singh too are vying Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minis- for party presidency, but with no deci- ter, ousting KP Sharma Oli over his sion on the general convention, con- misadventures, on July 12, it was by cerns are growing over the party get- and large apparent that the Nepali ting invalidated. All three are sons of Congress president was set for a the party stalwarts—BP Koirala, bumpy ride. Mahendra Narayan Nidhi and Ganesh It has been four weeks since he Man Singh. assumed office, but he has not been On Friday, both Deuba and able to expand his Cabinet, largely Shashank Koirala, the party general because of his struggle to manage secretary, made it clear that the pa ty’s the coalition partners. He is also general convention could be deferred facing a tough time keeping his house and a new timeline announced soon. in order. During a meeting with some leaders Deuba’s indecision could now lead of the party on Friday evening, Deuba to deferral of the party’s 14th general hinted that holding the general con- convention to November. Senior party vention on September 1-4 appears to leaders admit that both the party and be quite impossible and that alterna- government have become hostage to tives need to be discussed with the such indecisiveness and they worry Election Commission as well. that this could fuel frustration not According to Dhan Raj Gurung, only among party workers but also the Deuba told some youth leaders that members of the public. life is more important than the party’s POST PHOTO: DEEPAK KC “There is no decision yet on holding general convention so in the midst of Workers are silhouetted against brightly lit clouds at a construction site in Koteshwor, Kathmandu, on Sunday. the 14th general convention. And a pandemic, it may not be a good idea the September 1-4 deadline is almost to hold the convention in September. impossible to meet,” said “But whatever the decision, it will Shekhar Koirala, a senior party be taken on the basis of consensus leader. “It’s high time we started within the party after taking into con- looking at how to address consti- sideration all legal and constitutional INSIDE tutional issues that are tied to aspects,” Gurung told the Post. Indigenous people our general convention.” The party has yet to hold conven- All elected bodies of the party tions at the ward, district and provin- Covid-19 infection spreads have already completed their cial levels, despite announcing the in hill districts of Lumbini extended terms as well, and as dates several times in the past. The per the party charter and consti- party has not been able to resolve the ARGHAKHANCHI: Authorities have worry hard-won tutional obligations, it must elect issue over the distribution of active begun tightening prohibitory orders new bodies by September 8. membership. Active members are the in various hill districts of Lumbini Since Deuba himself is mak- primary voters during conventions. Province after the region reported a ing a pitch for running for party >> Continued on page 2 rise in coronavirus cases in the last gains may be lost few days. The district administra- tions in Arghakhanchi and Gulmi, where the active number of coronavi- rus cases stand at 757 and 486 respec- Achievements made since 1990 are at risk as secularism tively, have banned the operation of public vehicles since July 31 to curb and federalism are yet to be institutionalised and recent the further spread of the virus. The first and second waves of the corona- court ruling is another challenge, activists say. virus had greatly affected several Tarai districts, including Banke, Dang, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. The hill districts in comparison were less affected. But the spread of the virus in Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Palpa, Pyuthan and Rolpa districts indicate the onslaught of coronavirus in these hill districts, say health workers. (Details on Pg 2) Issuing warnings about third wave not enough, experts say KATHMANDU: A third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is imminent and unavoidable, public health experts, epidemiologists, virologists as well as the Ministry of Health and Population, all agree. And Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is the latest politician to warn the POST FILE PHOTO public about the looming third wave. Indigenous rights activists say they need to safeguard the achievements and fight for more. “It seems that we are on the verge of being hit by the third wave of TIKA R PRADHAN said Malla K Sundar, an indigenous the pandemic. The efforts by the KATHMANDU, AUG 8 nationalities leader. “This is the result government alone would not be ade- of the political parties’ utter dishones- quate to control the pandemic,” said Eutai raja, eutai desh, eutai bhasha, ty towards them.” Deuba in a video message posted on eutai bhesh. Or, ‘One country, one The need for indigenous communi- Twitter. “It would require joint efforts king, one language, one culture’ was ties of the world to continue the fight by the government and the people.” the mantra with which the Panchayat for their rights is apparent in the slo- Deuba also requested the public not regime ruled for 30 years until 1990. gan for this year’s International Day to go out unnecessarily, wear a mask It was the democratic constitution for Indigenous Peoples, celebrated properly covering the nose and of 1990 that first recognised Nepal as a every year on August 9: ‘Leaving No mouth, maintain physical distance, multiethnic and multilingual country. One Behind: Indigenous People and frequently wash hands with soap and The achievements of indigenous the Call for a New Social Contract’. water and strictly adhere to all health communities in the last 30 years for In Nepal, Janajatis, as the indige- safety measures. (Details on Pg 3) their rights have been notable as the nous people are called, have taken the census, since 1991, started listing the federalism, secularism and republican different languages spoken by the dif- set-up as their achievements despite Completion deadline for ferent communities in the country the form of the country’s federalism Pokhara international and their populations, reservations not being what they had demanded. have been instituted in bureaucracy, “Actually secularism was not a airport extended political representation has been demand of the political parties but KATHMANDU: The Civil Aviation guaranteed, a federal dispensation, that was the result of our indigenous Authority of Nepal has given the although flawed from their point of nationalities movements,” said Chinese contractor for the interna- view, is in place and a Hindu kingdom Govinda Chhantyal, vice-chairman of tional airport project in Pokhara has become a secular republic. the Nepal Federation of Indigenous another year to complete it in consid- “The indigenous movement started Nationalities. eration of delays caused by the Covid- before the 1990 constitution was prom- But their other demands were 19 pandemic, as per the force majeure ulgated,” said Suresh Ale Magar, the ignored like that of ethnicity-based clause which permits relaxation of founding general secretary of the federalism. obligations in case of events beyond Nepal Federation of Indigenous “Rivers and hills had not demanded the parties’ control. The $215.96 mil- Nationalities. “Thousands of indige- federalism. What is the difference of lion Chinese-funded scheme had been nous people had taken to the streets this federalism compared to the previ- racing ahead of schedule, and was in demanding language rights and secu- ous centralised unitary system with line to open six months before the larism in the new constitution but different zones?” said Suresh Ale planned date of July 10, 2021. But the their demands were ignored.” Magar, founding general secretary of coronavirus threw a spanner in the The 2015 constitution made Nepal a the Nepal Federation of Indigenous works. “As the project developer secular federal republic, the rights of Nationalities. China CAMC Engineering asked for indigenous communities were recog- Like the Madhesi community, indig- extra time, we decided to grant a one- nised and the charter continued the enous nationalities were also not sat- year extension,” said Rajan Pokhrel, guarantees of reservations for minor- isfied with the 2015 constitution. director general of the civil aviation ity groups, first instituted in the inter- Indigenous people had wanted a fed- body. The new deadline is July 10, im constitution of 2007. eralism with as many as 14 provinces 2022. “This extension is based on the But in the brouhaha of a federal named after different ethnic groups Covid-19 pandemic triggered lock- republican set-up, activists worry that like Newa, Tamsaling, Tamuwan, downs and their impact on procure- indigenous rights are being ignored. Limbuwan, Magarat and Tharuwan ment of materials and supply of “State’s psychology now is to gradu- and with autonomy to take all their workers to the construction site.” ally snatch whatever limited rights decisions. (Details on Pg 5) were given to marginalised groups,” >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K MONDAY, AUGUST 09, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Covid-19 spreads in hill districts of Lumbini Province Complacency among general public and authorities one of the main reasons behind virus spread, health workers say.

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