Kathmandu: Leader of Bibeksheel Sajha Party Rabindra Mishra has stood in favor of the restoration of the monarchy in Nepal. In a press release to inform about the publication of his political document ‘Bichar Bhanda Mathi Desh’ in the form of a book, Mishra said that constitutional monarchy should be restored and federalism should be abolished in Nepal.
“He (Mishra) has said that Nepal should be transformed into a ‘Hindu-Buddhist nation’ without delay by restoring the constitutional monarchy and abolishing federalism,” reads the press release.
Earlier in the dossier, Mishra had proposed scrapping federalism by restructuring and strengthening the local bodies and settling the secularism debate through a national referendum.
Mishra had called federalism “a source of additional corruption and financial burden, another tool to erode key institutions” which can be “fatal for territorial integrity.”
“We can build Nepal, if and only if Nepal can survive. If Nepal remains Nepal only in name, then what is the point?” he had written in the dossier.
“It was claimed that federalism would address discriminations created by the unitary state, and would empower the local people. But it has neither effectively empowered the local bodies nor it has addressed the aspirations for development and prosperity,” he had written
According to Mishra, the constitution defines secularism as “religious, cultural freedoms, including protection of religion, culture handed down from the time immemorial (Sanatan)” but the reality on the ground is different. “Instead of “protection of Sanatan religion,” divisions have emerged among religions,” he states. “Clearly, secularism has led to further religious divisions instead of vice versa. This situation can be a fatal blow to society and the country because cultural and religious sensitivities have triggered brutal and bitter violence in many parts of the world,” claimed Mishra.
Recalling the times when Nepal adopted secularism, Mishra writes “during the People’s Movement of 2006 and the subsequent Madhes Movement, no one had raised demands for secularism.” “We must accept that there was no mass public demand for secularism during the 2006 movement—neither from general Nepalis nor from communities of minority religious faiths,” he had argued.
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