Kathmandu, December 23:

The Newa Republic Front for Autonomy (NRFA) chairman Padma Ratna Tuladhar announced today that it would bar pro-royalists from holding any political programme in Kathmandu valley.

“We are the most affected victims of the autocracy of the Shah dynasty and therefore will not tolerate monarchy. We won’t let any pro-royalist to hold any political programme in the valley in future,” said Tuladhar, while addressing a mass meeting organised by the NRFA. He said the information regarding the constituent assembly should be disseminated in all local languages.

“At least all leftist forces should collaborate to oust the monarchy,” he said.

Malla K Sundar, the chairman of Newa Dey Daboo, said the interim constitution had ignored the interests of the indigenous people.

He also protested the use of a Sanskrit quotation on the national coat of arms, which he said was derived from Ramayana, when the country has already been declared a secular state.

Dilip Maharjan, adviser to Newar National Liberation Front, a sister organisation of the Maoists, said the Newars might be affiliated with any political doctrine or party but they were all united on the issue of ethnic autonomy and monarchy.

Rajendra Shrestha, a UML leader, said the indigenous people would again have a reason to go for armed revolution if they were denied rights to represent their communities in the constituent assembly.