Kathmandu, January 19:

The Janajati Department of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU)-Sixth today demanded that the government close Gurkha recruitment camps and create a favourable environment in which youths can serve the nation.

Presenting a concept paper on “Problems of Indigenous Nationalities Students and the Question of Federalism” today, general secretary of the ANNFSU-Sixth Ram Bahadur Buda said the government should create job opportunities for the youths.

“Thousand of Nepali youths, who are forced to toil abroad, should be given an opportunity to serve the nation,” Buda said. He claimed that Nepal should not go for federalism as it could disintegrate the nation and turn it into a failed state. Janajati student leaders, however, slammed the idea.

Chandra Bikram Rai, president of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Students (NEFINS), accused the ANNFSU-Sixth of trying to support monarchy. “By standing for the unitary system, the union has followed the path of regressive forces,” he said, criticising the stance of the ANNFSU-Sixth.

“I am confused whether I am attending a function being organised by a pro-monarchy organisation or a student wing of a communist party,” he said, adding that the nation did not disintegrate even when one caste ruled it for centuries. Bhoj Bikram Buda, president of the Nepal Magar Students’ Association, questioned: “Why is the union going against federalism at a time when all parties and indigenous organisations are rooting for it?”