Kathmandu, May 15:

Civil Society leader Devendra Raj Pandey today said that a federal state on the basis of ethnicity may not be possible.

“We have multiple identities and they need to be treated fairly,” he said. He was addressing an interaction on “Indigenous Nationalities in the Restructuring of the State” organised by the Association of Nepalese Indigenous Nationalities Journalists (ANIJ) Kathmandu.

Pandey, however, said there should be serious discussions on whether such a state is possible as demanded by ethnic groups in the country.

Participants attending the interaction, however, expressed concern about Pandey’s statement. They said that such comments could mislead the people at a time when all the indigenous nationalities are demanding a federal state on the basis of ethnicity.

Pandey also said different experts have different views on the federal structure that could be fit in Nepal’s context. “If the nation had brainstormed over an appropriate federal structure for restructuring the nation, we could have come to a certain conclusion by this time,” he said, adding that the government is not taking the issue seriously.

He, however, said that the indigenous nationalities of a certain federal unit should have the right to preserve and promote their language, culture and tradition. He also said that the federal units should have maximum autonomy.

He said the political parties did not adopt a proportional election system because they had to keep intact the existing 205 constituencies. ANIJ president Khim Ghale chaired the interaction attended by media persons and representatives of different indigenous organisations. Ghale said the interaction is a series and would continue.