Kathmandu, January 12:

Newars of Kathmandu Valley have teamed up to form a political party to press for an autonomous state of Kathmandu Mandala.

The Nepaa Rastriya Party, as the party will be officially called, has decided to register at the Election Commission to be eligible to take part in the April 10 constituent assembly polls. It has also prepared a list of 36 leaders to be fielded for the polls.

“The Nepaa Rastriya Party will be registered at the Election Commission on Monday,” said Dr Keshav Man Shakya, a party leader. “We’ll then organise a mass meeting and announce our manifesto,” Shakya said.

“Our party will press for formation of a federal democratic republic of Nepal, by taking the ethnic, linguistic, religious, racial and cultural diversity of the country into consideration. We’ll also press for declaring Nepal Mandala — the historic territory of the Newars — a Newar state with autonomy and right to self-determination,” Shakya said.

“There is no alternative to forming a separate party because major parties like the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML have been avoiding this issue and the Maoists are using it just as a bargaining tool,” he said.

Rights of others living in the Kathmandu Valley will be guaranteed, after securing prerogative rights of the Newars as residents of their federal state, he said.

“The members of other communities living here will have rights similar to the Newars living outside,” he said.

Dr Mahesh Man Shrestha said the need of a Newar party was felt long ago but no concrete

steps were taken because they did not want to affect the political balance.

“Now the time has come that all Newars, working in different parties be united for a common cause. They will no more be slaves to any ethnicity-guided leadership in other parties and their contribution of the past for the country will be recognised here,” he said. Newar leaders have been sidelined in all major parties since the 1990 popular movement, he added.