Kathmandu, June 29

Thousands of locals of Kathmandu valley today organised a motorcycle rally in a bid to exert pressure on the government to form an all powerful commission for drafting a new Guthi Bill.

People, especially from the Newar community, participating in the rally warned the government against any attempt to reintroduce the controversial bill in the future.

They have also demanded that the government should incorporate the views shared by locals, stakeholders, cultural experts and guthiyaars (trustees) while drafting the new bill.

The rally that started from Basantapur area passed through Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Thimi and reached Bhaktapur. From Bhaktapur the rally headed towards Kirtipur, where it converged into a corner meeting.

Hundreds of motorbikes and some mini-buses were used for the rally.

Following widespread criticism from the locals of Kathmandu, the government, on June 25, had withdrawn the controversial Guthi Bill from the Federal Parliament.

Ganapati Lal Shrestha, who is the coordinator of the National Identity Protection Joint Struggle Committee, said, “We were never happy with the work of Guthi Sansthan.

We now have an opportunity to correct it. We urge the government to form an all powerful committee which will particularly understand and address the problems facing the guthis.”

The locals have been demanding that the controversial bill be scrapped, as according to them, it aims to change the operational modality and ownership structure of existing guthis.

Many people are of the view that if the controversial bill ispassed, it will pave the way for land mafias to make hay.