Pokhara, September 23

Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat today doubted the rationale behind the ongoing protest against the new constitution, which he credited to the previous Madhesh movement.

Inaugurating the Citizen Investment Treasury’s branch office in Pokhara today, Mahat dwelt on the provision in the constitution and said, “It was the same Madhes movement that compelled the parties to amend the statute to pave the way to federalism and now the leaders have done nothing other than consolidate the federalism issue by federating the country into seven provinces.”

“Of the seven provinces, five are dominated by the Madhesi populace and there is a province that exclusively covers the Madhesi people. On top of it, everyone knows this is not the final constitution as there are always chances of amending the constitution,” FM Mahat said, also inviting the agitating forces to sit for dialogue.

Further, describing the new constitution as the model one in the entire South Asian region, he urged the agitating parties to read the constitution well before protesting against it.

“The major political parties are always serious about the voices of dissatisfaction in the plains, and it’s evident in the fact that the prime minister has cancelled his scheduled participation in the General Assembly of the United Nations,” he said.

Also, he raised doubt over the spontaneity of the agitation under way in the Tarai. “In fact, the common people there haven’t desired the agitation, it’s only at the behest of a handful of people with vested interests and the threats and baits of certain political parties that they have taken up the agitation,” he argued.

He also dwelt on the problems and loss the ongoing bandh would cause to the country.