Kathmandu, December 31

Member of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal Presidium Rajendra Mahato said the big three parties — Nepali Congress, CPN-MC and CPN-UML — were equally to blame for promulgating a discriminatory constitution and they should now  stand together to amend it.

Talking to THT about the party’s next phase of struggle, Mahato said the CPN-MC and NC’s argument that they tried to amend the constitution in the past but could not do so due to lack of two-thirds majority  was akin to shedding ‘crocodile’s tears.’

“These two parties put the constitution amendment bill to vote because they knew the bill could not be passed,” he said, adding that the big three parties needed to make honest efforts to end structural and other discriminations against Madhesis, women, Dalits, Muslims and Tharus.

“As long as marginalised communities, including Madhesis and Tharus are discriminated against, there will be protests and movements and that  will continue to make politics unstable,” he said and added that for the sake of ensuring prosperity and stability, the big three parties needed to end  inequality, discrimination and marginalisation.

Mahato said the constitution needed to be amended to create two provinces in the Madhes — Madhes province and Tharuhat province — and to ensure proportional inclusion of all marginalised communities in all the organs of the state. He said the constitution should be amended also to ensure autonomy of the provinces and to restore the rights that were ensured in the interim constitution, but removed from the new constitution.

He said the CPN-MC, which favoured amendment to the constitution in the transformed Parliament should now make it a condition for unity with the CPN-UML if the CPN-MC was truly committed to the agenda of constitution amendment. “If the NC too forges an alliance with any party tomorrow, then it too needs to make constitution amendment a key agenda for such a deal,” Mahato added.

Mahato said the RJP-N would intensify its struggle in all three fronts — the Parliament, Provincial Assembly of Province 2 and on the streets to win the rights for Madhesis, Janajatis and other marginalised communities.

He said comfortable majority of Madhesi alliance in Province 2 gave a clear message to the big three parties that Madhesi voters were in favour of continuing their struggle. “Province 2 government will have to struggle with the central government to win rights for Madhesis, Janajatis and this will be a new kind of struggle which will inject new dynamism in the movement for equality,” he said.