ITAHARI: Upendra Yadav, chairman, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Yadav faction), today said the Supreme Court verdict vis-à-vis the oath of office and secrecy taken by Vice President Parmananda Jha in Hindi language, was “undemocratic”.

Talking to this daily, Yadav said, “The apex

court has undermined the Madhesi people and their lingual rights.”

In a landmark verdict, the country’s apex court on Friday had rendered VP Jha’s oath in Hindi redundant and had urged him to take a fresh oath in Nepali language.

Saying that the country has place for all castes, languages and religions, Yadav said the court should not have issued its verdict in such a biased manner.

Arguing that the Vice President should not take the oath of the office and secrecy in Nepali language, Yadav advised the court to correct wrong and unilateral verdict and to respect democracy.

“The apex court verdict comes at a time when other countries are adopting multi-lingual and multi-cultural policies,” Yadav added.

Saying that his party was preparing for Madhes Andolan III, he said, “MJF is against the verdict of the apex court.”

“We will launch a decisive agitation,” he added.

Issuing a press statement today, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Nepal, termed the apex court verdict as “discriminatory against Madhesi people”.

The statement signed by the party’s general secretary Ramsahay Prasad Yadav claimed the verdict was against the spirit of Interim Constitution. “The SC has insulted the Hindi-speaking Madhesi people by ordering VP to take fresh oath in Nepali. We have taken this as a symbolic step to gradually hijack the rights of Madhesis,” read the statement.

Sadbhavana Party and Madhes Tarai Forum also backed VP Jha terming the court verdict unconstitutional. “The SC is making the world laugh by going against the multilingual and multicultural identity of the country,” Sadbhavana Party release stated. Another Tarai-based party insisted that the verdict was not fair as part-1, article-3 of the Interim Constitution already recognised the country as a multilingual nation.