Apropos of the news story “Constitution amendment process enters State II” (THT, Jan. 5, Page 1), citing that there are many instances of such amendments in democracies, Law Minister Agni Kharel justifies amendment of the constitution amid chanting of slogans in the House by the Madhesi parties. We all agree that ours is the best constitution, inclusive and participatory. My question is: If our constitution is so good, why do we need to amend it within three months of its promulgation? Why are the Madhesis still screaming their guts out in the House and holding mock referendum in the fields? If it addresses their concerns why cannot we amend the entire constitution?

Or, rather than going for several amendments so soon after promulgation, it be easier to replace it with a new one altogether with inputs from all disgruntled parties. Kharel cites that India amended its constitution 100 times and South Africa amended its constitution seventeen times in 17 years. We cannot compare ourselves with others. How many times has South Sudan changed its constitution? It would be fair to compare us with this resource-rich newest country which promulgated its vibrant constitution in 2011. In hindsight, would it have been better for us not to have the written constitution? With time slipping away and the patina of Madhes discontent getting harder, it would be wise to rise to the occasion and solve the problems immediately without clowning around any longer. The news such as “ASI Subba killed in firing” (THT, Jan. 5,Page 3) does not bode well for the country.

Manohar Shrestha,

Kathmandu

Jaywalking

This is in response to the ‘Agenda, Question of the Week’ dated January 3, 2016. Jaywalking is a “buzz” word today. People are being spotted crossing roads when the pedestrian signal turns ‘Red’. When the people see that that no vehicles are coming, they just cross the road running even though the signal is green for vehicles. This can lead to dangerous and fatal accidents. For example, while anyone is committing this crime, the person can fall on the road and a car or bus can crush him/her.

Some pedestrians also cross the roads not on zebra crossing. If the signal is red and a person is not using the zebra crossing this can be more fatal. And most dangerous is that people make an idea of the distance of the vehicle away from him seeing its headlights. People go to cross the road and sometimes the person is unexpectedly hit by the vehicle. Thus, because of all these reasons we should avoid jaywalking. We should wait for the pedestrian signal to turn green. Then we should cross the road. We should also prevent others from doing this too. So, avoiding jaywalks will reduce the death toll on roads to a great extent.

Avik Chatterjee, Kolkata