Janayatra flagged off from three districts
Janayatra 2007, a march being organised to pressure the government to hold constituent assembly (CA) polls on the scheduled date and in a free and fair manner, was flagged off Sunday from Ilam, Baitadi and Ramechhap amidst grand functions.
Halting their works for a day, thousands of people of different cultural identity stepped out of their houses and marched to the Loktantrik Chowk in Baitadi, Ilam Bazar in Ilam and Manthali in Ramechhap to join the Janayatra, according to the Janayatra 2007 Steering Committee. Farmers, trade union members, cultural groups, teachers, students, social activists, political leaders and other members of the public joined in the march.
Speaker of the legislature parliament Subas Nemwang, civil society leader Shyam Shrestha and human rights activist Gauri Pradhan inaugurated the Janayatra in Ilam, Baitadi and Ramechhap respectively while leading civil society activists, human rights and political leaders addressed the inaugural functions. Cultural teams lead by Ramesh and Rayan performed a show in Ramechhap, J.B Tuhure in Ilam and Nanda Krishna Joshi in Baitadi.
According to the committee, the Janayatra is being organised to pressurise the government and the eight party political leaders to hold CA elections on the slated date in a free, fair and fearless manner; guarantee people's economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights; and restructure the state ensuring federal system. The Janayatra will march through rural villages and the cities of 40 districts informing people about the importance and procedure of CA elections and calling them to involve in the elections. The Janajatra will culminate in Butwal on the World Peace Day on 21 September.
The Janayatra is launched by different national level federations, networks, alliances including NGO Federation of Nepal, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, National Federation of Disabled Nepal, Federation of Community Forestry Users' Nepal, National Land Rights Concern Group, Human Rights Alliance, DECONT, National Dalit Network, Community Forestry Support Network, Inter Federations Women Network, National Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users' Nepal, National Federation of Irrigation Water Users' Nepal, Dalit NGO Federation and Women Human Rights National Network. nepalnews.com mk Sep 09 07
