Nepal's upper house endorses proposal to consider amendment to update new political map
Kathmandu: Nepal Parliament's upper house on Sunday endorsed a proposal to discuss the Constitution amendment bill to update the country's new political map that includes three strategically key Indian territories, a day after the lower house unanimously voted in favour of the bill.
Nepal's ruling and opposition political parties on Saturday voted in unison to amend the Constitution to update the national emblem by incorporating the controversial map incorporating Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura in India's Uttrakhand, a move described by New Delhi as "untenable."
Of the total 275 lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Saturday, all 258 lawmakers present in the house voted in favour of the Constitution amendment bill.
Now, the bill will undergo a similar process in the National Assembly, wherein the ruling Nepal Communist Party commands two-thirds majority.
Rajendra Phuyal, secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat, tabled the bill at the first meeting of the upper house on Sunday, The Kathmandu Post reported.
During the second meeting of the National Assembly later on Sunday, Law Minister Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe tabled a proposal to consider the bill for discussions, the paper said.
After the discussions, the proposal to consider the bill was unanimously endorsed, it added. The National Assembly will give lawmakers 72 hours to move amendments against the bill's provisions, if they have any.
"We are making necessary preparations to endorse the bill within the next four days, Phuyal was quoted as saying by the paper.
After the National Assembly passes the bill, it will be submitted to the President for authentication, after which it will be incorporated in the Constitution. After that, the new map will be used in all official documents, including the coat of arms.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition Nepali Congress has urged the government to intensify diplomatic efforts to ensure the country's rights in the Kalapani area after the country includes its updated political and administrative map in the Constitution, the Himalayan Times reported.
In a press statement on Saturday, the party said the "campaign to reclaim encroached territories would enter the second phase after the revised map incorporating Limpiyadhura, Lipulek and Kalapani areas as its parts, gets endorsed and this would mark a significant solidarity in the issue of nationality."
Reacting to Kathmandu's move, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said on Saturday "this artificial enlargement of claims is not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable. It is also violative of our current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues."
The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.
Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.
Nepal last month released the revised political and administrative map of the country laying claim over the strategically key areas, more than six months after India published a new map in November 2019.
India had then sternly asked Nepal not to resort to any "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.
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Dalit outfits call state-wide hartal over dental student’s death
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.
The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.
As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.
Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.
Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.
KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.
The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.
KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.
They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.
