National Anthem

After the historic victory of people over king’s rule, many things are in the offing. One such is National Anthem, Rashtriya Gaan. There is a proposed national anthem written by Riddhipani Gautam in Kantipur, 17 May 2006, page 7. If this song becomes our national anthem, I am sure many of us would not own it and would not sing it. The reasons for this is firstly, the words are very difficult to read and sing, and secondly, there are names, which lead one to think and accept that the country of this national anthem is a predominantly Hindu state. It totally neglects and forgets that there are other holy places than that of Hindu only and that Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Some of the examples of such elaborations are:

Pashupati rakchhit Nepal…Muktinath le mukti dine…sajiva Kumari, Naradevi, Dakchhinkali alaukik shaktipeeth….Swargadwari le swarga sulavpath pradarshak…

If you go through the whole text of the proposed anthem, you will agree with me that this cannot be our rashtriya gaan at all. Therefore, why not we write national anthem, which would arouse the national patriotism equally amongst all Nepali, and which would be acceptable and owned by all Nepali. I am sure there are many who can do this. Moreover, why not write our opinions on this issue in the letter to the editor of Kantipur. Those who are interested may kindly write to kanti@kantipur.com.np

Constituent Assembly and Constitution

The meeting of Magar Sangh Central Committee has decided to form a Working Committee to prepare a concept paper on CA and Constitutional changes. I am the convener. Other members of the Committee are Trilok Singh Thapa, Sangini Rana, and Bhoj Bikram Budha. We had first round meeting today. Almost all Magar Studies Center members and many other Magar intellectuals were present. We have decided to prepare the paper on the following headings:
-Listing the key Magar issues/Major concerns of Magars to be addressed
-Interim Constitution
-Constituent Assembly
-Constitution re-writing
You are kindly requested to send in any type of information or your opinion on these subjects. We hope to present this paper within few weeks time in one of the seminar and then hand over to Magar Sangh.