Talking to the media in his office, the PM said that if “secularism collapses, the republic will meet the same fate.”
PM Prachanda said the media has also fought the fight against monarchy, which makes it their moral responsibility to help protect secularism in the state.
“Did you not come to interview and support the cause when we were underground?” he said.
Without mentioning India’s name, he said: “I have been telling people giving such advice from outside to first change their country to a Hindu one… You are a country of 1.35 billion and you have 80 percent Hindu population. Why dont you first change your country?”
Acknowledging a recent suggestion by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to take the secularism topic to debate, he said that his party's central committee stood by secularism and the ‘matter rests there’.
Addressing the forces not accepting the current constitution, he urged them to take up constitutional means for change. “There is nothing except territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the country that can not be changed or altered constitutionally,” he said.
On the border dispute with India, PM Prachanda said he is hopeful that the dispute over Kalapani, Limpiaduria and Lipulekh can be sorted out and he trusts assurances given by PM Modi during his May-June visit.
“Best course will be for India to return the territory,” he said, adding that he was happy that India is cooperating on the previous agreements on hydro-projects.
He also said that the long pending Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the 10,800 Megawatt Pancheshwar project would be made public next month, during the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He said the Asian Development Bank has been approached for assistance in this project.
“He will also be laying the foundation of another mega project, Budhi Gandaki, soon” he said without divulging much details
When asked about Nepalis being recruited in the Russian army and killed in the war with Ukraine, PM Prachanda said the government wrote to all the governments it has diplomatic relations with not to recruit any Nepali in their army, with the exception of those it has formal treaties with.
The issue came to light last week when the Russian Defence Ministry informed Nepali embassy in Moscow about six Nepalis in the war with Ukraine.
Kajal Agarwal
