KATMANDU, 30 May 2008 —The royal flag of the 240-year old Nepalese Hindu monarchy was taken down from the palace yesterday as the Himalayan nation marked the historic declaration of Nepal as a secular democratic republic. An Arab News team took a round of the Narayanhiti Palace area, where thousands protested for several hours yesterday demanding that sacked King Gyanendra vacate the palace immediately.
The demonstrators frequently clashed with riot police as they tried to break the security cordon. At least 10 people including some policemen were injured during the clashes.
The royal flag, which is different from the Nepalese national flag, had been the insignia of the Shah dynasty. Government employees later put up the national flag in its place. This historic political change has been widely acknowledged by several countries including the United States, which has congratulated the people of Nepal on the declaration of a federal democratic republic by the Constituent Assembly.
“The United States congratulates the people of Nepal on the Constituent Assembly’s first step in defining a new, democratic Nepal with the declaration of a republic on May 28,” the US Embassy said in a statement.
The country’s transformation into a democratic republic was celebrated with great fanfare on the streets of the capital Katmandu yesterday. “Nepal has entered into a new era of democratic politics,” said the ailing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who on this occasion congratulated Nepalese people for their total “support and perseverance”.
Wednesday’s declaration formally ended a 13-year-old Maoist insurgency. The process was initiated last year, when a 12-point peace agreement was signed between the government of Koirala and the Maoists.
“It is exciting time for Nepal. Muslims will henceforth be integrated into the mainstream of Nepalese society,” said Upendra Yadva, president of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), a political party whose support the Maoists will need to form government.
Yadva said: “Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) has emerged as the largest single party and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) the largest regional party.” He said the era of discrimination was over and people of all castes, religion and ethnicity would be given equal opportunities and rights.
However, he complained of national parties treating the Madhesi, the people of the Terai region including Muslims with mistrust. There are 16 Muslims in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.
