With the naming of Koshi Province, the meeting of the province assembly has become uncertain.
A province meeting of the then Province 1 adopted 'Koshi as the name for the province on March 1. It is not clear when the meeting will resume after it was postponed for an indefinite period following the naming of the province.
Since then, pro-identity organizations have been staging demonstrations over the issue of the name.
Government ministers have been saying that the meeting could not be held because of the fear of being encircled. Speaker Baburam Gautam says that the movement of pro-identity groups is also one of the reasons why the meeting could not be held.
“The Provincial Assembly had to finalize the naming issue. We fulfilled that obligation. That is why a community is upset and staging demonstrations,” Gautam.
Padam Limbu, who participated in the demonstration on March 19, has also died due to injuries he sustained in the demonstration.
A week ago, there was a clash between the protestors and the security personnel in front of Big Hotel in Biratnagar in which 19 people sustained injuries.
Agitating groups have also been saying that they will hold a decisive movement in Biratnagar from mid-April. Hence, it is seen that the Koshi Province Assembly meeting will not be held for some time.
The demonstrators announced that they have suspended the lockdown and protest rallies in view of the SEE examination held from March 31 to April 8. They have already decided to continue the regular agitation programs once the exams are over.
Padam Limbu alias Lajehang was killed during the identity movement. He sustained injuries on March 19 and breathed his last in the course of treatment at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences on March 24.
Lajehang has been declared a martyr by the federal government. However, his body is still at the hospital.
Immediately after Limbu's death, the federal government formed a six-member investigation and negotiation committee under the leadership of Ram Bandhu Subedi, joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
With the declaration of Limbu as a martyr by the Council of Ministers, the number of martyrs has reached 12 thousand 198.
Dual character of Maoist Center
After the name of Province 1 was changed into Koshi, the pro-identity groups have been infuriated. That is why the Maoist Center is now afraid of the identity movement. The party is currently looking for 'face saving' with the assessment that the movement will damage the image of the Maoist Center.
Hence, the Maoist Center that voted in favor of Koshi Province have expressed solidarity with the ongoing movement demanding that the Koshi name be canceled and re-named on the basis of multiple identities.
Due to the recent u-turn of the Maoist Center, which has joined the movement after voting for Koshi in the provincial assembly, it is drawing flacks for showing a double character.
As the province became restless over the issue of naming Koshi naming, almost all the parties except UML are united in favor of changing the name.
The name change does not seem to be possible in the current state of parliament, unless the largest party in the Koshi Province assembly, the UML, agrees. If the UML feels the pressure to change the name and agrees, then the name can be changed according to the members of the provincial assembly.
However, UML has now started interpreting the role played by Maoist Center as a ploy to change the government.
UML leader Hikmat Bahadur Karki is currently the Chief Minister of Koshi Province.
