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Parties ink deal on freeing schools from armed conflict
KATHMANDU, NOV 21 - Political parties today agreed to keep schools free from armed conflicts but said they have some reservations for ‘positive’ political activities.Representatives of major political parties including the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, NC (Democratic), Peoples’ Front Nepal (PFN), Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP), Nationalistic Democratic Front (NDF) and senior politicians of the country unanimously agreed to keep schools and their surroundings free from armed conflicts.The agreement was reached during the last leg of the discussion held by the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) for freeing schools from armed conflict and making them zones of peace.
Participants during the previous rounds of discussions held by HURPES expressed similar sentiments.
Talking to The Kathmandu Post after the discussion with the party leaders, Krishna Pahadi, chairman of HURPES said the political parties agreed to keep schools free from armed conflicts but said the parties had partial reservations for conducting political activities in them.
Narahari Acharya, central committee member of NC, Hom Nath Dahal of NC (Democratic), ex-MP Nava Raj Subedi and Leela Mani Pokhrel of PFN, Prem Suwal and Sunil Prajapati of NWPP, Ram Bhakta Maharjan of RPP and Dr Shastra Panta of NDF pledged their commitment on behalf of their respective parties to free schools from armed conflict and violence.
They have also agreed to address the root cause of the conflict to avert violence in future.
"They have urged the human rights organisations to mobilise civil society to garner support for implementing the agreement reached today," said Pahadi.
He said that the parties have provided HURPES with the mandate to protest against any violence in schools in future and campaign for creating schools as zones of peace.
HURPES has planned to launch a ten-day-long campaign in fifty districts from December first week.Posted on: 2003-11-20 09:56
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