National
Mandamus order sought for ‘Baramu special area’
Two members of the Baramu community have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding a mandamus order to the government to form a special, autonomous and protected region in Gorkha.Two members of the Baramu community have filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding a mandamus order to the government to form a special, autonomous and protected region in Gorkha.
Bhuwan Baramu of Bhimsen Rural Municipality-1 and Tek Bahadur Baramu of Sulikot Rural Municipality-7 on Thursday jointly filed the writ petition against the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, among others.
Due to the failure of the government to carve out special, autonomous and protected regions while announcing the rural municipalities and municipalities, the petitioners argue, “our culture, language and existence will be endangered”.
They have also urged the apex court to issue an interim order to the concerned authorities not to make any decisions that affect the uniqueness, culture and language of the Baramu community until such special, autonomous and protected areas are formed.
Besides, petitioner Bhuwan said they have also demanded that the SC annul the local federal units in Gorkha that cut their settlement into three different rural municipalities—Bhimsen, Aarughat and Sulikot.
The Balananda Poudel-led State Restructuring Commission was mandated to carve out such regions along with geographical rural municipalities and municipalities across the country but the commission failed to complete its task.
Organisations of indigenous people and some political parties including the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal have also been demanding the regions mandated by the constitution.
The petitioners claim that the Janajatis were deprived of their constitutional rights due to the failure of the Poudel-led commission to complete its assignment.
Advocate Dipendra Jha, who drafted the petition, said the SC has decided to call both the sides for discussion on October 22.
Of the total 8,140 members of the community, 6,775 live in different parts of Gorkha.