Sarvajit Chakravarty, additional secretary in the ministry of external affairs and (right) Lakman Lal Karn, cabinet minister and co-chairman of Sadbhavna Party of Nepal at the seminar in Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur on Saturday. Picture by Prakash Kumar

Muzaffarpur, Jan. 22: A cabinet-rank minister of Nepal, Lakman Lal Karn, has appealed to the Indian government to intervene and help the neighbouring country draft a new constitution.

“A strong democratic neighbour like India can help Nepal adopt a democratic and federal structure,” the co-chairman of Sadbhavna Party said, deliberating at an international seminar on “Constitutional crisis in Nepal” here today.

The seminar was organised under the aegis of International Council of World Affairs and the University Grants Commission at the department of political science in Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University here on Saturday.

He said the Maoists have now emerged as a formidable force and threat before the constitutional committee of Nepal that has been entrusted with the task of drafting a new constitution for Nepal.

Karn said the Maoists were exerting tremendous pressure upon members of the constitutional committee belonging to all 26 allies of the government for drafting a new constitution on the pattern of Chine and North Korea.

“This is a major stumbling block and disappointment to the rank and file of the members of Sadbhavna Party. Our party wants the form and draft of Nepal’s constitution to possess a democratic flavour and structure,” the septuagenarian leader of Madhesi cult, said.

The preliminary draft of the Nepal’s constitution has shown a very discouraging trend, he said.

Karn beseeched India, a friendly neighbour, to immediately intervene in drafting of the new constitution on a democratic model.

“This would not be improper as a neighbouring nation could do it for safeguarding its own interests,” Karn said.

Inaugurating the seminar, Sarvajit Chakravarty, the additional secretary in the ministry of external affairs and also deputy director-general of International Council of World Affairs, New Delhi said India enjoyed friendly ties with Nepal.

Of late, India has played a crucial role in mitigating unrest and bring normalcy in Nepal.

The ICWA, is a platform to do research and study on diplomatic relations with the countries and would expand centre in the adjoining Bihar close geographical and proximity with Nepal in the days to come.

Chakravarty said the India could only facilitate process in bringing normalcy. He exuded confidence that Nepal would get over these nagging problems.

Nalini Kant Jha, the director of Southern Asia Studies Programme, Pondicherry University, said: “The root of this present political impasse in Nepal can be traced to deep trust deficit between the Maoists and non-Maoists. Large sections of the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified-Marxist-Leninist) and Madhesi parties do not trust the Maoist commitment to democracy.”

The former director of Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, Shri Krishna Jha said: “The recent constitutional crisis in Nepal was disturbing and dangerous. And the constitutional crisis is more political than constitutional. It is a kind of power struggle based on ideological differences. Maoists are putting much emphasis on large-scale induction of their guerrillas into the army.

The other parties, especially the Nepali Congress, are apprehensive of the Maoist actions, he stated.

In the presidential address, the vice-chancellor of Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University Rajdev Prasad Singh hoped Nepal would emerge from the present crisis smoothly.

Earlier, pro-vice-chancellor Nand Kishore Yadav, Nalin Mishra and Anil Kumar Ojha expressed their views.