Nepal

Kathmandu, June 19

Thousands of people from the Newar community gathered at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu today to protest the governmentmove to undermine Newari culture and tradition by introducing a new law on guthi. Elderly people, children, politicians, artists and people of all ages took part in the protest.

The protest was held despite the governmentwithdrawal of the controversial Guthi Bill, which had courted criticism and sparked mass protests. The bill aimed to change the operation modality and ownership structure of guthis, which, many say, would pave the way for the land mafia to make hay.

Thousands of people attend a mass gathering to protest against the controversial Guthi Bill, at Maitighar Mandala, in Kathmandu, on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Photo: Skanda Gautam/THT

Protesters warned the government against repeating the mistake of infringing upon the rights of guthis, which, they said, had played a key role in preserving the nationculture and tradition.

Protesters were miffed at ministers who had referred to them as ‘people hired to support feudalists&. Ministers at the receiving end of protesters outburst include Padma Kumari Aryal, minister of land management, cooperatives and poverty alleviation, who had registered the bill at the upper house of the Parliament; Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, who allegedly allowed police to use excessive force against protesters staging peaceful rally on the first day of the protest against the Guthi Bill; and Gokul Prasad Banskota, minister of communications and information technology, who had said activities of guthis were remnants of a feudal system

&These ministers must resign,& Yadav Lal Kayastha, a cultural activist and a guthiyar, told the mass gathering.

&Newars do not have a feudal mindset. It is the government that has a feudal mindset as it used force on peaceful protesters and introduced the bill without holding consultation with stakeholders,& said Suraj Manandhar, a rights activist from Save Nepa Valley.

Many protesters are cross with the government even after withdrawal of the controversial bill because of the demeaning language used at the time of the billwithdrawal. The government, in a statement issued yesterday, had said it was withdrawing the Guthi Bill as &attempts were made to mislead and provoke people and spoil the peaceful environment&.

&We have not been hired as claimed by the government that wants to create a rift in our ranks. What we saw on the streets in the past few days and today was a spontaneous outpouring of people hurt by the governmentstatement,& said Ganapati Lal Shrestha, coordinator of the National Identity Protection Joint Struggle Committee.

Todayprotests saw participation of Newars from around 32 major Newar settlements in the valley. Renowned singer Yogeshwor Amatya, music composer Nyuhu Bajracharya and Newars from Dhulikhel and Banepa joined the protest.

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• Countrypopulation is projected to decline after 2053, standing at 27.3 million by the end of the century

Kathmandu, June 19

Nepalpopulation is expected to virtually stop growing by the mid of this century due to falling fertility rates whereas the life expectancy will witness a steady rise, according to a new data released by the United Nations.

&Nepalpopulation of 28.6 million in 2019 will increase to 36.45 million in 2053,& the World Population Prospects released recently by the UNDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, said. The population is projected to decline after 2053 while the country will just have 27.3 million people by the end of this century, the projections added.

From 1950 to 2011, the country witnessed the population growth between 0.06 to 2.6 percent each year while the growth trend, as per the data, had stopped for the next three succeeding years. The data shows that Nepalpopulation in 2011 was 27 million while it had declined to 26.9 million till 2014. &Nepal, with 27 million inhabitants again in 2015, witnessed a continuous annual population growth till today,& the report said, adding that the growth trend would continue till 2053. By 2100, Nepalpopulation is projected to reach approximately 27.3 million while the total fertility rate is expected to be 1.6 live births per woman, down from 1.9 today, according to the UN.

Nepal, which has more than 2.8 million births in the period 2015-2020, will record just 1.68 million births in the period 2050-2055, while the number of births is projected to shrink to 855,702 between 2095-2100.

Nepal must prepare to adapt to the consequences of an ageing population, suggests the report, mentioning that the average lifespan of a Nepali is now 70.31 years, 68.83 for a male and 71.72 for a female. But the life expectancy for Nepali citizens is expected to reach 83.66 years, 69 for a male and 84.62 for a female by 2100. &In 1950-1955, an average Nepali lived to be 34.46 years,& according to the report.

In Nepal, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the period of 2015-2020 is 27,934 while the infant mortality rate will stand at 6,148 in 2095-2100, according to the report. &Number of deaths, both sexes combined, stands at 896,981 in 2015-2020, while the period of 2095-2100 is projected to record approximate 2,210,847 deaths,& the report stated. Average mean age of childbearing for Nepali females is now 25.24 years while it will increase to 31.02 years by 2100.

In some cases, the falling population size is reinforced by high rates of emigration, and migration flow has become a major cause of population change in certain regions, according to the UN. &Nepal, Bangladesh and the Philippines are seeing the largest migratory outflows resulting from the demand for migrant workers,& the report added.

Footnote: The population figure errors as seen in todayprint have been corrected in the online version. Apologies to our readers for the inadvertent error.

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