"Our country has remained a Hindu state since time immemorial. I strongly demand that Nepal should remain a Hindu state even in the new statute," he told emphatically as Deputy Prime Minister and CA member from the same constituency listened to him.This septuagenarian easily drew the attention of the overcrowded hall as he went on to speak against secularism that many believe has given rise to religious conversion in Nepal. Every time a participant suggested retaining Nepal's status as a Hindu state, people desperately waiting to put forth their suggestions would give a thunderous applause.
Kattel also did not spare any opportunity to demand constitutional guarantee of special allowances to the elderly. Like Kattel, other elderly also argued that they were helpless as their children are working abroad. "State should therefore take the responsibility to look after the elderly. The allowances distributed by the government currently is too meager," complained Ganga Prasad Sharma Nepali.
Not all people had the same concerns, though. Sita Karki demanded guarantee of citizenship through mother. "There should be a constitutional guarantee to women's reproductive rights and rapists should be given death penalty," she said, while supporting the demand of previous speakers for "religious freedom" instead of "secularism" in the new statute.
Jiten Dev Sharma demanded that the new constitution clearly set academic qualification for one to be eligible for the post of lawmakers and ministers. "Even a driver these days are SLC graduates. But leaders, who run the country, do not need any academic qualification," he complained. Sharma also demanded age-limit for the prime minister and ministers.
Binod Kumar Bhattarai demanded provisions to ensure transparency in the activities of political parties. While expressing concerns over the misuse of the fund being allocated to the parliamentarians, he demanded a minimum of 5 percent threshold for a political party to get recognition as a national party.
Likewise, Bishnu Sapkota asked the political leadership to promulgate the new statute only after settling names and boundaries of the proposed federal provinces. He also argued that fewer federal states would be better for peace and prosperity of the country.
As many still waited their turns to put forth their suggestions, other speakers demanded directly elected president and prime minister, reduction of number of seats allocated under Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, constitutional guarantee of employment to youths, new mechanism to check the wrongdoings of CIAA, death penalty for those involved in corruption and heinous crimes like rape and murder and expansion of the jurisdiction of CIAA, among others.
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