Christian body strikes 6-pt pact with govt

[rabin1202006]

KATHMANDU, MAY 28 - The agitating Christian community struck a six-point agreement with the government on Saturday. The deal that includes formation of a Christian Commission was reached during talks at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction between representatives of the Christian community and the government.

According to the pact, the government will take necessary steps to declare public holidays on Christian festivals other than Christmas as well. Christian leader CB Gahatraj said the government is likely to declare holidays on festivals such as Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The government will also take the responsibility of forming a body to manage and unify all the churches and their properties. “This will help bring the scattered Christian community under one umbrella,” said Gahatraj.

Apart from this deal, the government will also form a task force comprised of Christian leaders to sort out issues related to the burial ground crisis in the Valley. According to Gahatraj, it has been agreed to form a task force to implement our proposal to hand over the 2,000 ropanis of land in Gotikhel of Lalitpur for burial purpose.

“Everything on handing over the land has been managed. Even the locals, District Forest Office and District Administration Office, Lalitpur have agreed to give us the land,” said Gahatraj, adding that the only work remaining was the official process.

Other agreements include expansion of job opportunities for Christian people by allocating specific reservation quotas and allotting a certain share of national budget to the community.

“We consider this agreement as historic for the Christian community that has been struggling for a long time,” said Gahatraj. “We are hopeful that the state will implement all the agreements reached so far.”