Do not politicize culture: says PM KP Oli

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the tendency to politicize culture is wrong.  He said so while accepting a memorandum handed to him by the Nepal Sambat New Year 1145 Celebration Committee at his official residence, Baluwatar, Monday.

The PM said the way of creating disturbance through political interference in Nepal’s indigenous culture and traditions is not appropriate.

“Revival is possible in some years if the politics and economy are ruined. But it takes many years if the culture is degenerated. We should be cautious about this,” pointed out the Prime Minister. He mentioned that several ‘disturbing’ activities occurred in festivals as Indra Jatra (an indigenous cultural festival of Kathmandu).

Stating that the Newari culture contained in it indigenous, classical and modern music and special tunes, he lauded the initiatives being made to preserve them.

On the occasion, Committee president and former minister Rajendra Shrestha called for directives from the PM for implementing the decision of the Council of Ministers on November 13, 2023 related to implementation of the Nepal Sambat in the official documents of all the administrative bodies and levels.

He demanded that the Nepal Sambat era should be mentioned in the bank notes printed by Nepal Rastra Bank and urged Nepal’s diplomatic missions abroad to celebrate the Nepal Sambat New Year’s Day as ‘Nepal Day’. Chairperson of the National Luminary Shankhadhar Sakhwa Foundation, Gyanram Shrestha suggested making provisions for carrying out monitoring on the status of the use of the Nepal Sambat Calendar in the government bodies.

The government had declared Sakhwa as the National Hero in 2065 BS.

This year the Nepal Sambat New Year 1145 is being observed on November 2, with the garlanding of Sakhwa’s statue at Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur while a special programme will be organized at Basantapur, Kathmandu. The Committee has invited the Prime Minister to be the Chief Guest in both programmes.

Present at the PM residence in the memo handing programme were former ministers Krishna Gopal Shrestha and Dilip Maharjan, and Hitkar Bir Singh Kansakar, Malla K Sundar, Prof Naresh Man Bajracharya, among the Newa community leaders.