Democracy grants citizen right to protest: Minister Rai

Morang, April 2 : Minister for Education, Science and Technology Ashok Rai has said people exercised their right to freedom of opinion while protesting the naming of Koshi Province. Talking to media at Biratnagar Airport today, the Minister said in a democratic system, citizens are free to protest peacefully while putting forth demands and for their rights. In such system, citizens are not mandated to follow each government decision and have the ‘right to dissent’ as well, according to him. He expressed his confidence that the issue would be resolved through talks with the dissenting group. It may be noted that naming of the then Pradesh 1 the ‘Koshi Province’ have irked the Kirat and Limbu community who were proposing to name it the ‘Kochi Province’. They said the endorsement of the ‘Koshi Province’ hurts their ethnic identity, undervaluing their presence.