Cities across the country have erupted in protest after the government declared temporary provincial capitals on Wednesday. Protesting people say they are the right places to be provincial capitals. On the other hand, people belonging to these temporary capitals are celebrating. With this, we are once again returning to the situation of protests and counter-protests over federal matters.

This is unfortunate. While a provincial capital may help bring in jobs, infrastructure and opportunities, others need not break into protests and vandalism. Ordinary citizens won’t have to travel to provincial capitals to get their works done. Those tasks will be handled by local units. Moreover, the provincial assemblies will name permanent capitals with two-thirds majority. 

There are plenty of cities within and outside of Nepal that have become the center for innovation and economic activities, sometimes far from political centers. Therefore, the cities and the residents there need not panic. In fact, not being a capital might turn out to be a boon for a lot of these cities. The people, along with the political leadership, of that city will need to work hard and improve the needed infrastructures, including excellent connectivity, to bring in companies to invest there, which will lead to economic growth.

People from other areas, including the provincial capital, will flock to these places for better opportunities and for healthy living. Besides, for the general public, having the capital in one particular place has very little bearing in their everyday functioning. While political gravity will pull politicians to the provincial capital, others will be able to have their government related works done in their municipalities and rural municipalities. Provincial capitals are not district headquarters. Thus the political parties should stop flaming the fire in these protests. They have the responsibility of going to the people and explaining the decision. They should actively discourage violent protests. 

It is rather unfortunate that some of the politicians are actively leading and supporting these protests. There will be many decisions in days ahead that will not be politically expedient. Political leaders have to accept those decisions and urge the people to heed those for the greater good of the country.  

They have to look beyond next election. Our young federal republic needs political and public support to fully implement the new constitution. If people start erupting into violent protests after every major decision, it will be impossible to redirect the country into the federal structure. Thus it is necessary for political parties to consult and engage the people in a fair and transparent manner whenever big decisions have to be made. We hope the political leadership will show some maturity and help people navigate through these confusing times.

At the same time, we should be mindful of the fact that at the core of such protests is people’s desire for speedy development of basic infrastructures. Political leaders need to ensure the people that this will happen whether certain cities are state capitals or not.  Implementing federal set up is a difficult task. But it will become even more complicated if the parties themselves stoke unnecessary fear and suspicion regarding their own decisions.