The Eighteenth Memorial Day of Parijat, a noted woman literary figure of the country, was commemorated today in the capital, with garlands offered at her statue.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai garlanded the statue of the late Parijat at a tribute-paying ceremony organised by the Parijat Memorial Centre, Mheipi, according to RSS.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister recalled his deep association with the late Parijat since he joined politics. He said he used to visit Parijat's residence quite often during the time of the Panchayat rule and when he went underground, recalling a profound association with her residence as a place for reading newspapers.

The prime minister said that although the political movement has taken a forward-looking momentum in the country, the cultural movement still has not and stressed the need of pushing ahead with the cultural movement in the coming days.

Chairperson of the Centre, Laxmi Mali, expressed dismay that the late Parijat was not still accorded the highest respect due to her despite the immense contribution that she has made for enriching Nepali literature.

She demanded that the State itself should honour the writers and artists.

Member of the Centre, Sneha Sayami, drew the attention of the prime minister towards the government's negligence of writers and litterateurs and urged him to take effective steps for cultural change.

Present at the commemorative programme were 150 people including UCPN (Maoist) vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and leaders Hisila Yami, Lilamani Pokharel, Amik Sherchan and Girirajmani Pokharel, Nepali Congress leader Narahari Acharya, among other leaders, litterateurs and artists.

Bishnudevi Waiba who wrote under the pen name of Parijat was born in Darjeeling, India. She lived in Kathmandu for the rest of her life and died here on April 17, 1993.

The Parijat Memorial Centre has also decided to honour Bishnu Devi Shrestha with the Parijat Shangharsasil Nari award, Bimal Nibha with the Parijat Srijansil award, the Indreni Cultural Society, Kirtipur, with the Parijat Art award and Madhav Sayapatri with the Parijat Children's Literature Manuscript award, this year. The awards are presented every year.

These awards would be presented to the nominees on April 27 on the occasion of the Parijat Memorial Assembly. Each award carries a purse of Rs. 10,000 and a Citation. nepalnews.com