NEPALI POLITICS

  Was that just another political stunt? PM Oli has made another big headline in the news media by visiting Pashupatinath temple yesterday amidst a controversial decision he had made a month ago. That was his abrupt decision of dissolution of HoR. There seems to be many speculation and arguments about his visit to Pashupatinath temple. Some of his critics opined that his visit to a temple was nothing but simply to garner sympathy votes from pro-Hindu and pro-monarchist voters who are vehemently demanding restoration of Hindu state and monarchy in the recent days. Other argued that his visit to a temple was an attack on the constitution which made Nepal a secular republic. Oli is the first communist prime minister to visit Pashupatinath temple for a puja. Other communist prime ministers like Manmohan Adhikari, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Baburam Bhattarai and Jhala Nath Khanal never visited the temple during their tenures and some of them even refused to take the oat...

  Who knows politically what happens next? The present political situation of Nepal seems to be heading towards either a complete mess that might go beyond the Oli led government’s control inviting political and social chaos in the capital and other parts of the country or the government would be forced to take strong and bold action against the Prachand- Madhav Nepal faction senior leaders for their past wrongdoings if they continued to disrupt the traffic and challenge the government. Unless the Supreme Court gives its verdict on the HoR dissolution, it does not seem that the NCP rival faction will give up its street protest.    The other political parties, Nepal Congress (NC) and Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) are still undecided whether to join hands with Prachand-Madhav faction in their street protest program against the HoR dissolution although both the NC and JSP-N have been separately protesting against the HoR dissolution. My personal opinion for the NC...

  Honour sovereign people’s rights It was shocking to read the news about the security forces using excessive force to bar the people from paying homage to Prithivi Narayan Shah on the occasion of his 299th birth anniversary at the Singh Durbar square on Monday “Police, pro-monarchy activists clash” (THT, Jan 12, Page 2). A life-sized statue of P N Shah stands right in-front of Singh Durbar for many decades where the government used to observe National Unity Day till the federal republic was adopted in the country. It seems that the government does not want to see the people celebrating Shah’s birth anniversary just because the country has been declared a republic state. Does it make any sense not to let the people enjoy their rights to celebrate the Shah’s birth anniversary respecting his contribution in Nepal unification?   Late King Prithivi Naraayan Shah   Security forces lathi charging people at the site of Prithivi Narayan Shah's statue site in-front of Singh Durb...

  Shouldn't they wait for the SC’s verdict Following the dissolution of HoR two weeks ago, several protests for and against this PM’s move are frequently being seen in the streets of major cities. Among these groups, PM Oli’s rival comrades Prachand-Nepal group seem to be vigorously attacking and blaming him for this unfortunate political situation in the country and have been untiringly claiming for the restoration of dissolved HoR. They are instigating people to come out to the streets for objecting Oli’s move. In the meantime, so-called civil society groups, artists and other fringe individual groups are also seen in the streets asking Oli to reverse his decision. The case is under review at the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. It is not so sure how long the SC will take to give its final verdict. Is it appropriate for Prachanda-Nepal group, main opposition party and the other groups to come out to the streets asking for restoration of dissolved HoR when the case i...

  Who are these so-called civil society members? I am still wondering who were or are so-called prominent civil society members (CSM). Are they honoured by the people or self-proclaimed CSM? Are these people neutral or biased with any political parties? Where were they when Madhesi and Janajati people came out to the streets protesting the promulgation of incomplete new constitution in 2015? Where were they when Dr. Govind K.C staged 19 times hunger strike for the improvement in the medical education system? Where were they when Nirmala Pant’s parents were desperately begging for justice? Where were they when the 12 point agreement was signed between the then seven party alliance and Maoist which has been now said to be the crux of the current political mess in the country? What were they doing when wide body scandal, Omni group scandal and other billion rupees corruption scandal were the talk of the town? What is the problem with these so called prominent CSM when the governme...