Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Stays On-Part XXX

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

No matter a leader of which party is in the office of prime minister, the office of prime minister has been not for bringing the perpetrators of human rights to justice but for promoting them indicating several people’s movements have not been able to force the office of prime minister to follow the rule of law so far. Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has promoted the colonel allegedly involved in the enforced disappearance of 49 Maoists: whereabouts of them are still unknown. The prime minister instead of making whereabouts of those disappeared Maoists known has opted for awarding the perpetrator of enforced disappearance adding salt to the wounds of the loved ones of the victims of the disappeared Maoists. The prime minister also has been not for enforcing the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on sentencing Balkrishna Dhungel and Agni Sapkota for the murder. None of the political parties has shown any interest in stopping the perpetrators of human rights violence go free with impunity, as none of these Nepalese political parties that have determined to force the prime minister out of office has protested against the prime minister not enforcing the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal, but promoting the perpetrator of human rights. The government headed by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai instead of welcoming the report released by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on rights violations during the decade-long conflict in Nepal has questioned the legitimacy of the UN office to release the report. Where is the virtue of the prime minister and of other political leaders?

Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai has successfully dismissed the members of the People’s Liberation Army that had fought a decade-long war against the previous oligarchic regime that had kept the people almost in slavery for two-and-a-half centuries, but promoted colonel Raju Basnet involved in the enforced disappearance of 49 Maoists in 2003. The people’s movement against any regime would not be complete until the regime that rewards the culprits and dismisses the honest fighters remains in office.

Not strangely, none of the political leaders including the Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya that has been madly engaged in pushing the Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai out of office has said even a single word against the prime minister promoting the allegedly criminal colonel to a brigadier general. Every human rights organization be it a national or international one would certainly support anybody fighting against the prime Minister that has promoted the criminal but dismissed the freedom fighters. However, none of the political parties interested in fighting for the rule of law but vehemently engaged in grabbing power. So, Nepalis need to remedy such sick Nepalese politicians for making them follow the rule of law.

UCPN-Maoist: the party of Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai has been protecting the criminals involved in killing innocent people. For example, as recently as February 24, 2012, Conflict Victims’ Society Nepal for Justice (CVSNJ) demanded the immediate arrest of UCPN-Maoist leader Balkrishna Dhungel indicted by the Supreme Court of Nepal for murder, and of Maoist leader Agni Sapkota and Energy Minister Suryaman Dong convicted of human rights abuse. Balkrishna Dhungel had remained the member of the parliament. CVSNJ demanded the Speaker of the House to revoke the membership of the parliament of Balkrishna Dhungel as that of former Minister Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta sent to jail for corruption a few days ago but Speaker Subhas Nemwang did not act.

Neither the Prime Minister nor the Speaker listened to the call of the CVSNJ for bringing the criminals to justice. These guys rose to power stepping on the shoulders of the people fighting for the rule of law, once got on power dismissed the honest people and promote the criminals. Despite Nepal being already declared Federal Democratic Republic, the country has neither the federal states nor the federalism because of the leaders becoming corrupt when they reached the office of Prime Minister and other elected offices.

On June 17, 2011, hearing on the complaint filed by Savitri Shrestha about not enforcing the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal, a single bench of Justice of Tahir Ali Ansari of the Supreme Court of Nepal issued an order to the Government of Nepal for submitting the reasons for not enforcing the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on jailing the member of parliament Balkrishna Dhungel for life and confiscating his property for killing Unjjankumar Shrestha in July 1998. (Source: Gorkhapatra of June 18, 2011). The Okhaldhunga District Court convicted Balkrishna Dhungel of killing Unjjankumar Shrestha in July 1998 and sentenced him for a life-term jail and confiscation of his property. The Rajbiraj Appellate Court and then the Supreme Court of Nepal upheld the verdict of the district court.

On December 10, 2011, speaking at an event held to mark the 63rd International Human Rights Day at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Nepal, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai assured of his government committed to uphold the human rights of citizens. (Source: The Rising Nepal of December 11, 2011). However, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai closed the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) in Nepal on December 08, 2011 just two days before the 63rd International Human Rights Day despite the UN Secretary General and the international community in Kathmandu urging him to keep the UNOHCHR for another term.  NHRC also urged Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai to keep the UNOHCHR. Nepalese human rights activists also urged Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai to extend the term of UNOHCHR but Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai brushed off all the appeals of human rights activists and organizations for keeping UNOHCHR in Nepal for some time to come.

Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai had gone to such an extent that his cabinet made a recommendation for the presidential parole to Balkrishna Dhungel convicted by the Supreme Court of Nepal of murder and ruled to send him to life imprisonment with the confiscation of his property. The government of Dr. Bhattarai had not only not arrested the convicted killer and put him in jail but also wanted to free him from the heinous crime he had committed. Consequently, for that matter, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai lost the legitimacy of remaining in the office.

Consequently, the people’s movement has not completed yet; so, Nepalis need to continue the movement but not of the Chairman-of-CPN-Maoist-Vaidhya brand. Nepalis need to continue to fight for the rule of law for bringing the criminals no matter whether they are former Maoist leaders or the members of the Nepal Army to justice. As long as these criminals remain free and go with impunity, the movement of the people will not cease. Any political leader of any party no matter what influence s/he has in the people bound to lose power if s/he doesn’t follow the rule of law, and punish the criminals and reward the honest people and fighters for the rule of law.

Police arrested a dozen human rights activists peacefully protesting against the promotion of Colonel Raju Basnet to Brigadier General at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Kathmandu on Sunday morning, October 7, 2012. The government had promoted Colonel Raju Basnet to Brigadier General on October 4, 2012, even though he has been implicated in serious human rights abuses. During the conflict period, Raju Basnet commanded the Bhairabnath Battalion located at Maharajgunj in Kathmandu when the battalion made 49 Maoists enforced disappearance causing the suspicion of the possibility of their execution. Several national and international rights watchdogs including the Human Rights Alliance, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists and Amnesty International swiped the government for promoting colonel Basnet to brigadier general. (Source: Nepalnews.com/ THT ONLINE)

The police charged batons on the protesters injuring at least 10 of them that have been peacefully protesting against the recent government decision on promoting the army officer accused of having a hand in disappearing as many as 49 Maoists in 2003-04. The Association of the Families of the Fighters Disappeared by the State held a peaceful sit-in at the prime minister’s Baluwatar official residence when the police forcibly cleared them off from the area.  President of the Association Ekraj Bhandari said that the police seriously injured Dhiraj Khanal and two others. The other injured include Iswor BK, Ambika Acharya, Sabitra Gautam of Kavre, Ramesh Rai, Rajendra Prajapati and Tanka Joshi, said Bhandari. “They (the prime minister and ministers and those in power) are what they are today just because of the sacrifice of our children, and they are attacking us today,” said Bhandari. National and international rights bodies have swiped the government for promoting Col Raju Basnet to the rank of brigadier general. Colonel Basnet was responsible for disappearing at least 49 Maoist cadres when he was commanding the Bhairabnath Battalion. Human rights bodies that condemned the government for promoting Col Raju Basnet to brigadier general have expressed their serious concern about the ‘use of force on peaceful protesters’. The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 criticized the use of force against the loved ones of the disappeared people in Baluwatar. In a press statement, the NHRC demanded the government safeguard the rights of the citizens to hold peaceful protests. “Many of the protesters have sustained head injury,” stated the statement. NHRC has also demanded proper and free treatment to the injured family members of the disappeared and urged the government to fully implement the NHRC’s recommendation and end the culture of impunity. (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE)

In a statement issued on Saturday, October 6, 2012, international rights bodies such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and International Commission of Jurists expressed serious concern about the decision of the government made on October 4, 2012 on promoting Colonel Raju Basnet of the Nepali Army to brigadier general, as he was allegedly involved in war crimes; so, the promotion given to Colonel Basnet is an insult to the victims of the civil war. The three rights bodies also said that the United Nations and the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal had compiled credible evidence of the systematic enforced disappearances and torture done by the army under the command of Colonel Raju Basnet at the Bhairabnath Battalion headquarters in Kathmandu in 2003. The Supreme Court of Nepal following the evidence had ordered the government in 2007 to hold an independent investigation into the war crimes and subsequent prosecution of those including Raju Basnet involved in the human rights violations. The Supreme Court in August directed the government to put in place appropriate legislation and guidelines to ensure that security officials are vetted before they are appointed or promoted to high-level positions. The statement also said that international law applicable in Nepal obligates the government to investigate and prosecute serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Consistent with international legal principles, officials implicated in serious offences should be removed or suspended pending completion of full investigations, with full respect for their due process rights. “Nepal’s Cabinet has thrown the entire idea of holding soldiers accountable for abuses out the door,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “Despite years of promises, the Maoists and the army have shown themselves united in one crucial aspect: Contempt for the notion of accountability for criminal acts and victims’ rights to justice, truth, and reparation,” said Polly Truscott, AI’s South Asia director. “With the promotion of Basnet, the denial of justice and accountability has essentially turned into government policy,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia director at the ICJ. “This decision is basically the current Nepali government saying it does not care about the rule of law, does not care about its own Supreme Court directives, and indeed, does not care about the best interests of its own citizens. This promotion is a signal to all perpetrators that power trumps justice.” The rights groups called on the international community to urge the Nepalese government to revoke its decision. “Nepali civil society, with support from the UN and the international community, has spent years seeking to promote justice and accountability,” Adams said. “By promoting Col Basnet, the government has sent a clear signal to the Nepali people and the country’s international supporters that it is not committed to these goals.” (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE)

Human rights activists on Monday, October 8, 2012 welcomed the report released by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on rights violations during the decade-long conflict. “The report can be the basis for prosecuting the perpetrators by invoking universal jurisdiction,” said human rights advocate Govinda Sharma Bandi. Though Nepal is yet to ratify the statute of International Criminal Court, the crime can be tried under universal jurisdiction, as Nepal is a party to Geneva Convention 1949. The Common Article 3 of the Convention qualifies such crimes for international jurisdiction and the international laws have ruled out amnesty to genocide, crime against humanity, torture, disappearance and war crimes. Charan Prasai, another right activist said, “The report reflects how the country has badly fared in delivering transitional justice.” Prasai also said universal jurisdiction must be brought into force to punish the perpetrators. (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE)

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva released a 233-page report on the Nepal Conflict and accompanying database known as Transitional Justice Reference Archive, documenting and analyzing human rights violations that occurred during the decade-long war (1996-2006) launched by the then CPN-Maoist and expressed serious concern about the delay in formation of transitional justice mechanism and withdrawal of serious criminal cases. UN human rights Chief Navi Pillay said, “The transitional justice mechanisms promised in the peace accords have still not been established, and successive governments have withdrawn cases. Perpetrators of serious violations on both sides have not been held accountable, in some cases have been promoted, and may now even be offered an amnesty.” The report has listed five particular categories of violations such as unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests and sexual violence. The report has expressed its serious concern about attempts by successive governments to withdraw cases of ‘a political nature’. “The government has moved to empower the TRC to grant amnesties for international crimes and gross violations of international law committed during the conflict,” the report stated. “Granting amnesties to the violators of serious human rights violation cases is not possible,” Hannry Megally, Head of Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch said, responding to a question in videoconference. The report has drawn the attention of the government to the promotion of Col Raju Basnet despite implicated in the arbitrary detention, torture and disappearance of individuals held at the Bhairabnath Battalion in 2003-04 and the appointment of Kuber Singh Rana as the chief of Nepal Police, also involved in serious human rights violations. “Unlawful killings occurred throughout the conflict: for example, during Maoist attacks on security force posts and bases, government buildings, national banks and public service installations; in chance encounters and during ambushes, such as in the Madi bus bombing,” stated the report, adding: “One of the most compelling cases occurred at Doramba, where 17 Maoists and two civilians were allegedly taken by the then Royal Nepal Army, marched to a hillside, lined up and summarily executed.” “The Maoists also killed captives,” the report added. “For example, three teachers, Muktinath Adhikari, Kedar Ghimire and Arjun Ghimire, were each allegedly executed after abduction in separate incidents in Lamjung District in 2002.” (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE of October 8, 2012)

Deputy Prime Minister holding the portfolio of Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha held a meeting with the accredited diplomats from the European countries on October 8, 2012 morning, hours before the report titled as Transitional Justice Reference Archive was released, and expressed discontent with the report that documents and analyses serious human rights violations occurred during the decade-long conflict. Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha invited ambassadors and diplomats of the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and the European Union, Denmark and UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal at his office to conveyed the government’s reservation about the report, and dubbed it inappropriate and said that it was being ‘released at an inopportune time’, a highly placed source told ‘The Himalayan Times’. “The Government of Nepal had not given its consent to prepare the report. Nor does it approve the document,” a source quoted Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha as telling the diplomats. “Therefore, it’s out of the question to own or accept the report. We simply refute it.” Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha even urged the diplomats to stop the OHCHR from releasing the document. (Source: thehimalayantimes.com, October 8, 2012)

The Nepal government has questioned the 'legitimacy' of an extensive report on the ten-year long conflict made public by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday, October 8, 2012 listing as many as 9000 incidents of serious violations of human rights in Nepal. "The Government of Nepal is concerned about the recently published ‘Nepal Conflict Report’ by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. As the report has been prepared without the prior consent of the Government and proper consultation with all the stakeholders, the process itself is not compatible with general international practice. Therefore, legitimacy of the report itself is called into question," a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Monday, October 8, 2012 said. (Source: nepalnews.com)

The government questioned the Nepal Conflict Report published by the OHCHR in Geneva on Monday, October 8, 2012 stating it as a unilateral document prepared without consent of the government of Nepal. The Geneva-based UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday unveiled the 233-page report documenting and analyzing human rights violations that occurred during the decade-long insurgency with the addition of an archive of about 33,000 case-documents. On October 9, 2012, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued a strong statement condemning and questioning the intent behind the report that made strong calls to book the perpetrators of serious violations belonging both to the state and the insurgents’ side during the conflict. “As the report has been prepared without prior government consent and consultations with stakeholders, the process itself is not compatible with general international practice,” MoFA said in the statement. “Therefore, the legitimacy of the report itself is called into question.” “The OHCHR has not prepared this report as per the cooperation modality with the Government. Therefore, the Government of Nepal has strong reservations on the process and content of the report and does not own the report,” the statement continued. A top diplomatic source told ‘THT’ that the government was going to write to the United Nations and the OHCHR Headquarters in Geneva, questioning the credibility of the document within a couple of days in an extended version of the statement.  MoFA took this step after it failed to convince OHCHR Headquarters in Geneva and European diplomats in Kathmandu not to publish the document. Deputy Prime Minister holding the portfolio of Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha had urged diplomats of the UK, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, UNDP and EU chiefs in Nepal for their support for not releasing the document. The minister had argued that the ‘unilateral’ release of the document would undermine the achievements made by the government in the army integration, and the government’s effort to set up transitional justice mechanism. Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN in Geneva Shankar Das Bairagi also conveyed the government’s concern to the OHCHR Headquarter. “The Government of Nepal considers the publication of the report at such a time as out of context and as such it has no relevance,” reads the statement. “The report, published in such a backdrop, does not contain any positive aspects of the achievements made so far in Nepal’s peace process and constitution writing.” MoFA said the proposed Ordinance for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation and Enforced Disappearance Commission is meant to address the concerns for wartime victims and their families and to impart justice to them. Analysts and human rights defenders attributed the government’s denouncement of the report to the fear of the ruling UCPN-Maoist top leaders getting dragged into the national or international jurisdiction of criminal investigation in future. (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE of October 9, 2012)

According to the interview posted on the http://www.Radioaustralia.net.au on October 11, 2012, the United Nations is putting pressure on Nepal to start the process of bringing to account those responsible for serious human rights violations during the country's long running and bloody civil war. Six years after the decade-long Maoist conflict came to an end, promised mechanisms to deal with the truth, justice and reconciliation issue have not been established. Now, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a landmark report documenting the serious violations of international law that occurred during the period to protests from the government in Kathmandu.

In response to the question of the presenter of the Radio Australia, Chief of Asia Pacific Section of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Rory Mungoven said, “The High Commissioner for Human Rights maintained an office in Nepal for seven years from 2005, and in the course of that work we collected a huge amount of documentation, testimony, stories from victims from the conflict period, which had been the ten years really from 1996 'til the peace accords were signed in 2006. It's very important to preserve all of that testimony and evidence for the future, for any future inquiry, investigation, research, truth process, and ultimately prosecution of some of those crimes. And we felt a great responsibility to preserve and catalogue the archives of more than 30,000 documents we built up and present them in a useable form to the people of Nepal, in a form that civil society, the government, the judiciary, the national human rights commission and others could use to pursue some of these cases and issues further. In the archive which as I say covers about 30,000 documents, there's probably 9,000 or so individual or separate cases of human rights violations documented there. And not all of these are the result of our investigations, so we can't vouch for every report. But each of them have been included because it represents a very credible allegation that deserves further investigation, it deserves further inquiry. The violations were committed on both sides. The patterns that are documented in the report include unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and even sexual violence. And they happened in different degrees of intensity at different phases of the conflict. For instance disappearances - we see spikes during the first security operations against the Maoists in around 1998, when the armed police force was first mobilized as part of the campaign, and again in 2001 when the emergency was declared and the army was deployed against the Maoists, you see disappearances again spike. It also allows you to sort of map the geographic trends, where did this happen in the country at different times, and you again begin to see clusters of disappearances, spikes of disappearances in one district or another at particular times during the conflict. In Bardiya district where there was a particularly intensive security operation to root out Maoists from about 2001 to 2003, more than 200 disappearance cases reported there in a couple of months. And by being able to analyze these patters, these trends, you can begin to discern the responsibilities; who was in command at that time, what battalion was there, who is accountable, and this will be a very, very powerful tool in bringing these issues forward before a truth commission or before the Nepali courts.”

Presenter COCHRANE: One of the cases that's perhaps best documented by the UN is that of the Bhairabnath battalion in Kathmandu, and recently we've had news that the officer in charge of that battalion, which was alleged to have taken Maoists or suspected Maoists, tortured them and they've since disappeared, presumed dead, that officer has now been promoted within the army despite calls for his prosecution. What does this say about impunity in Nepal today?

MUNGOVEN: You know of the 9,000 cases covered in this archive and in this report, there's not been yet a single prosecution of human rights violation by either side since the signing of the peace accord. And the danger is all of this is beginning to slip away, the deals are being struck, arrangements are being made and we begin to see some of the people believed to have perpetrated very serious crimes quietly being promoted or assigned to new positions. We're seeing successive governments withdraw cases that were before the Nepali courts; to have them withdraw by the Attorney General. We've also seen the government now begin to, at least propose that the future truth commission should have very broad powers to grant amnesty for very serious crimes. Amnesty may have a place for lower order offences or smaller incidents, but not for crimes of disappearance, crimes of murder, crimes of rape, and we're talking here the rape of minors, many of them under the age of 15. These are crimes that in international law, in terms of Nepal's own law, in terms of the determinations of Nepal's own Supreme Court should properly be prosecuted and not be the subject of amnesty.

COCHRANE: There were promises in the peace accords for some kind of truth and reconciliation commission, you've referred to it. What's the latest with progress towards that?

MUNGOVEN: Well a lot of work was done initially, consultations were held in many parts of the country, there was discussion between the government and victims groups and representatives of victims. And the Constituent Assembly, the legislature in Nepal during this interim period had actually prepared reasonably good legislation on this. That was never finalized, and now of course Nepal is in a little bit of a political conundrum, the timeline for the Constituent Assembly has expired, it no longer exists, it's been wrapped up. The government continues to function in a caretaker mode, and the effort to establish a truth commission had effectively stalled. There's been moves in the last month or two by the government to perhaps set up such a truth commission by ordinance, and in fact a draft ordinance has been prepared and is awaiting signature by the President. But our concern is that the draft ordinance contains new provisions that would provide very broad amnesty for some of the very serious crimes that occurred during the conflict, and that would contravene the intention of the peace agreement and the international obligations Nepal is required to observe.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/connect-asia/un-pressures-nepal-to-act-on-thousands-of-human-rights-violations/1028970

On October 11, 2012, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called on Nepal to ensure accountability for the thousands of human rights violations perpetrated by security forces and then Maoist insurgents and urged the international community to press the government (of Nepal) to meet its commitments under international law. The ICJ also suggested that universal jurisdiction be invoked to arrest and prosecute the rights violators. “Nepal’s international supporters should press the government to meet its commitments and its obligations under international law,” said ICJ’s Asia Director Sam Jarifi in a press release issued today. “Meanwhile, all countries have an obligation to cooperate in investigation and prosecution of any individual facing credible allegations of serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law, including prosecution of suspected perpetrators under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction,” added Jarifi. The ICJ also condemned the promotions of Raju Basnet to Brigadier General and Kuber Singh Rana to Inspector General of Police stating ‘both men have been implicated by the country’s Supreme Court in decisions ordering full investigations of their culpability’. The ICJ opposed the government attempting to issue presidential ordinances on TRC and Commission on Inquiry of Disappearances, stating the move is intended to grant amnesty to the perpetrators. The ICJ called for setting up mechanisms through legal legislation and underscored the need to form two separate commissions to facilitate transitional justice. The ICJ recommended the government to withdraw the TRC ordinance. The ICJ urged the international community to ‘engage in cooperation and assistance, where possible, into the investigation and prosecution of any individuals facing credible allegations of serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law’. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s political adviser Devendra Paudel described the ICJ demand as biased. “But nonetheless, we will make the government’s stance clear,” said Paudel. “It is wrong to say the rights violators have not been arrested or prosecuted,” he added. Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission Gauri Pradhan, however, said that the ICJ had rightly observed the Nepal’s mechanisms were not effective to punish the perpetrators. “But it is a bit early to activate the international mechanism,” said Pradhan. “There is a need to improve the national institutions; they have not failed completely.” (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE of October 11, 2012)

Addressing a rally at Tundikhel on October 5, 2012, CPN-UML leaders accused the ruling UCPN-Maoist and UDMF of pushing the country to confrontation, as they did not quit the office for the opposition to take. Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal said that his party would continue to protest until the Bhattarai-led coalition was ousted from power. “We will overthrow this corrupt and anti-national government through continued street protests,” Khanal said. Senior leader of CPN-UML KP Oli said that the UCPN-Maoist played a major role in dissolving the Constituent Assembly to capture the state power, and UDMF acted as its accomplice. (Source: thehimalayantimes.com)

Traffic went haywire in the Capital city today as the CPN-UML staged a protest rally ‘to unseat Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai-led government’. Thousands of commuters and motorists on the way to their destinations were caught in huge gridlock during the peak hour. Those shopping in commercial hubs of Sundhara, New Road, and Durbar Marg and surrounding areas in the run-up to festive season were hit hard, as they had a hard time returning home. “It took me an hour and a half to reach home in Anamnagar from Jamal, that too on a motorcycle, thanks to the traffic congestion,” Sitaram Thapa, 48, said. Traffic snarl-up at the main roads had its chain effect across the core areas of the city, as the vehicles tried to get through inner streets. (Source: HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE)

Holding a rally at Tundikhel, the so-called politicians of CPN-UML have demonstrated how much they make troubles to the common folks on the streets. These politicians have no respect for the welfare of the common folks. They have been just after power holding such an illegal rally, as it violates the rights of the common folks to commute and run their business. They have brought their hired cadres spending a huge amount of money they have accumulated stealing from the national coffer while they have been in power. Now, they are using the illegally amassed money for a mass rally that illegally prevents the common folks doing their regular businesses. They must have spent not less than Rs 3 million to hold such a mass rally. However, these power-hungry politicians are not concerned with the perpetrators of human rights violations getting promotion in the Nepal Army and the Nepal Police indicating these political guys are not for the welfare of the people.

October 13, 2012