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Man Hitting Politician Becomes 'A Hero'
By KTM Metro Reporter
January 26, 2011: Devi Prasad Regmi, 55, hit the chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal last week during an event for new party members. The story made front-page news in Nepal's newspapers. More than 7,000 people have supported a Facebook site set up in praise of him. Dozens of people have posted comments on the site, many of them thanking Regmi for his action. One of them, from Facebook user Saif Akhtar, calls Regmi "the real hero of the nation", BBC Kathmandu reporter writes.
After slapping the politician, he was arrested and detained by police. Crowds turned out to meet him in his hometown after he was released on bail. He told reporters that no one should try to imitate his act and that he was not proud of what he did. But he also described how the cheek of the politician felt like "soft cotton". "The cheeks of leaders enjoying delicious food and expensive facilities are bound to feel like that," he told the Nepalese newspaper, ‘The Himalayan Times’.
At the same time, California-based Nepal America Ekata Samaj (NAES) has announced a support of US$ 500 for Regmi to meet the expenses likely to incur during legal proceedings. "We have decided to provide US$ 500 to Regmi for now," said NAES member Bimal Guragain, expressing the hope that more money could be collected to support the former CPN-UML cadre. Referring to the assault on a government official by State Minister Karima Begam in November 2009, he said, "The government that has failed to take actions against a responsible minister who beat up a CDO has no moral ground to prosecute a commoner who was irked by the political deadlock in the country." Nepalis living in Washington D.C. and neighborhood who earlier backed the democratic movement in the country have also showed readiness to support Regmi ‘The Himalayan Times’ writes.
On January 23, 2011, NC leader Dr Shekhar Koirala has warned that political leaders need to face serious insults at the hand of the people if they fail in learning a lesson from slapping Chairman of CPN-UML Jhala Nath Khanal in Itahari stating the slapping reflects the expression of the despair of the general public of the deeds of political parties.
Although a physical assault on anybody is not acceptable, a number of people have supported the action of Regime. They have also asked why the government that has been impotent to do anything to minister Karima Begam that has slapped the then Parsa CDO Durga Prasad Bhandary and Maoist CA members that have thrashed Finance Minister Surendra Pandey, has taken Regime in custody for slapping Jahalanath Khanal, ‘The Himalayan Times’ of January 24, 2011 writes.
