Chief of Army Staff Rukmagad Katawal has urged the ranks of the Nepali Army (NA) to acknowledge that, in a democratic system, security agencies must remain under “civil supremacy”.

Photo courtesy: DPR
Addressing a gathering of army officers at the NA headquarters, Kathmandu, General Katawal said, “Every soldier must understand that there is civil supremacy over security agencies in a democratic system and should also understand that the army is mobilised by the state in times of need.”

He said the NA was committed to strengthen multiparty democracy and its mechanisms in line with the norms of rule of law and protect the nation from possible internal and external threats.

The NA, according to the army chief, will “always advance with higher morale, discipline and competence by rightly analysing the geographical positioning of Nepal and by making a balance of national forces with other mechanisms in accordance with the international humanitarian laws and the fundamental principles of the state.”

Kawatal, who was recently appointed NA chief amidst controversy, further said that concrete steps would be taken for implementation humanitarian laws.

He also pledged some reforms in the army including transparency in the use of the Army Welfare Fund, timely changes in the provisions regarding hundreds of ‘runners’, who work without grade, and upgrading of the existing rehabilitation centre for injured solders and build a separate hospital for retired servicemen and their families.