BIRATNAGAR: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Upendra Yadav today said he has not thought of quitting the government immediately.
Speaking to journalists in Biratnagar today, Minister Yadav said his party would continue to serve from within the government.
On the occasion, he justified the government’s decision to ban the activities of the Biplab-led faction saying that it was the duty of the government. He said no group, in any pretext, will be allowed to terrorize people.
In another context, Minister Yadav, who is also the Chairperson of Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, asserted that the term ‘referendum’ has not been mentioned anywhere in the agreement with CK Raut adding that referendum and people’s mandate are two different terms.
KATHMANDU: Rastriya Janata Party (RJP)-Nepal lawmakers obstructed Sunday’s parliamentary proceedings demanding the government to release the report prepared by Girish Chandra Lal commission.
The probe commission was formed to investigate into the alleged cases of human rights violations during the Madhes agitations.
No sooner had the session commenced, the RJP-Nepal lawmakers stood from their respective seats as a gesture of protest. The lawmakers said they would not allow the parliamentary session to run until the report was made public.
Party lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna demanded that the report be unveiled immediately.
The commission was formed by the erstwhile Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur-led government on September 18, 2016 to probe into the Tharuhat and Madhes agitation. According to RJP-N lawmakers, the commission has already submitted the report to the government on February 12, 2018.
BIRATNAGAR: Prime Minister KP Oli has ruled out immediate cabinet reshuffle.
Dismissing rumors of cabinet reshuffle, PM Oli said there will be no cabinet reshuffle at the moment.
The Prime Minister, however, said he will appoint a new tourism minister, which has been lying vacant after the demise of Rabindra Adhikari, who died in a helicopter crash in Taplejung in February.
In another context, PM Oli said the government was compelled to label the Biplav-led outfit as a “criminal group” due to the latter’s violent activities. “There is no looking back now. We cannot tolerate criminal activities in a democracy,” he asserted.
PALPA: Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba today urged the agitating Netra Bikram Chand-led Nepal Communist Party to join talks by ending violence.
The government must take initiatives in this regard, he said at a press conference organized here in the district by the Press Union Palpa branch.
On a different note, he said the government encroachment on press freedom was no longer tolerable. Saying the NC and democracy are synonymous, the former Prime Minister clarified that the party was in favor of Hindu religion and follows the constitution.
Meanwhile, he also criticized the incumbent government for failing to live up to the people’s expectation.
KATHMANDU: Politburo member of Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand aka Biplav, Mohan Karki has been arrested in Lalitpur.
According to Karki’s family sources, Karki was arrested from Lalitpur yesterday evening. It is the most high-profile arrest made ever following the ban on the Biplav outfit imposed by the government.
The government put a ban on the activities of the Biplav-led party after it carried out a series of bomb explosions in various places including the one in Bhainsepati, in which a man was killed and two others sustained injures.
Police have launched a ‘search and arrest’ operation against Biplav’s activities following the government’s decision.
As many as 411 leaders and cadres of Biplav group were arrested in the last 11 months, 73 in the last one month alone.
Most of the Biplav cadres and leaders have gone underground since the police imposed this operation.
KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has deployed as many 59 security personal in view of the security threat to Nepal Communist Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal after he reported that he was facing death threats from Biplav outfit, a report in Nagarik daily said.
According to the report, 29 police personnel have been deployed under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and 30 others under the command of the other DSP for the security of Dahal.
Earlier, Dahal, in a party meeting at Perisdanda, said that he had been the first target of Biplav among high-profile killings.
Sources at the Home Ministry said there is a security threat to Dahal from Biplav group as it is the splinter of the Maoist party, that waged a 10-year-long insurgency in Nepal together with Dahal, and might use disgruntled individuals against Dahal.
KATHMANDU: Netra Bikram Chand Biplav-led group is using six districts of Karnali Province as a base area for its activities. The group has the strategy to raise fund through extortion in city areas and indoctrinate villagers against the local representatives, according to a highly-placed source at Nepal Army (NA).
Given its activities including extortion and collection of weapons, the group is likely to pose a threat to the state in the near future, the source said, adding, “If restrictions are not imposed, the group might put the national economy in jeopardy.”
“Police alone are unable to contain the group. The army should be mobilized to control Biplav activities,” said the army source.
A cabinet meeting on Tuesday had decided to put a ban on the activities of the Biplav-led party, terming it a ‘criminal’ group following a tip-off by the NA that the group was giving training to its cadres with weapons.
Talking to journalists at Singha Durbar on Thursday, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Gokul Prasad Baskota said the government banned the group after its illegal weapons were seized.
Biplav-led group has become stronger following the government’s ban on it. There were some differences between Biplav and Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma ‘Prakanda’ over issues related to extortion, mobilization of class-based organization and liaison with the civil society and media persons.
Biplav group holds 3,000 cadres
Biplav group had been carrying out explosions in various places of the country, including the one at Bhainsepati, where a man was killed and two others injured.
The number of Biplav cadres cannot be underestimated. NA said that there are around 3,000 cadres in Biplav group. He might use them against the state at any time in the future.
Similarly, the group may have around 1,000 arms including homemade and sophisticated ones, of which 100 are automatic.
Biplav has a drone capable of hitting 500-meter-range target
According to army sources, Biplav has a drone that can hit the target at the distance of 500 meters. Biplav had successfully tested the drone few days ago, army source said.
The drone can carry a half kilogram of explosive devices. Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has also started investigation on the test of drone by the group.
As opposed to the assessment of the NA, Nepal Police has considered Biplav group as a ‘minor criminal group’.
Police said his activities can be controlled through legal actions.
“Biplav group is involved in criminal activities rather than political ones. It is intending to expand its activities by means of extortion and explosion,” said police.
“We are preparing to take actions as per the government decision in line with the existing criminal law,” said SSP Uttam Raj Subedi.
Earlier, Biplav group’s decision to carry out high-profile killings including Nepal Communist Party chairmen, KP Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal had hit headlines.
Police have arrested 411 leaders and cadres of Biplav group in the last 11 months, 73 in the last one month alone. Police have recently launched a ‘search and arrest’ operation. Most of the Biplav cadres and leaders have gone underground since the police imposed this operation.
KATHMANDU: The Government has made some changes to the hierarchy of public officials, putting the former ministers below the sitting members of parliament. The former ministers and high court chief judge are now put in number 9 in the order.
Sharing the decisions made by the Council of Ministers in the past week in Kathmandu on Thursday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota said the cabinet endorsed the agreement implementation protocol of Nepal-China transit treaty and authorized the Commerce and Supplies Secretary to sign it.
The government has appointed Pit Kumar Shrestha of Morang as the Executive Director of the Local Development Training Academy. Likewise, the Nepali Ambassador to India and the Nepali Ambassador to the US will be given the status in par with a Minister of the Government of Nepal, Baskota said.
The cabinet meeting last week also re-appointed Anjana Tamrakar as the General Manager of the National Productivity and Economic Development Center Limited.
KATHMANDU: Nepal Army can be mobilized at the direct recommendation of the prime minister in line with the new Bill on National Security Council, a report in Annapurna daily said.
The Bill on National Security Council has been tabled at the parliament. According to the provision of the bill the prime minister can directly recommend the President to mobilize the Nepal Army in case of grave national crisis arises.
Prime minister can do so if the the national security council meeting could not be held due to some difficult circumstances and the president can mobilize the army to maintain law and order.
KATHMANDU: The government is ready to offer, Netra Bikram Chand aka ‘Biplav,’ a red carpet welcome if he renounces violence and choses to resolve his issues through a dialogue, said Gokul Banskota, the minister for Information and Technology.
The minister was addressing the press in terms of briefing the decisions taken by the cabinet on Tuesday evening.
“People in the country do not have the strength to suffer the consequences of armed violence again,” said the minister.
The minister said that the government had fulfilled its responsibilities and duties by imposing a ban on the ‘Biplav’ led Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
The minister also informed of the cabinet decision that prohibits commoners to possess arm. Those possessing arms are required to hand it over to the government within 35 days of the notice issued.
The cabinet took the decision following the arrest of ‘Biplav’ cadres with arms in various parts of the country.
To those who fail to surrender arms within the stipulated time, the government will declare them ‘criminals and destructive’ and initiate action accordingly, informed the minister.