House panel summons home minister over Tinkune incident

KATHMANDU: The State Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has decided to seek answers from the government regarding last week’s violent protest that left two people dead.

A meeting of the committee held on Wednesday decided to summon Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak on Friday to provide a detailed explanation about the incident. Speaking in the meeting, Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Bishwo Prakash Sharma called for the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the matter. “The government must provide its stance on Friday’s events,” he said.

CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Hit Raj Pandey criticized the government’s handling of the incident. “The weaknesses of the government in handling the situation have been exposed. The home minister must explain to the committee what happened that day,” Pandey said. “The police failed to arrest Durga Prasai when he was within their cordon. Noone will believe the police statement that Prasai would be arrested soon.”

Likewise, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Buddhi Man Tamang accused the government of unfairly targeting pro-monarchy protesters and demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into Friday’s incidents. “Many leaders of our party had initially planned to join the protest but withdrew after seeing Prasai’s involvement,” he said. Tamang also alleged that excessive legal action had been taken against RPP leaders.

The demonstration, organized by the Joint People’s Movement Committee for the Restoration of Monarchy, turned violent on Friday, resulting in two fatalities, along with arson and looting in private houses, government offices and business establishments.