Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress (NC) President Gagan Kumar Thapa has described Prime Minister Balen Shah’s statement in Parliament on Sunday regarding the Nepal–India border as condemnable and highly objectionable.
Speaking at a program organized by the party’s Central Policy, Research and Training Academy in Rupandehi, on Monday, Thapa criticized the prime minister’s remarks as objectionable, alarming and contrary to the national interest.
Addressing the House of Representatives on Sunday, Prime Minister Shah had stated that Nepal has also encroached on India’s land. Thapa accused the prime minister of weakening Nepal’s established national position on border issues through the remark.
Thapa urged Shah to stand in Parliament and apologize immediately. “Go to Parliament, stand at the rostrum and say, ‘I spoke wrongly out of ignorance.’ Apologise, and that will be the end of it,” Thapa said. “But if you say, ‘I will not apologise; what I said was correct, and I have the numbers on my side,’ then remember this: you are the Prime Minister, not God. No one is above the Constitution, the law or the nation.”
He said it was irresponsible to make remarks on a sensitive issue such as a border dispute without facts, evidence and historical documents. He described the statement as indicative of a traitorous tendency.
“Making such comments about border encroachment without facts and evidence is not only against the national interest but also an attack on national integrity,” he said. “If the Prime Minister made the statement out of ignorance, it is deeply concerning; if he made it knowingly, it is even more dangerous.”
Thapa claimed the remarks themselves demonstrated the Prime Minister’s lack of a basic understanding of the Nepal–India border dispute.
During the program, Thapa also criticized the passage of the parliamentary rules of procedure by a majority vote in the House of Representatives on Sunday. “The day will be recorded as a dark day in the history of the federal parliament when it comes to making laws governing parliamentary proceedings,” he said. “Passing the rules by overriding the voice of the opposition is contrary to democratic culture.”
