While arresting the three ministers of the autocratic royal regime, the government also suspends the chiefs of three (not the army though) security bodies.
Finally three ministers Kamal Thapa, Ramesh Nath Pandey and Shris Shumshere Rana have been arrested. The Kathmandu District Administration Office issued the arrest warrant against them following a directive from the Home Ministry. People are aware of the today’s government decision to arrest three former ministers in the royal regime are saying: Oh..now I feel that we have democracy and rule of law in Nepal. But many other are still skeptical about the move. Will these ministers, who committed serious crimes by playing instrumental role in repressing last month’s historical movement, be punished? And how about their ultimate boss? These people feel that the government was already late in arresting them just like it is lagging behind in taking some other decisions that will be helpful in establishing complete democracy in Nepal.
Here is more from eKantipur:
All three have been handed a 30-day arrest warrant. They have been charged of making “statements aimed at disturbing the public peace.” They are being kept at the National Police Academy at Maharajgunj. A police team from the Police Headquarters arrested the former ministers from their residences this afternoon. Thapa and Pandey were the Home and Foreign Ministers in the royal-appointed government while Rana was the State Minister for Information and Communications and government spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the government has suspended the chiefs of three security bodies.
Inspector General of Police Shyam Bhakta Thapa, Inspector General of Armed Police Force Sahabir Thapa and chief of the National Investigation Department Devi Ram Sharma have been suspended from their posts. [The recently formed all powerful judicial probe commission had recommended the government to suspend the army cheif as well.]
An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers that took place at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar this evening took the decision following a recommendation by the Judicial Commission formed to probe the atrocities against the recent pro-democracy demonstrations to suspend all the four security chiefs.
United We Blog 
Comments
52 responses to “Will These Repressive Ministers Be Punished?”
A good news after many years.
All the people are expecting so and situation is very optimistic but still nobody can sure about the nepal governments’ concrete decision.
yeah UWB reporting the news is one thing but making your own biased comments are another. I agree with arrests of the three former ministers only if the letter of the law is followed in their prosecution. I also agree with the suspension from duty of the four heads of the security bodies-they should be retired as soon as possible and even prosecuted if they have committed crimes against the people and abused their public office.
But I also want a balanced view from you guys. Don’t tell me that the leaders and members of the SPA aren’t corrupt.If they have committed abuses of power when they were in power(and we know a lot of them have)they too must be prosecuted. One strict standard for all who occupy government and political/public offices. No double standards. That doesn’t work for anyone expect the corrupt.
Dear kirat isn’t it the right time to make justice on every single killing…..can murder justify….can it provide license to rule for any one?
lavesh can you elaborate/explain your point? I am afraid I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Sorry.
All except ARMY CHIEF.
Puchhar chai chiryo, hatti adkiyo.
Kirat as you say no double standards then why this condition is only for SPA and why not for Maoist? They have also made serious human crime during the course of revolution
Yeah the Army Chief should have been the first to go. He should be court martialled for incompetency. The fool can’t even provide security from a bunch of rag tag villagers turned into soldiers (i.e. PLA). This is not right. The SPA have acted in a very cowardly manner. Amongst all the security forces the RNA is the one that needs to lose it’s incompetent, feudal and palace leaning top brass the most.
kirat
this action of SPA government doesn’t mean anything in reality. They don’t even have a solid case against these people. SPA leaders are just trying to save their asses amidst all the controversy regarding post of the speaker and it is just another ploy to divert the already disappointed public. I agree that these people should be trialed and punished to the limit, I also support the arrests but you get the impression that they have been arrested just for the heck of it.
The democracy is in danger. There are Maoists showing their true color and King formulating godknowswhat plan. SPA was clever enough when they accepted the king’s offer of reinstating parliament and managed to avoid the Mao march in kathmandu, but they are crumbling, and crumbling badly. They are fighting for the post of sabhamukh for fck sakes, what can you expect more. Tomorrow when Yadav will resign from her post, they are gonna fight for the chair of upasabhamukh. This will never stop and then they are going to throw another piece of bone to keep the public satisfied which reads ‘ RNA from hereafter will only be known as NA’. Done. Finito.
The question is what is the priority right now ? Should they get involved in the internal politics, revenge, power or should they take some sort of initiative for the restoration of peace which doesn’t look very positive until there is some sort of UN supervision.
lavesh, well the Maoists too I agree. But I was refering more to figures that had been in govt. power and political/public offices. But yes the Maoists must not be spared for their atrocities too if others are going to be punished for it.
glade, I totally agree with you. That is why my first post (#3) is rather sceptical of all these recent events. And imagine the Chief of Army is not suspended! What the *!%# !!!
Those who live in glass houses should not throw rocks…
There is a lot of house cleaning going on right now. All the members of SPA are licking their chops to see who gets the spoils… Wonder who is lining up be the next four security chiefs. Will they be politically affliated, or by relations, or by bakshish?
Bureaucracy and the security apparatus need to be non-political. The same old faces (geezers) have now reincarnated as saviours of freedom. Chopping the Royal block may be the easier part, but, streamlining the Maos may be harder.
Will they be as bold in dealing with the Maoists? We have yet to witness that…The new government has released some big wig Maoists political prisoners, but, Maoists have yet to release any of their prisoners.
i want sachit sumsher KG and PP inside the bars
What about T Giri and senior Bista and Kesher b Bista.The decision to crush the Andolan was a political one. First upto Vice Chairman should be prosecuted and we should go to Chairman. I do not know whether this RAYAMAJHI Ko CHHORO has the guts to prosecute the King.
I am still surprised one guy Under Secretary in the Foreign Ministry is still working in the Secretariat of DPM Oli whereas his Former boss Pandey has been arrested. Can you answer this question DPM OLI ? Why can’nt he be given a grade stoppage ? Why are you protecting him ?
kirat,
first murdurers then only corrupts, one intresting thing about our democracy that your king’s autocracy doesn’t have is : our leaders who are corrupt must also be there when deciding to make a anti corruption department which will finally catch themself. so we don’t worry about these few corrupt leaders but worried how to remove this murderers out of society.
Dinesh ji, I think they have got 90 days warrent please check it out.
I think regarding PJ Thapa, it was tated in the news, Security Council will decide. But in the SC, there is only the PM now who is the Chairman of that Council.Other two are Defense Minister(PM himself) and the Army Chief himself.Then how it can be decided ?
solution, I think both murderers and corrupt people should be pursued simultaneously. Ofcourse I agree murder is a more serious crime than corruption. But really I have serious doubts about what sort of case the SPA or the judicial commission has against Kamal Thapa & co. I hope it is pursued properly and not just as an eye wash for our benefit. I am really disappointed that the no action has been taken against the RNA chief. This was most important.
By the way e-kantipur says it is 90 days, who knows huh?
What about Dr. Tulsi Giri and Niranjan Thapa? It is the right time for the Army chief to tender resignation before any disgrace. At least, he can celebrate his daughter’s wedding in a good mood. If he does not quit then the PM should have guts to sack him.
Chandan,
If we are really serious about it there is quite a long list isn’t there? Operation Kilo Sierra (under Girija) was supposed to be the worst amongst all the atrocities. And Prachanda surely has blood on his hands. Oops, is the list too long already?
I mini-Thapa culling going on huh? Funny.
Yes, the govt sounds like the govt now.
The arrest and investigation of these criminal and corrupt ministers was long overdue.Their passports should also be suspended. Kamal Thapa, Niranjan Thapa and the likes are the bloody hands: in 2046, now, and who knows when again!
Hope it will, to some extent, heal the woulds of martyr’s families and thousands of injured people.
Why not two more Thapa’s: Niranjan and the Army Chief.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
This is to certify that all Thapas of Nepal do not have brains and they are the most corrupt race in the world.When alive, they should be kept in a ZOO and when dead, they sould be transferred to CHHAUNI MUSEUM.
Layman, get a grip. It has nothing to do against ‘Thapas’, you can find 100s of non-Thapas suitable to be kept in your zoo.
And don’t worry Jillabasi, when the leaders are going to fight once again regarding the post of upasabhamukh and 3 vacant posts in the security bodies, there will be more arrests.
Please do not make the term “Thapa” as a synonym for “bad” or “bloody”. Mathbar Singh and Bhimsen were Thapa too.
Even the Thapas should isolate these fistful of culprits to save thier golden glory. It was Niranjan thapa who himself fired on us from a helicopter at Kirtipur Nayabazar in 2046.
KIRAT..Dont make SILLY COMMENTS like ‘He should be court martialled for incompetency. The fool can’t even provide security from a bunch of rag tag villagers turned into soldiers (i.e. PLA)’ HAVE YOU BEEN A SOLDIER ever???. ..SO WHAT IF IT IS FEUDAL..DONT USE such political words like ABUSES..
WHY are YOU QUIET about the PRACHANDAs and BHATTARAIs…
There was NO REPRESSION….the POLICE had to act in self defence against huge MOBs with sticks and stones INSTIGATED by MAOBADIs..
YOU will SEE REPRESSION when PRACHANDA comes to power…
..whether through outright war and violence or from mistakes of our politicians….
You will then SEE STALIN come ALIVE AGAIN …in our NEPAL
What a relief finally to have Kamal Thapa and other ministers arrested. But I still feel that there are more people who also deserve to be arrested. Where is Tulsi Giri? What about Pyar Jung Thapa? Where is Kirti Nidhi and Keshar Bahadur Bista? And what about the head of the Government Mr. Gyanendra shah? He should be the first. The Rayamajhi commission also must investigate on Gyanendra Shah why he needed to increase his allowance from 11 crore to 86 crore. He must be given an ultimatum to refund the unnecessary amount back to state fund. I wish Rayamajhi and his team a great success in getting the job done so all the martyrs’ soul will rest in peace.
Kamal Thapa and Sirish Rana should be put on a truck naked and drive through the streets of Kathmandu to Kalanki so that they and their team will learn what happens if played against people’s wish.
I AM SO SAD THAT SPA GOVERNMENT DIDN’T SELECT CHITRA LEKHA YADAV AS THE SPEAKER. SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD EXAMPLE AND HELP BOOAST THE MORALITY OF WOMEN. SHAME ON YOU GIRIJA, IT STILL SHOWS THAT THEY ARE PLAYING THE POWER GAME.
er.. is it Girija who’s agianst appointing her Nepalko chhoro ?
Some people are only against every THAPA, BISTA, RANA, SHAH but are quite happy with the PRACHANDAs and BHATTARAIs….
Glade, blame Deuba for the humiliation of Chitralekha. That idiot has insulted the only people-friendly lawmaker of his party out of sheer greed.
shanti, shanti, om shanti! The topic was about the former ministers. If you have bothered to read my previous posts on Maobadis you will know that I am ver critical of Prachanda & co.
KG’s main advisors are still scot-free. Giri and Sharad Chandra Shah could not be arrested. Why ? The Govt. should reply.
Are We Ready For Democracy?
On the face of it, this may look like an absurd question. In fact these few words may have been enough for the ultra revolutionary in you to name this writer ‘a regressive agent of the feudal system’ or something like that (whatever the name may be, one thing is for sure it will be one borrowed from the books of communism). But this is just the question that has been troubling me for the last few days. Having been watching Nepalese media’s interpretation of reality on the ground and hearing the voices from the Nepalese blogosphere for some time now, I just can’t help but think about the democracy we’ve claimed to have fought for. Is this democracy we’ve got? Is it democratic values we’ve been fighting for? In fact do we know what democracy and democratic values stand for?
Look, I don’t claim to suffer from the ‘know-all’ attitude (which most of you seem to accuse anyone who begs to differ from the opinions you tend to hold), but yes I do suffer from insanity of sorts, insanity for democracy. I can handle differences of opinions, I can handle criticisms and I can respect people’s wishes. If that makes me different from the rest of you, well then so be it.
Just the other day I heard that Kali Prasad Rijal had written a new national anthem. And the very next day, very predictably, most newspapers were full of opinions filled with plethora of adjectives vilifying Mr. Rijal (read today’s Kantipur for more). While I agree that he has been a hardcore supporter of the king in the past (and in fact he may still support the monarchy), what I don’t agree with is, the people’s call to boycott him and his ideas. Like any ordinary Nepali, Mr. Rijal, irrespective of his beliefs and his loyalty, has got the rights to write a national anthem (or exercise any of his basic rights). The case of Mr. Kali Prasad Rijal and our national anthem is just an example here, what I want to do is to focus the attention of us all political neophytes to the true meaning of democracy. When I took part in the so called ‘April Revolution’, I thought it was for a democratic Nepal that I was fighting for (I thought republicanism would just be its byproduct).
But post-revolution Nepal is as far from democracy as it was under the dictatorship of the king and for a change it’s not the government that is to be blamed, but rather it’s us the people of Nepal, who lack the slightest of attitudes and demeanor fit for being called democratic, who are more to be blamed. Most of us Nepalese seem to suffer from one big disease, we believe whatever we believe, the rest of the world believes the same and sadly it’s not the differences of opinions we believe in. Democracy breeds differences of opinions, and if you believe in democracy, you should believe in the people’s right to hold their own opinions. But how many of us can claim that? Democratic Nepal is not only for people who want a republic, it should be for everyone. Anyone and everyone should be allowed to express their desires and enjoy the rights that any Nepalese citizen is allowed to exercise. In fact if someone supports the king, even an active monarchy, he should be allowed to voice his opinion.
Poor old Kali Prasad Rijal, he’s done no harm to anybody, so why should he suffer for supporting the king in the past? By the way I thought most of us Nepalese supported the system of monarchy not that long ago, does that make us all invalids too?
In fact, I saw two songs written by Kali Prasad published in Kantipur. One was perfect copy of the Indian national anthem. And I was pleasently surprised to see readers expressing their anger againt Kali Prasad who is now trying to be a ‘Pani mathi ko ovano’. And Kantipur did superb job by giving platform to readers after it published songs by Rijal.
I mean thre is a limit of shamelessness. Can you tolerate if Kamal Thapa and Tulsi Giri start giving lectures on democracy and morality? Are you ready to accept them as the leaders? Come on, I request you to not to defend those who openly supported autocracy and enoyed the benifits where as many others suffered fighting for freedom. It would be a gross disrespect to martyrs and injured people of the Jana Andolan if you say Rijal shouldn’t suffer for supporting the king in the past. Then you will say why should Kamal Thapa be jailed for being minister and ordering police ot kill people in the past.
Srijan, democracy is not a destination but a process. No country or nation can be ‘democracy ready’ within a set period of 15 or 20 years. For all of the ideals of democracy to take route in our country it will take time and a lot of ‘processess’ like the janandolan and that we are going through right now. The sooner we start the better.
It has become of battle of US and THEM… In other words, you cannot have independent view in Nepal. If you hold independent view, you end up being dhobi ko kukur…And yes, this is the democratic practice in Nepal as preached by our ‘pseudo’ intellectuals.
‘For the people’ is just a phrase. The King took over ‘for the people’, the Maoists waged bloody battle ‘for the people’ and the SPA came to power as of now ‘for the people’. It won’t be surprising if the SPA would declare Prachanda and Baburam as the greatest-living democrats of Nepal. Any one who opposes the SPA and the Maoists now are ‘mandale’ and the supporters of the previous regime; and this is the ‘democracy’ that we have to believe. Even if the Maoists and the SPA goof-up, well, it is ‘for the people’ after all. Welcome to the DEMOCRACY – NEPALESE STYLE.
Yeah, we all think Democracy should be like an instant cafe latte at Starbucks! Just order and drink!
People refuse to listen to the neutral people like me. If you are a democrat, you must be Congressi. You can not be a democrat without becoming Congressi. That is the attitude of most educated people in all the parties.
What about UML. Are they communist in the real sense of the term ? They have to change their name. Thar are like Chinese communist party leaders as they are advocating capitalism at the Central Committee of the Supreme Chinese People’s Party.
In Nepal, people should change the attitude towards things in life. People are living an artificial life, particularly so called elites of Kathmandu.
What about UML. Are they communist in the real sense of the term ? They have to change their name. Thar are like Chinese communist party leaders as they are advocating capitalism at the Central Committee of the Supreme Chinese People’s Party.
In Nepal, people should change the attitude towards things in life. People are living an artificial life, particularly so called elites of Kathmandu.
Look guys what I was defending was a concept, the concept of democracy and a person’s rights. For all his wrong doing Kali Prasad Rijal should have his rights intact and he must have the right to voice his opinions. And yes Kantipur has done a great job here by giving equal spaces to both the sides.
And I do not in any way support or defend people like Kamal Thapa or Tulsi Giri. But yes I do want them to be tried fairly. They should be allowed to put forward their cases. They have the rights to defend themselves and we should hear what they have to say. And by the way, if these people are to be punished then should people like Khum B. Khadka, Joshi, Gupta et al and Baam Dev Gautam (surprisingly no one seems to remember his tenure as a home minister) escape scot-free ? (The sacks and sacks of gold and dollars Baam Dev smuggled is an open secret today)
Kirat,
Yeah you’re right when you say democracy is not a destination but a process. But unfortunately, my friend, the process we’re following doesn’t lead us to democracy.
Srijan, the hope is, that as long as we do not lose sight of what we ultimately want, that is democracy, I think we will stride, fumble and tumble towards it. Even so called ‘well established democracies’ have problems. Look at the state of affairs in the UK, US and Europe. Even they are still striding and slipping and sliding towards true democracy. So there will be a lot of voices, some sane some not so sane and some downright looney along the democratic road. Perfect democracy is unattainable but closer we get to it the better.
It is glad to know that the most cunning and opportunist wolf Ramesh Nath Pandey has also been arrested among others. He is very clever and can do CHAKRI to any political powers for his personal benefit. Now he can not, at least for coming 3 months!!
Kirat,
Not losing the sight of what we ultimately want, that’s the key, right? But we just can’t hope that somehow (god willing huh??) we will manage to (in your own words) stride, fumble and tumble towards democracy, say in 10 or 15 years from now.
If we want to shape our democratic future, the time to act is now, before it’s too late. We need a strong prime minister and a strong government. (Arrests of all those ex ministers was a step in the right direction) but we need more. We need the rule of law to prevail, we need to rein in the Maoists, we need to establish democratic practices…..
Well Srijan as long as the sane voices like yours prevail-and I believe the majoirty of the voices are sane-we will make strides towards democracy. But be warned the road will be bumpy. Entrenched powers with vested interests will always try to derail the process.
The commission is only on Saturday discussing its TOR and yet it has already decided on whom to punish ! Now, what kind of justice is this? Usually, the investigation is done, report is made public and then arrests are carried out but here 5 ministers were arrested even before the investigation has begun !
I think these Ministers have to definitely be questioned and punished if found guilty. However, I feel this is bullshit if they keep releasing murderers from the maoist side and capturing “royalists”. This gives me a sense that all the shots are being called by the maoists, who just a month ago was labelled terrorists, and let me remind the people that they were labelled terrorists by the democrats themselves. How can you have democracy when you punish one form of fascism and reward the other?
Today’s news says that maoists are back to extoriton and have even murdered an ex-maoist, the pathetic reply by the human rights groups was “do not repeat the incident again” = What??? The chap has already beeen slaughtered and all they can say is do not repeat (how can one kill the same person twice?), what HAPPENED TO CATCHING THE BLOODY MURDERERS AND PUNISHING THEM? Are these human rights groups a human rights group or just another front for the maoists???
CK2,
You are absoutely right. People are confused with the fast steps of SPA and making doubt on their direction and their future democracy. They should be fare enought to all one sided actions. Who knows tomorrow we are not allowed to put our concept like in king’s rule??