Kathmandu, July 29: Nepali Congress leader Gagan Kumar Thapa on Tuesday questioned the government’s response to the deadly violence in Sunsari, asking what it was doing as communal tensions continued to rise.
Speaking after attending an all-party meeting convened by Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Ravi Lamichhane at Singha Durbar, Thapa said the opposition had raised serious questions about the government’s role.
“Through the Speaker, we have asked the government a simple question. What is the government doing at this moment? Where is it?” he said.
Expressing dissatisfaction over what he described as a lack of coordination, Thapa said a government cannot limit itself to using force or issuing social media statements during a crisis.
“A government cannot be confined to bullets. Nor can it exist only through status updates. A government is not just a guardian, it is also a leader. The greatest strength of leadership is the ability to collaborate, to trust others and to earn their trust,” he said.
Thapa said Prime Minister Balendra Shah should immediately convene an all-party meeting to build a united national response.
“This is the time for the prime minister to call an all-party meeting without delay, meet the President, coordinate with provincial and local governments, and create a common platform for a collective response,” he said.
Although the government had not taken the initiative, Thapa thanked the RSP for bringing major political parties together to discuss the situation.
“On behalf of the Nepali Congress, we shared the role we have been playing during this difficult time,” he said.
Thapa said religious tolerance and social harmony remain Nepal’s greatest strengths and warned that they must be protected. He also proposed that similar all party meetings be organised at the local level, including in Sunsari, saying the Nepali Congress was ready to support such efforts.
The meeting at Singha Durbar was still underway when Thapa left to attend the condolence programme for senior Nepali Congress leader Gopal Man Shrestha, who passed away earlier on Tuesday. Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe continued representing the party at the meeting.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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