By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Nepal’s leading professional organisations, whose staunch support last year helped opposition parties topple King Gyanendra’s regime and come to power, staged a protest march Monday against the same government, accusing it of failing to curb the growing lawlessness of the Maoists.
The Nepal Bar Association, Nepal Medical Association, Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Nepal University Teachers’ Association, associations of private and boarding schools, and human rights organisations Monday held a sit-in protest before Singh Durbar, the heart of the government where ministries and parliament are located, demanding the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula for having failed to restore law and order.
The protest was triggered by the abduction of five officials of a private medical college in eastern Nepal last week by the Young Communist League (YCL), the growingly notorious strong arm of the Maoists, which has been involved in a series of abductions, extortions and violence.
The five officials of Nobel Medical College in Biratnagar, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s hometown and a centre of mounting anarchy, were abducted from Kathmandu last week, kept in captivity for a day in a neighbouring district and roughed up.
The assault was done on the behalf of a promoter of the college who is close to the YCL and was reportedly recently sacked from the Nobel Medical College.
The ensuing furore Sunday forced the YCL chief, known as Sagar, to admit his involvement and offer “self-criticism”.
The abductions come after the Maoists were found to be responsible for the kidnap and murder of a journalist, Birendra Shah, in south Nepal, and have been found to be behind the disappearance of another journalist, Prakash Singh Thakuri, who was abducted from Kanchanpur in far-west Nepal over four months ago.
Shah’s murder created a wave of anti-Maoist feelings and journalist groups say they will continue protests till the killers are brought to justice.
The professional organisations have also warned that after Monday’s symbolic protest, if the government fails to punish the abductors of the five officials, they would start a more potent movement.
The professional groups had contributed to the success of the peaceful revolt against King Gyanendra last year when 19 days of continuous protests paralysed the country and forced the king to quit.