By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Bowing to mounting public outrage, Nepal’s beleaguered government Wednesday decided to withdraw the state honours conferred on two controversial security personnel, though a tainted former army chief was spared.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who faces a Wednesday midnight ultimatum by which time he has been asked to resign by the opposition Maoist party, gave in after street protests as well as a court case challenging his government’s decision to grant state honours to two senior police personnel, Kuber Singh Rana and Durja Prasad Rai, who were found guilty of human rights violations by a state commission.
After a meeting of the council of ministers Wednesday, Information and Communications Minister Shankar Pokhrel, who is also the government spokesman, said that in view of the public reaction, the cabinet had decided to heed the recommendations of the awards committee that asked the government to review the two senior policemen’s cases.
The red-faced awards committee recommended Tuesday that Rana and Rai be stripped of their new honours after scathing criticism by human rights organisations, the kin of victims killed during the pro-democracy movement in 2006 and even the chief justice.
Rai, Rana and former army chief Rookmangud Katawal were found guilty by the Rayamajhi Commission of being responsible for the brutal suppression of peaceful protests against King Gyanendra’s army-backed regime in 2006 that resulted in the death of nearly two dozen unarmed protesters.
However, a succession of governments, including that led by the Maoists, failed to take action against the guilty and tried to sweep the commission report under the carpet.
But public outrage erupted after the current government decided to honour the tainted trio during the Republic Day celebrations last week.
Hundreds of people led by the mother of a young man killed by security forces staged protests in the capital Monday, followed by nearly a dozen recipients of state honours refusing their awards.
On Tuesday, a leading rights organisation, Inhured International, filed a petition in Supreme Court, asking for the controversial awards to be revoked.
Another severe blow came from Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha who sent a written objection, flaying honours for five judges.
The chief justice said the government had failed to consult the Judicial Commission, which has to first approve state honours for judges. He also said the recipient judges had not contributed to the strengthening of the judicial system while some had been appointed only a few months ago.