Nepali Times
From The Nepali Press
Royalists hiding



Many ministers and officials loyal to the king have now gone underground or are hiding inside army barracks. Tulsi Giri, Kamal Thapa, Shrish Shamsher Rana, Bharat Kesar Singh and Satchit Shamsher Rana are on the run. Thapa, who ordered aerial firing against peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Kathmandu, has taken refuge at the barracks run by his brother. The Ranas have been hiding at army headquarters since the day after parliament was restored. Singh, who pushed for the king to be called the \'emperor of the Hindus', has also been forced to take shelter with the army. Giri was all set to leave for Bangalore as the king was preparing his first national address but was asked to stay back to correct it. That pre-empted his escape and since then he has been staying with the RNA, which moves him around the capital in a car with blackened windows. Several ministers who don't own houses in Kathmandu have still not left government quarters and many assistant ministers like Pratap Lohar, Harishanker Pariyar and Sonelal Yadab have failed to find houses on rent. Even their sympathisers and supporters have refused to house them after pro-democracy demonstrators made a public appeal for people not to rent to any of these royalists. Tanka Dhakal has not found anyone willing to rent a house to him while former justice and law minister Niranjan Thapa is also taking refuge with the army. None of these ministers have been seen in public. Former assistant minister Bhuwan Pathak, who was responsible for dividing the RPP, has not ventured from his home, royalist Prakash Koirala is reportedly in an unstable mental state and former NC worker Mani Lama stays home cursing the king for destroying his political career. RPP spokesperson Rosan Karki, a well respected RPP member until she joined the king's government, has also gone into seclusion inside her home in Khumaltar and has broken off ties with her own family. Kesar Bahadur Bista has also not stepped foot outside his home. His party , Democratic National Party reportedly asked him to resign from the royal government and join them while the pro-democracy movement was in full swing. Sadbhabana's Badri Mandal has also remained underground while Sharad Chandra Shah is living in the barracks. He was chased from the country following the 1990 People's Movement and returned to support the repressive royal regime after February First. His second wife, Anjana Chakubaji, fled to Singapore the day after the king's announcement.


LATEST ISSUE
638
(11 JAN 2013 - 17 JAN 2013)


ADVERTISEMENT



himalkhabar.com            

NEPALI TIMES IS A PUBLICATION OF HIMALMEDIA PRIVATE LIMITED | ABOUT US | ADVERTISE | SUBSCRIPTION | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE | CONTACT