KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 29 Outgoing Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has said that he did not issue any written or verbal order to use force during the Gen Z protests held on September 8 and 9. Speaking to the media on Sunday after recording his statement before the inquiry commission formed to investigate the damage caused during the protests, Lekhak said that the decision to use force rests with the security officials deployed at the site, in accordance with the law. 'There is no legal provision for the minister or the prime minister to issue orders to use force,' he clarified. The former home minister said he had submitted his views and details in writing to the commission. According to Lekhak, a meeting of the Central Security Committee was convened on September 7 after security agencies and the home administration received prior information about the Gen Z demonstration scheduled for the following day. The meeting reviewed intelligence reports and noted that the organisers had indicated the protest would be peaceful. He clarified that no decision or plan regarding the use of force was taken at the meeting, adding that it was concluded that law-and-order arrangements would be managed through coordination among all security agencies. Lekhak also said that formal discussions were held with the then prime minister at Baluwatar following the Central Security Committee meeting, with emphasis placed on ensuring that there would be no human casualties. He said he resigned on the same day on moral grounds. 'I considered it my moral duty to step down after the loss of lives,' he said. Lekhak further stated that incidents occurring after his resignation had severely undermined the country's self-respect, democratic values, and constitutional institutions. He said the damage to constitutional bodies and public property, including Singha Durbar, Rastrapati Bhawan, and the Supreme Court, ran counter to the core spirit of the Gen Z movement. Detailing his personal losses, Lekhak said that two of his houses in Mahendranagar were destroyed by fire, his Kathmandu residence was rendered uninhabitable, and that a grave situation arose while he was trying to protect his mother from an attack by protesters. He added that his mother later passed away. (With inputs from Rastriya Samachar Samiti)