Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 25:

The Kathmandu District Administration today permitted Nepal Police to extend custody of six student leaders arrested on July 14 for another week. The students, whose 10-day custody ended yesterday, are booked under the Public Offence Act. The sextet — Nepal Student Union’s Pradip Poudel, Narayan Bharati, BP Regmi, Pushpa Shahi and Saroj Thapa and ANNFSU general secretary Thakur Gaire — were arrested at Baneshwor while they were torching portraits of royal family members. Issuing a press release today from the Singha Durbar Ward Police Office, the student leaders said such ‘false charges’ against them would not deter their determination to fight for full democracy. The release said their fight is against the government who is hell bent on “levelling false allegations like attacking police personnel on us.” The student leaders appealed to all students to take to the streets against the

‘nationalistic education’ policy. “We are fighting the negative attitude taken by the government to push the future generation backward by implementing a nationalistic education’ system for the next generation while the world is heading towards a modern education system.” Pradip Poudel, vice president of the NSU and Saroj Thapa, FSU chairman of Tri-Chandra Campus, are having health problems.