Kathmandu, July 3

Former chief justice Sushila Karki today said that the government was trying to suppress the freedom of speech.

At a press meet organised by Public Defence Alliance, Karki said the government was protecting the interests of businessmen instead of making policies for the welfare of the impoverished people. “Dr Govinda KC started hunger strike for the sake of students from poor families. He wants students from poor families to also be able to study medicine, but the government has promoted anomalies in the medical education sector.”

The former chief justice also shared that although students had to invest a lot of money to study medicine, they were

not given decent pay. “This has been leading to brain drain,” she added.

Public Defense Alliance has also forwarded a three-point demand to the government. Among other things, it has urged the government to address the demands of the Dr KC and provide justice to Ganga Maya Adhikari.

“It is the government’s responsibility to save Ganga Maya’s life,” she said.

Similarly, Kedar Bhakta Mathema said opening medical colleges in Kathmandu valley alone would not help produce skilled human resources. “Medical colleges should be equally distributed in all the geographical regions. It will help to avoid unhealthy competition in the medical sector,” he added.

Representatives of National Human Right Commission, civil society, political analysts and medical students were also present at the press meet.