KATHMANDU, JANUARY 30
Hundreds of people joined a peaceful protest rally today led by senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC and editor Narayan Wagle against dissolution of the House of Representatives in the capital.
The rally that started from Maitighar Mandala had converged into a corner meeting at Baneshwor, where people from various walks of life had gathered.
Participants had displayed placard and chanted slogans such as 'One must not murder House of Representatives', 'We don't need autocratic government,' 'People are coming forward, totalitarianism is crumbling', and so on.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on December 20 had recommended dissolution of the House of Representatives, following a dispute within his party with senior leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The recommendation was approved by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari within hours and mid-term elections for May 30 and June 10 were announced.
Since then a series of protests are being organised here in the capital and across the country.
Both KC and Wagle, well-recognised faces of civil society, had faced the wrath of the government on January 25 in a similar protest programme. Hundreds of people had gathered under the 'Brihat Nagarik Andolan' banner led by KC and Wagle, Mohana Ansari, commissioner of the National Human Right Commission and Khagendra Sangraula, a political writer. The government had resorted to force to disperse the crowd moving towards the PM's official residence at Baluwatar. Police had baton-charged and fired water cannon against the demonstrator and dozens had suffered injuries.
The major opposition Nepali Congress, including the Dahal-Nepal faction of the ruling NCP, has been protesting against the House dissolution.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 31, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
