More than 30 cadres of Meeting Center for Nationalists (MCN) have been arrested on Friday while preparing for their pre-planned effigy burning programme at Jamal.

Nine members of the central committee of MCN Rajesh Batala and Shivahari Karki, treasurer Bhoj Raj Shrestha and Akshya Shrestha along with the members who came from Trishuli and Nuwakot to participate the programme while appealing people to participate through mike in front of their head office at Putalisadak at about 10 in the morning. Central advisor of the center Ganga Bikram Thapa accused that the security forces even looted the national flag.

According to the secretary of MCN Narayan Man Shrestha, rest of the members including acting president of the center Jaya Bahadur Khatry, head of the central organisation Kiran Lamichhane, joint secretary Keshav Adhikari and CCM Ram Chandra Nayak were arrested at Jamal where they have planned to burn the effigy of a seven headed corrupted person and another of a smuggler. Jamal area was surrounded by the security at the scheduled time of their programme.

Despite of the government’s resistance, Thapa affirmed that the effigies would be burnt the same day, sooner or later in a way just like the left parties protests which remains a secret until the last moment.

He informed that the government has now been afraid of their increasing strength after the massive presence of the people in the peace rally on 8 May. “This arrest would rather benefit the center than harm,” said Thapa adding “we wonder why they are suppressing us as ours is the mere campaign against corruption and bad governance and we will never stop to sacrifice anything until the corrupts are examined and punished.”

He confirmed that whenever trouble arises in the country, the crisis can only be solved with the co-operation of Nepali people and the King as in 1979 and 1990. He believes the present crisis also needs the dual effort in order to get rid of it.