MoHA urges all not to discourage national servants engaged in govt work
KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 4
After Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah deleted his controversial outburst on Facebook, Routine of Nepal Banda deactivated its official Facebook page.
Mayor Shah's post regarding setting Singha Durbar ablaze went viral in no time. He had taken to his official Facebook handle shortly after his wife Sabeena Kafle was stopped for regular checking by traffic police.
Netizens alleged that RONB posted the news in KMC Mayor Shah's favour to save him from criticism.RONB owner Victor Paudel is a close friend of KMC Mayor Shah, and the popular Facebook page 'Routine of Nepal Banda' which has 4 million followers has been constantly promoting the activities of KMC. However, the page was suddenly shut down.
Sources said the decision to close the page was taken as it was unable to withstand the accusations it was defending Shah.
"No need to attack now (with Namaste emojis)," said the owner of RONB Victor Paudel after shutting down the page. "I didn't open it out of selfishness, so it doesn't matter. We will see the rest later!! Now I am free, leave me alone."
Earlier, before shutting down the page, Poudel wrote a status on Facebook saying he was going to take a bold decision. After that, the Facebook page and Instagram page were shut down without informing followers.
Mayor Shah had written a status on Facebook threatening to set Singha Durbar ablaze as the government had stopped the vehicle of the metropolis. Mayor Shah was widely criticized for it. The next morning, Routine of Nepal Banda announced the news of the birth of Mayor Shah's daughter. However, it was not mentioned in the news that the daughter was delivered a few days ago.
RONB was accused of publishing the news with the aim of protecting Mayor Shah from criticism. Later, the page corrected its status and added a few days ago in the original post. RONB temporarily closed the page after a controversy erupted.
While Shah was running for mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Routine of Nepal Banda had lobbied in his favour. Even after he became mayor, the page continued to write in his support.
Meanwhile, The Ministry of Home Affairs has requested all not to discourage national servants engaged in government work. The ministry said its serious attention was drawn to the statement of KMC Mayor Balendra Shah. "Recently, the office's serious attention has been drawn to expressions posted on social networking sites that discouraged government work done with good intentions and public servants engaged in such work," the statement said. "It is well known that the rule of law and democracy that we have adopted has established that everyone is equal before the eyes of the law. The local administration and security agencies are committed to control activities that violate the existing laws and their job is to ensure rule of law."
A version of this article appears in the print on September 05, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
