Kathmandu, January 4:

Pointing that a case on the NGO code of conduct is sub judice, the NGO Federation of Nepal and nine NGOs have condemned the government for trying to enforce the NGO code by hook or crook.

“It’s not only the content of the code we are opposing but also the intent of the government,” said Dr Arjun Karki, the president of the NGO Federation of Nepal, at a press conference organised here today.

The government bid to enforce the code at a time when a case on it is pending at the Supreme Court is objectionable, unconstitutional and irresponsible, Karki said.

“The forceful implementation of the code would institutionalise the autocracy further and pave the way for more crisis,” states a press release issued by the organisations. Instead of scrapping the widely-criticised code, the government has threatened to implement the code by any means, the press release states.

The president of the National Disabled Federation Nepal, Birendra Pokhrel, said the implementation of the code would lead to severance of all services that are being provided to the differently-abled people.

A former member of the National Human Rights Commission, Shushil Pyakurel, said:

By harassing the NGOs, which have been helping further the democratic movement, the government has been trying to foil the democratic movement. Stating that the apex court has been hapless, Pyakurel said: “Time has come for the people to fight to save the independence of the Supreme Court.”

NIne NGOs, including the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, Dalit NGO Federation of Nepal, National Irrigation Water Consumers’ Federation, Women’s Security Pressure Group, had issued the press statement.