Shoe hurled at NCP Co-chair Dahal

Kathmandu, March 1

A member of the student wing of the Netra Bahadur Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal was arrested today after he hurled a shoe towards Pushpa Kamal Dahal, co-chair of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). Dahal was addressing a programme to mark the first death anniversary of Bharat Mohan Adhikari, former finance minister and leader of the erstwhile CPN-UML, when the incident occurred at City Hall here today.

Ratan Tiruwa, 22, later told police that Dahal’s speech about class struggle delivered during the programme enraged him.

Ratan holds a diploma in engineering and is a son of Mun Tiruwa, a cadre of former Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist who was killed by security forces during the Maoist insurgency in the early 2000s.

Videos that went viral on social media today show that the shoe didn’t hit Dahal and landed on the stage seconds before NCP co-chair completed his speech. Security personnel reacted quickly and arrested Ratan. Meanwhile, Dahal was whisked out of the hall by security personnel.

Ratan was taken to Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati at Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, said Ratan used to live in Dallu in the capital and was believed to be a member of the student wing of the Chand-led CPN.

This is not the first time Dahal has faced ire at a public event. In November 2012, 25-year-old Padam Kunwar, a former cadre of CPN-Maoist, had slapped Dahal at a tea reception hosted by the Maoist party in the capital.