Basnet has also threatened to throw Narayan Wagle, Editor-in-Chief of Nagarik daily, behind bars.[break]
Parshu Ram Basnet is charged with masterminding a murder attempt on this scribe.
Addressing a gathering organized by YAN in Biratnagar Saturday to mount pressure on the administration and police to drop charges against Parshu Ram, Basnet said, “The day a new constitution is drafted in our favor, we will close down Nagarik daily and send its editor Narayan Wagle to jail.”
He also threatened not to spare any journalist who has written against Parshu Ram. “We will settle scores with everyone sooner or later, if not tomorrow,” He said. “We have made a list of all the names. We will show what happens when a nonentity (referring to this scribe) takes us on.”
Terming his organization, YAN, a pride of lions, Basnet said, “You know what happens when lions descend on the ground. We will wipe out all who are against us.”
Accusing Morang police chief SP Pradhumna Karki of framing his cadres at the behest of the inspector general of police (IGP), the home secretary and some Maoist leaders, Basnet warned police to not mess with his organization. “Do not flaunt your power to us,” he said. “We know where the police chiefs stay, how many wives and children they have, where their families live.”
He said his organization would spare no cost to free Parshu Ram. “We have khukuri knives, we have batons, we have weapons,” he said. “We will annihilate everybody if we come out on the ground.” Drawing an analogy between youths and the Saptakoshi river, Basnet said, “If you play around with us, we will sweep away all like the Saptakoshi.”
He once again challenged police to arrest Parshu Ram. “He was with me, he is still with me,” he said. “You (police) arrest him if you can.” He said the ´false´ charge against Parshu Ram, Rohit Koirala and Manoj Rai are not just against YAN but against the CPN(UML). Koirala and Rai, who thrashed this scribe at the behest of Parshu Ram, have already been arrested and are undergoing trial.
Basnet warned of ´street action´ against those involved in ´concocting false charges against the YAN cadres´. “We will take action against them on the street as the judiciary is helpless now,” he said. Basnet also asked his party leaders not to mistake his campaign to save Parshu Ram as an anti-CPN(UML) move. “I am not against the CPN(UML) or its chairman Jhalanath Khanal,” he said. He said he kept mum at first at the request of his political leaders but broke his silence after journalists began writing against the CPN(UML).
Around YAN 400 cadres attended the gathering at Janandolanchowk, Biratnagar after taking out a rally in the town. The show of strength by YAN comes as police prepare to file case against 17 individuals including Parshu Ram on the charge of carrying out an attack on Abhishek Giri, a murder accused, on the premises of Morang district court. Police say they will file the case on Sunday. Parshu Ram has also been charged with deploying hooligans to beat up this scribe.
Earlier, Binod Dhakal, Morang district chairman of the CPN(UML), had enforced a two-day strike in Biratnagar to protect Parshu Ram, who has been absconding.
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