Lamichhane releases 19-page public appeal as “Detainee No. 9725”

KATHMANDU, June 21: The second-largest opposition party in the parliament Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) marked its third establishment day on Saturday with several key decisions affecting party politics. On the occasion, the party appointed lawmaker Manish Jha as its spokesperson and Kabindra Burlakoti as General Secretary.

The party has celebrated the milestone with great enthusiasm, however, its public image is diminishing with each passing day. RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane is currently in judicial custody in Rupandehi following an order from the High Court in connection with a cooperative fraud case. The Supreme Court has already upheld the order, making it unlikely that Rabi will be released anytime soon.

However, from behind bars, Lamichhane has released a 19-page public appeal. In the document, he introduces himself as “Detainee No. 9725.”

“At this point, as the party enters its third year, I am sending this appeal from Bhairahawa prison as Detainee No. 9725, hoping it will reach you in some way or another,” he wrote. “You sent me to the Parliament twice with record-breaking votes. You gave nearly 1.2 million votes to the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party. That support shocked many, and the results of the Chitwan and Tanahun by-elections frightened them even more.”

Lamichhane claimed that those who feared losing their power and privileges conspired against him, believing they could no longer compete with RSP through healthy and democratic means. “You all have seen with your own eyes how terrifying the conspiracy was, who was used in it, and how the entire state mechanism was misused,” he wrote.

Lawmaker Lamichhane has said that the suffering he has been enduring is nothing compared to the hardships political leaders have caused the country and its people over the past 36 years. “The state, courts and even the media are in their control. Sometimes, I feel they have caused me immense suffering. But when I reflect on the suffering they’ve inflicted on the country and its people over the last 36 years, mine feels insignificant. Why should I lament being imprisoned by them, when they’ve already turned the entire country into a prison?” he stated.

Lamichhane also said that he has been made a scapegoat for someone’s political gain, someone else’s government, and someone else's rise to higher or even supreme power. He questioned how many times one person must be sacrificed and cut into pieces to fulfill others’ ambitions.

He finished the appeal by stating that he has nowhere to go for justice except the people’s court.