Members of agitating Madhesh-based political parties and other locals last week "cleansed" the Janaki Temple saying that the widow president "desecrated the shrine by performing pooja flouting the Temple's rule."
The premises of Janaki Temple had turned into a battle ground as agitating political parties protested against President Bhandari's visit to the Temple.
"The disrespect shown to head of the state is condmenable and this parliament meeting must denounce it," said Nepali Congress lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada addressing the House meeting on Wednesday.
He accused the agitating Madhes-based political parties of resorting to improper ways to pile pressure on the government. "The domestic political disputes should be resolved internally but the agitating forces resorted to very unjustified ways such as inviting external forces and blocking imports of fuels and essential goods at key border checkpoints," Khatiwada, of the major opposition party, said.
Sushila Nepal of ruling CPN-UML said that the act of insulting President Bhandari on the grounds that she is a widow is not only disrespect to a head of the state but also a humiliation for all women in the country. "If cadres of these agitating Madhes-based parties insult a president for being a widow, how would they treat common women in Madhes districts," she said.
Sita Nepal of UCPN (Maoist), Kanta Bhattarai of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), Gita Chhetri of Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D), Kamala Bishwakarma of CPN (ML), Mina Pun of Rastriya Janamorcha, Anuradha Thapamagar of Nepal Workers Peasants Party and Prem Bahadur Singh of Socialist People's Party, among others, fiercely criticized the agitating Madhesi parites for orchestrating such an incident.
In response to lawmakers' demand, Speaker Onsari Gharti issued a ruling to the government to inform the parliament in the next meeting about the progress on taking action against those involved in the "objectionable" incident.
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