KATHMANDU, Jan 6: Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that the government wanted to settle the dispute over army´s recruitment drive at the earliest.
“The view of Nepal government and the defense minister is that the dispute should be ended, our Nepal Army should be further strengthened and this dispute should not erode the image of army, defense ministry and Nepal government,” said Minister Thapa while talking to reporters at his office Tuesday. “What we want is that it [the dispute] should not create any suspicions inside the army and should not weaken its foundation.”
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According to a source at the Ministry, Thapa has called army Chief General Rookmangud Katawal for a discussion at the ministry Wednesday.
He told the reporters that the Army Headquarters has already been directed to make Nepal Army more inclusive and proportionate and halt the recruitment process. He, however, denied reports that the government is mulling ouster of army chief General Rookmangud Katawal for failing to abide by government orders.
He said the government has ordered the army to halt the recruitment process until the dispute is settled or a solution convincing to all is sought, or a decision is taken in a new context. “We have not ordered the army to cancel the process,” he said. “If we don’t do that [halt recruitment] the problem will deepen further, or reoccur. It will be a breach of the people’s mandate for establishing peace and integrating the army. "
