Senior advocate Om Prakash Aryal has alleged that Pyakurel was one of the people that attacked NC leader Ganesh Man Singh in Hetauda in run up to the 1980 referendum
KATHMANDU, Oct 29: Human rights activist Sushil Pyakurel has faced serious human rights allegations.
Senior advocate Om Prakash Aryal filed an objection letter over Pyakurel’s candidacy for the post of a bureau member of the South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR). Aryal alleged that Pyakurel was involved in making indiscriminate physical assault against Nepali Congress (NC) leaders on the eve of the historic referendum in 1980.
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In his objection letter, Advocate Aryal has made three major allegations that disqualify Pyakurel to the prestigious organization working to promote human rights in South Asia. Pyakurel had allegedly led a group of youths that made indiscriminate physical assaults against late supreme leader of Nepali Congress (NC) Ganesh Man Singh, Dhyan Gobinda Ranjit, Ram Babu Shrestha, Ashok Shrestha, and Pradip Man Singh, among others, in Hetauda in 1980. The NC leaders had reached Hetauda to address a rally supporting multi-party democracy ahead of the historic referendum held that year, according to Aryal.
Pyakurel was allegedly joined by Dipak Shrestha and Badri Khatiwada, who were involved in making a physical assault against those campaigning for multi-party democracy. They had allegedly used a curved iron rod to make it easy not only to pull and tear the clothes the leaders wore but also to make a physical assault against them.
Ranjit said they had narrowly escaped death as the youth group led by Pyakurel indiscriminately beat them up even when they took shelter at Gopi Krishna Gorkhali’s home, a local supporter. Ranjit described the incident as an attempt to murder them.
The referendum was held to choose between the partyless Panchayat system and the multi-party democratic system. NC leader Ranjit alleged that Pyakurel and his colleagues were then mobilized by those supporting the partyless Panchayat system that disregarded basic human rights values.
Advocate Aryal has also alleged that Pyakurel possessed fake academic certificates and that he was even dismissed from the job of a non-gazetted government employee at the state-owned Trade Promotion Center. Aryal, in his objection letter to SAHR, further claimed that Pyakurel has not been able to prove the authenticity of this academic certificate even when the same question came up when he served as a commissioner at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Pyakurel is also accused of actively involved in the party politics of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) despite his credentials as a human rights activist. Most recently, Pyakurel served as an advisor to President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
Despite serious allegations of human rights violations, Pyakurel and Renu Raj Bhandari have been elected through online voting as bureau members of SAHR from Nepal. Sources said the SAHR decided not to put off the entire election process as the online voting was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but a detailed investigation into the allegations is likely in the future.
Pyakurel on his part has declined to make any comment over the allegations. In a conversation with 12khari.com on Wednesday, Pyakurel said some of his friends from abroad had fielded his candidacy for the post of a bureau member from Nepal.
