KATHMANDU, July 30: Three women lawmakers from the main opposition Nepali Congress have tabled a motion of urgent public importance in parliament, demanding stringent action against the owner of the Jhapa-based B&C Medical College Durga Prasain for his controversial remarks about female Nepali students pursuing medical education in Bangladesh.
NC lawmaker Dila Sangraula proposed the motion against Prasain at the parliament meeting on Sunday while NC lawmakers Laxmi Pariyar and Pramila Rai seconded it. The motion states that Prasain’s public remarks about female Nepali medical students in Bangladesh is against the right to equality and rights of women under Article 18 and 38 respectively in the constitution and that the remarks undermined the Nepal-Bangladesh bilateral relations.
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“So, in order to prevent such irresponsible activities from happening in the future and protect the integrity of Nepali women, students and citizens, it is necessary to take stringent action against him,” the motion further read.
Earlier, at a press conference, Prasain had said that many Nepali female students in Bangladesh are subjected to sexual exploitation before they are awarded MBBS degrees. A video clip of the controversial remarks by Prasain had gone viral on social media, immediately drawing widespread criticism.
Following Prasain’s remarks, the then Law Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang had also made similar statement about Nepali female students studying medicine in Bangladesh. Tamang had also immediately come under fire from politicians, civil society members, medical students and the general public alike so much so that he was forced to resign from his post.
However, the government has refrained from taking action against Prasain. Some civil society members fear that the government is unlikely to take action against Prasain given his close relation with top leaders of the ruling NCP including Prime Minister KP Oli.
