Pokhara turns into a protest hotspot as RSP Chair Lamichhane appears before court

Court extends judicial custody

KATHMANDU, Oct 21: The streets of Pokhara turned into a virtual battleground on Sunday as the Chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Rabi Lamichhane was presented to the Kaski District Court. Lamichhane is under legal scrutiny since being implicated in the misappropriation of millions of rupees from Pokhara-based Surya Darshan Cooperative. He was arrested from the party’s central office in Kathmandu on Friday evening, in response to which, protests of RSP leaders and supporters erupted at various locations across the country on Saturday.

Leaders and supporters of RSP who had poured into the tourism capital of Nepal engaged in multiple protests for the entire day shooing away cooperative victims, as some areas were declared prohibited for protests. The police lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the protesters, led by the party’s senior leaders who stay put in Pokhara since early Saturday morning. Claiming that Lamichhane has been targeted out of political vendetta, his supporters started protesting at Sahid Chowk while the cooperative victims gathered at the Rastra Bank Chowk, demanding a fair investigation into cooperative scams and justice to the victims.

Earlier on Sunday, the RSP issued a circular for its members and cadres, calling for at least 100 representatives from each of the 77 districts to reach Pokhara for the protests. In line with the instructions of the party high command, the provincial committees had conveyed the message to the subordinate party structures at midnight on Saturday to gather in the provincial headquarters of Gandaki province with at least 100 representatives from each district.

In anticipation of the protests, the security system of Pokhara had been tightened before Lamichhane was produced at the court. The District Administration Office (DAO), Kaski, declared the areas surrounding Sahid Chowk and Gairapatan in Pokhara as prohibited zones from Sunday until further notice, following Saturday’s protests at the locations.

The DAO has prohibited gatherings of more than five individuals in the areas east of Shahid Chowk towards Waichok, west towards the Fishtail Gate, north towards the Land Revenue Office, and south towards the Mustang Chowk. The road from Palikhe Chowk in Gairapatan to Shree Navin Secondary School remains barred for protests such as hunger strikes, sit-ins, blockades, rallies, demonstrations, and assemblies.

By the direction of the DAO, the District Police Office, Kaski, issued a notice stating that the prohibition order was issued anticipating untoward situations created due to demonstrations, processions, crowding, riots and clashes. A significant number of additional personnel from the Armed Police Force and Nepal Police had been mobilized along the route from Rastra Bank Chowk to Shahid Chowk, leading to the district court.

As expected by the police, tension escalated at Sahid Chowk after Lamichhane’s supporters began protesting, defying the prohibitory orders as he was being driven to the court. Although the protest was scheduled to begin at around 12:30 pm, RSP activists had gathered and started chanting slogans as early as 11 am. Protestors scuffled with police personnel who tried to stop RSP leaders and party workers attempting to march past the restricted zone. As skirmishes broke out, the police used water cannons to disperse the crowd. The protestors stayed undeterred, triggering the police to fire tear gas canisters at the crowd.

In addition, supporters of Lamichhane also chased away the cooperative victims who had assembled at Sahid Chowk to demand justice. The supporters of the arrest were hosting a demonstration parallel to the protest by the leaders and cadres of the RSP. The group of cooperative victims were overpowered and chased away by the RSP workers amassed in much bigger numbers.

Furthermore, a woman participating in a demonstration supporting Lamichhane was detained from Sahid Chowk after she chanted slogans in defiance of the police’s order of silence as Lamichhane was being taken to the court. According to the police, she was sent to the police office in Baidam.

At the protest against Lamichhane’s arrest, the supporters of the RSP chair donned funeral garb on their foreheads and covered their eyes with black straps.

Meanwhile, the District Court granted permission to the police to detain Lamichhane for additional six days for investigation into his alleged involvement in the cooperative scam. Information officer of the Kaski District Court, Suraj Adhikari, informed Republica that a bench headed by Judge Navaraj Dahal decided to remand him to judicial custody as it opined that additional investigation into the case was necessary before a final verdict was reached.