UML party workers want action against Basnet

BIRATNAGAR, June 14: Though the CPN-UML leaders in Morang have been pressing for action against Morang chief of Youth Force Parshuram Basnet for masterminding the attack on Republica correspondent Khilanath Dhakal, the leadership has refused to take heed and instead decided to bar him from party activities.



UML district chairman Binod Dhakal had asked party workers close to him to defend Basnet during the district secretariat meeting on Sunday. But a majority of them still blasted Basnet saying goons like him would tarnish the party´s image.[break]



“Dhakal had gathered a group of youths under Morang Chairman of Prajatantrik Rashtriya Yuva Sangh Rabin Thapa to diffuse the situation and asked a member close to him to speak first during the meeting. Heated exchanges followed and Dhakal was forced to take the face-saving decision of barring Basnet from party activities,” a member of Morang UML who attended the meeting said.



A majority of the party workers had demanded suspension of Basnet and others involved in the attack but Dhakal instead chose to protect Basnet, according to UML Koshi Zonal Committee member Chandra Gurung, who was also present at the meeting.



Meanwhile, UML leader Rishikesh Pokharel argued that Basnet cannot immediately be punished by the party. “There are stages of action. First he has to be warned and then the party will seek clarification with him. How can one suspend him without following due process?” contended Pokharel.



Speaking at the meeting, a district level party leader warned, “If the party doesn´t mend ways, we will launch a protest against the party. If attempts are made to silence party workers demanding punishment against Basnet, the party may face dire consequences.” UML party workers also complained of Basnet´s high-handedness within the party and his criminal escapades.



Basnet had pulled a pistol on central member of Prajatantrik Rashtriya Yuva Sangh Anjana Adhilkari during a meeting last year and has been regularly threatening his dissenters within the party.



Bring Basnet to book: UML lawmakers to PM


KATHMANDU: CPN-UML lawmakers have drawn Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal´s attention to the government´s failure in bringing those accused of attacking journalist Khilanath Dhakal to book.



The UML lawmakers at the parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday also asked the prime minister if Parshuram Basnet, who masterminded the attack, is being protected by the party. [break]



Dr Bijaya Paudel, Dhirendra Shrestha and Gopal Thakur, among others, asked the prime minister why Parshuaram Basnet had not been arrested even as the victim has already lodged a complaint against him at the District Police Office, Morang.



“In a rule of law, the accused must be made available for interrogation and investigation. The person may plead innocence but he must be brought before the police for investigation,” Paudel said at the meeting.



Paudel also drew the attention of the prime minister to the threat issued by Youth Force (YF) chief Mahesh Basnet who has claimed that YF Morang district Chief Parshuram Basnet and challenged the state to arrest the latter.



The prime minister said the government was committed to bringing the accused to book and clarified that he had instructed the home minister to handle the case.



The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in its report has claimed that Parshuram Basnet had masterminded the attack on Dhakal.

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