National
Nepalgunj tense over statue dispute
Police clashed with pro-monarch supporters as the latter installed a bust of late king Birendra Shah at Dhambojhi Chowk in Nepalgunj, Banke, on Thursday.Police clashed with pro-monarch supporters as the latter installed a bust of late king Birendra Shah at Dhambojhi Chowk in Nepalgunj, Banke, on Thursday.
The security personnel intervened as the royalists and supporters of Hindu state erected the bust by hoodwinking the administration. Police had initially given permission to an organisation named Rastrabadi Yuwa to hoist the national flag in the area.
The security personnel tried to disperse the people gathered at the square as they installed the statue. But they did not pull down the state fearing untoward incident. Some people sustained
minor injuries as police resorted to baton charge to clear the place.
A life size statue of late king Birendra which occupied the place was raged by demonstrators during People’s Movement-II. Local political parties could not reach to a consensus over whose statue should be erected there.
“There was the statue of king before. Nobody should take exception to erect late king’s statue in Birendra Chowk,” said Rishi Devkota, the district chairman of
the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal.
The area remained tense for hours as the demonstrators, who took to the streets against “police intervention”, warned that they would pull down a statue of any leader and replace it with that of the late king’s. Meanwhile, major political parties issued a joint statement and asked the local administration to remove Birendra statue.