Ganesh Nepali set himself on fire in Kathmandu after a run-in with police.
Ganesh Nepali’s mortal remains were on Monday consigned to flames at Aryaghat on the bank of the Bagmati River, two days after he succumbed to injuries that he inflicted upon himself. The incident has brought anti-Balen Shah groups together, pushing the Prime Minister into the defensive.
The incident triggered multiple protests against the many alleged “lapses” committed by the government in its 103-day tenure. Majjid Ansari, a law student who was a prominent face in the Gen Z protest that paved the way for Balen’s rise to power in the March 5 elections, is among the many people arrested and assaulted by the police in the past two days.
Ansari, 26, currently under treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, said he has not been given any reason for his detention. He also appealed to all human right groups to make the government answerable for his assault and arrest when he had gone to a ‘holding centre’ in Kirtipur where those displaced after the April 26 demolition had been kept temporarily. They were being asked to vacate the facility without another alternative location.
Incidentally, entry to two media offices, Kantipur and Himalaya TV, were blocked for some time.
The protestors, shouting anti-Balen slogans, demanded the new PM be more respectful towards the poor. Sympathisers of Ganesh Nepali and victims of the April demolition drive had joined the protest in front of Singha Durbar, which houses the Prime Minister’s Office. They had assembled in big numbers but their plan for a much bigger rally on Monday did not take place because of the rain.
Around 1,000 families had been rendered homeless when the Balen Government carried out a demolition campaign against “encroached areas” in the capital. The government also failed to keep its promise to provide alternate settlements. Of late, it issued a notice asking them to vacate the temporary holding centres and find a place for themselves, fueling protests.
The self-immolation cemented multiple protests. In the following two days, two more individuals — Ashwin Raut from Kathmandu’s Budda Nagar and Vivek Mandal from Sarlahi district — also attempted self-immolation.
Nepali, a 25-year old youth from Nepal’s remote Mugu district, was given a hero’s farewell in presence of his family. His family agreed to the funeral after the government consented to hold an inquiry into the incident, pay compensation, give a job to his wife and look after their children’s education.
Nepali had set himself on fire after Kathmandu Metropolitan security guards clamped a wheel-lock to his motorbike that was parked in front of the passport office. He had gone to get his passport since he was looking for an opportunity to go abroad and work.
