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Uproar in House over Shah’s murder
KATHMANDU, FEB 08 -
Lawmakers of all political parties on Monday said the murder of media entrepreneur Jamim Shah in broad daylight has brought into question the existence of the government.
The government's inability to track Shah's murderers even 24 hours after the incident sparked criticisms from lawmakers at the House session of Monday. Irate lawmakers demanded that the government take “moral responsibility for failure to restore law and order” in the Capital.
“The killing of a media entrepreneur in broad daylight in the most-secure VIP area in the Capital has thrown up questions on the presence of the government in the country,” said Nepali Congress Chief Whip Laxman Prasad Ghimire at the Parliament. He also demanded Home Minister Bhim Rawal justify why he took the chiefs of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department to China on his official visit ignoring the law and order situation in the country.
UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker C.P. Gajurel said Shah's murder in the VIP zone is proof of the government's inefficiency in maintaining law and order. He said Sunday's murder shows that the present government has lost moral ground to stay in power. “Indian media--PTI and Times of India--have alleged that Shah is an ISI agent affiliated to underworld dons,” said Gajurel. “If this is true, it is a planned killing resulting from rivalry in the international underworld. The present government has no legitimacy to turn this country into a war zone for foreign forces.”
CPN-UML lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari said the high profile murder was a result of carelessness on part of police personnel. “According to eyewitnesses and media reports, the two assailants had failed to immediately start their motorcycle to flee from the scene of murder,” he said. “The police did not respond promptly so the gunmen are still at large.”
Lawmakers C. P. Mainali, Sunil Prajapati, Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Anil Jha and Birjesh Gupta also condemned the failure of security agencies in relation to Sunday's shooting. After hearing angry lawmakers for over an hour, State Minister for Home Affairs Muhamad Rijwan Ansari expressed commitment to probe the incident and book the guilty. He also informed the House about the formation of a high level commission and a five-member special police team to probe the case.
Lawmakers also demanded explanation on the wrong use of the Nepali national flag and the playing of the wrong national anthem at the South Asian Games in Bangladesh. Sports Minister Ganesh Tiwari said he would take action against officials responsible for the carelessness.
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