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Threat to Lawmaker
- Maoist letter reaches embassy
KATHMANDU, AUG 17 -
The UCPN (Maoist) on Tuesday submitted a “protest letter” to the Indian Embassy demanding an apology and expulsion of its official Subrat Das for allegedly threatening the party’s Central Committee member and lawmaker Ram Kumar Sharma.
In the letter, the Maoists accused India of continuously interfering in Nepal’s internal matters. The threat to lawmaker Sharma is tantamount to defamation of the whole Constituent Assembly and challenges Nepal’s national sovereignty, the letter said.
Although, a meeting of Maoist office bearers on Monday decided to submit the letter to Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood, the party office secretary instead submitted the letter at the embassy after Sood refused to meet the Maoist leaders citing busy schedule. Maoist Spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma said the party’s Foreign Relations Department Chief Krishna Bahadur Mahara’s repeated calls to the ambassador went unheard.
“We hope and expect that the Indian government will take the letter seriously and consider building friendly ties between the two countries through a new dimension by correcting these sorts of mistakes,” the letter, signed by party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal read. The letter said the party feels strongly about national sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
The Maoists, however, also reiterated their desire for an improved relationship with India “We want to build a lasting relationship with India based on mutual respect and equality,” the letter states.
During the fourth round of prime ministerial election on Aug. 2, Sharma had claimed that the Indian embassy official issued death threats against him.
Mission to reply in positive vein
KATHMANDU: The Indian Embassy here said it has received the Maoist letter. “Yes, we have received a memorandum from the UPCN (M),” Indian Embassy Spokesperson Apoorva Srivastava told the Post. She also said the Embassy was willing to respond positively to the letter in which the Maoists wanted to strengthen the good relations between the party and India. However, the spokesperson maintained that “giving undue publicity and presenting to the media in a distorted manner the false and baseless allegations against a senior member of the diplomatic staff at the Embassy was hardly conducive to fostering better relations.”
Posted on: 2010-08-18 08:01
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