Minister Lekhak: Efforts to destabilize constitution will be stopped

KATHMANDU: Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has informed the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under the House of Representatives about the arson, vandalism and looting by the royalists on March 28.

According to Lekhak, the incident occurred due to the arrogance of the protest leader.

During a Friday meeting of the State Affairs Committee, Minister Lekhak emphasized that activities aimed at tearing apart the constitution or overthrowing the system would not be tolerated.

“Can we preserve the constitution and democracy through such actions? Is this how we can defend democracy?” he questioned, highlighting the unacceptable nature of such acts.

Lekh argued that the monarchists’ protest was not political but rather a violent attempt to destabilize the constitutional, democratic, republican system.

He stressed that the democratic system, which had not been freely given but fought for, must be protected along with the constitution and inclusive proportional representation. He urged against any thoughts of overturning the system through violent actions, unruliness, and anarchy.

Despite the provocative and unruly behavior of the protest leaders, the Minister praised the security forces for exercising restraint. He stated, “Had the security forces not shown restraint in response to the unruly behavior, the situation could have escalated further.”

The Minister also confirmed that arson had occurred at the airport, warning that if the petroleum storage there had caught fire, the situation could have been far worse.

Minister Lekh noted that security forces were often criticized regardless of whether they used force to control such situations.

He explained that accusations were being made to divert attention from the violent acts and to spread misinformation, with rumors circulating about the use of tear gas and other actions.

The Home Minister further pointed out that those seeking to undermine democracy often target the media. “In the past, military and police were deployed to control media outlets, and now they are being attacked,” he said, underlining the growing threats against democratic institutions.