Mahesh reveals Oli’s 6-point response: ‘unable to deploy army’

KATHMANDU: CPN (UML) Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has revealed that the violent incidents on Sept 8-9 involved the infiltration of “anarchic groups,” making it impossible to deploy the Nepal Army to control the situation.

In a statement submitted to the inquiry commission investigating the events, Oli claimed that despite government efforts to keep the protests peaceful, external elements entered the movement, triggering violence.

The key points of Oli’s statement were shared by UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet on social media on Tuesday.

The inquiry commission team visited Oli’s residence in Balkot, Bhaktapur, on Sunday to record his testimony, which Basnet summarized into six main points.

According to Oli, the National Security Council, in a meeting on the evening of Sept 7, decided to allow the protests to proceed peacefully, avoid the use of force, and facilitate youth and student participation.

However, he noted that the protests were gradually overtaken by anarchic groups.

Oli said that when vandalism and sudden gunfire erupted on Sept 8, the situation became serious.

He added that following discussions with the Home Minister and security officials, a decision was made to form an investigative committee.

The former prime minister also disclosed that efforts were made to deploy the Nepal Army on Sept 9 to regain control, but it could not be carried out due to various reasons, which he did not elaborate on.

Oli further questioned the impartiality of Gauri Bahadur Karki, who is leading the investigation, citing Karki’s social media posts before and after the events as indicative of bias and expressing doubts about the neutrality of the report he would produce.