JSP demands formation of high-level probe committee

The Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (JSPN) has said its serious attention has been drawn towards the agreement between the government and the victims of the Gaur incident. Organizing a news conference at the office of its parliamentary party in Singha Durbar today, the JSPN alleged that the agreement reached between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Rup Sagar Devi Upadhyay on August 8 has ‘disrupted the nation’s peace, stability and goodwill itself’. The party has demanded the formation of a high-level parliamentary investigation committee to find out the truth and facts behind the Gaur incident and resolve the problem. JSPN spokesperson Manish Suman on the occasion said that the issue of the Gaur incident has been brought up now after a long time with the aim of discrediting the JSPN leadership. He added that this might obstruct the peace process as well. “JSP is not cowed by such cases, the investigation process is being taken ahead through a wrong way, we object to it. The Gaur incident was regrettable, the facts and truths of the incident should be investigated into and the culprits brought to book,” he said. The JSPN is a partner in the present ruling alliance. Spokesperson Suman said whether the party will stay in the government or walk out of it in the latest situation will be determined by the future circumstances. He wondered why the government signed the latest agreement after 17 years of the incident when the reports of various investigations were there as the basis for it. The JSPN has urged the government to stop what it called the act of ‘letting loose the culprit and ill-intentionally implicate the innocent persons’. JSPN stated that the role of the then CPN (Maoist) has changed in the present changed political context, and it is wrong to revive this case now in the context of the collaboration with the then Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and the JSP formed after that amidst a series of working alliance, coalition or joint front and whether in government or in the opposition. The Gaur incident happened on 21 March 2007, in which 26 individuals linked to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPNM) and one unidentified individual were brutally killed following violence which broke out when the Madheshi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) and CPN-M organised simultaneous rallies at the same site in Gaur, Rautahat District. The incidents took place in the context of the unrest in the Terai.