Kathmandu. Nepali Congress lawmaker Nishkal Rai has accused the incumbent government of becoming autocratic. Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, he urged the government to listen to the queries of the people and work within the limits of the constitution.
Lawmaker Rai said the tendency of restricting the right to question questions was dangerous for democracy, referring to Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad as mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana. He claimed that a regime that considered questioning a crime would eventually collapse.
“Hiranyakashipu considered himself to be omnipotent. In his kingdom, no one was allowed to be considered a god except him. When his son Prahlad asked him the truth, it turned out to be a crime,” he said.
Recalling the youth movement against the ban on social media, he said that efforts were being made to stop the youths from questioning the youth who were in favour of freedom of expression.
“The youth who asked for the right to ask questions has now been deprived of asking questions,” Rai said.
Lawmaker Rai demanded that the government introspect on the issue of death of 25-year-old ride-sharing driver Ganesh Nepali of Mugu. He said it was natural to question the government after the incident of Nepali people self-immolating themselves on the streets of Kathmandu following a dispute with the city police.
He accused the government of retaliating against the opposition, media and civil society who raised questions over the incident.
“The government should have introspected when a civilian lost his life. But where did you get the courage to ask questions?” he said.
He accused the Home Minister of making an emotional and threatening statement against the lawmakers while replying to the parliament.
Rai said that the majority of 182 seats would not give the government the right to violate the constitution. He said that the majority is for the representation of the people and it cannot trample on the rights of the citizens.
The majority does not give the right to go above the constitution. The majority has not given the contract to silence the people who ask questions,” he said.
He also alleged that the structures of the state were coming under the influence of the ruling party. He said that the border between the state and the state would be erased if the police administration started acting under the direction of informal forces.
Lawmaker Rai urged the government to shun the path of autocracy and move ahead being citizen-centric. He said he came from a family of farmers and stood for democratic values and freedom of expression.
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