Kathmandu: On the recommendation of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah, his legal adviser Om Prakash Aryal is set to become Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki has forwarded the names of Aryal, Kulman Ghising, and Rameshwor Khanal to the Office of the President for ministerial appointments, and their swearing-in is scheduled for today.
However, protests erupted even before Aryal’s formal appointment.
On Sunday midnight, Sudhan Gurung—one of the leaders of the Gen Z movement who had taken part in discussions with the Nepali Army and the President regarding the formation of the interim government—led a group in protest outside the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar. During the demonstration, they even demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Karki, who had only taken the oath on Friday and assumed office on Sunday.
This is possibly the first instance in Nepal where a Prime Minister was asked to resign on the very day of assuming office.
The public, including participants of the Gen Z movement, are now questioning why such a demand was made. Gurung’s group staged the protest to express dissatisfaction with the ministerial selections. Out of the three appointees, they particularly objected to Balen’s adviser Aryal.
Aryal had previously represented Balen in negotiations with the Army, the President, and Gen-Z protesters following the movement. Now, he is set to lead a powerful ministry. Originally, Prime Minister Karki intended to appoint him as Law Minister, but under Balen’s insistence, she agreed to make him Home Minister instead.
But Aryal is facing opposition not only from the Gen Z faction but also from Hindu nationalists. Protesters accused him of exploiting the deaths of protesters for political gain. Gurung, naming Aryal directly, expressed anger: “This Om Prakash lawyer made himself Home Minister from inside,” he fumed, criticizing that the same negotiator had maneuvered into ministerial power. They argued that their movement was being hijacked.
Protesters at Baluwatar warned that the people are the ultimate source of power and that just as they had put Karki in office, they could also drag her out onto the streets.
After Karki’s swearing-in, Gurung had bowed at her feet at Sheetal Niwas, but by midnight Sunday he declared: “The most powerful force is the Nepali people. No one can stop us. From the same place we raised you up, we can spit you out and remove you.”
Hindu nationalist activists have also joined the protests, opposing Aryal’s possible dual appointment as Home and Law Minister. They object to his role as a petitioner in a 2006 Supreme Court writ demanding the right to slaughter cows. At the time, Aryal—also chairperson of the Human Rights Service Centre(HuRiSec)—had argued that the law mandating 12 years’ imprisonment for cow slaughter was irrational and should be scrapped.
In that writ, Aryal claimed the provision contradicted the constitutional right to life, citing that under the Muluki Ain (National Code), if someone attempting cow slaughter was attacked and killed in the act, the killer would not be punished.
Although the case was dismissed by a special bench of the Supreme Court in 2008, Hindu activists, including Dr Swami Keshavananda, have urged Prime Minister Karki to carefully review the matter before finalizing Aryal’s appointment.
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