National
Holiday decision draws criticism
A government decision to declare public holiday on November 2 for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s scheduled visit to Nepal quickly became fodder for criticism with twitterati wasting no time to take a potshot at the move.A government decision to declare public holiday on November 2 for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s scheduled visit to Nepal quickly became fodder for criticism with twitterati wasting no time to take a potshot at the move.
A Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon decided to declare November 2 a public holiday. No sooner had the government made the decision public than people from different walks of life took to social media to criticise the move. A majority of them censured the government for becoming submissive to India.
“Nepal government has no right to humiliate the whole nation by these gimmicks,” wrote @SumanKhadka14 on Twitter. Taking a potshot at the government decision, @Drsudhamshu wrote: “Holiday should be declared not only during arrival but also during departure. Or else, we will be forced to take stringent steps!”
Following social media criticism, the government later went on defensive and urged all not to drag the issue into controversy. The government has said the decision was taken in view of public inconvenience as “during such a high profile visit, it would be difficult for the people to commute”. Stating that the decision was taken keeping in mind possible traffic chaos in the city and inconvenience to general public due to that, the government said public holiday will be announced during Chinese president’s visit also.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal, however, is yet to be confirmed.
In a press statement, the government has also said that it took the decision to declare November 2 a public holiday “as per the suggestion from the general public”.
The national holiday will mean entire government agencies across the country will remain shut on the day.
Questioning the decision, former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai (@brb1954) tweeted: “Foreign guests must be accorded due respect. But will our true friends be happy if we leave all our work aside/ make the country even poorer/ put out a begging bowl? Let’s think!”
President Mukherjee’s visit next month will be the first by an Indian president in 18 years.
Three-layer security cover
KATHMANDU: A special team of the Nepal Army will provide inner security cover with a three-layer security arrangement to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during his three-day stay in Nepal. The Indian president is visiting Nepal on November 2-4. “The same unit that manages security of our president will provide security to the Indian head of state,” said Brigadier General Tara Bahadur Karki. It is learnt that a special force from India will also be involved in managing security in coordination with the NA. Army personnel and Indian security forces will be present in the inner layer while Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force personnel will provide security from the outer later. Mukherjee after landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is scheduled to head for Sheetal Niwas to meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. TIA-Chabahil and Maharajgunj or Tinkune-New Baneshwor-Ratnapark-Lazimpat roads are likely to be cleared off on November 2. (PR)
India formally announces Mukherjee’s trip
NEW DELHI: India has officially announced Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Nepal. “President Mukherjee will pay a state visit to Nepal from November 2-4,” said India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday. “The state visit reflects the priority that the Government of India attaches to further strengthening its age-old, unique partnership with Nepal,” it added. (PR)