Despite reservations from some Secretariat members, the CPN-UML on Friday announced a new wing—National Volunteer Force (NVF)—in the wake of the Gen Z uprising that swept the UML out of power.

The formation of the new youth front has courted controversy not only because of the differences among the party’s leaders, but also the ‘criminal background’ of the NVF coordinator, Pushpa Raj Shrestha.

He is found to be accused in multiple police cases raising serious concerns about the future of the force.

Party chairman KP Sharma Oli, announcing the NVF amid a huge gathering in Kathmandu, asserted that the newly announced youth unit would help maintain law and order in the country.

While the formation of the NVF is seen as a move to counter Gen Z youths who are antagonistic against the previous Oli administration, the UML chair asserted that it was not aimed against anyone.

Even one senior UML leader told the Post that forming such a force ahead of the elections might pose serious security challenges and may invite confrontation with other parties during the polls.

The party clarified that the force is formed with the objective of assisting state bodies, ridding people of fear and the prevailing sense of insecurity, supporting security agencies, and helping with relief and rescue efforts during natural disasters.

The UML and Gen Z youths, particularly those led by Sudan Gurung and the likes, had often had angry exchanges. UML politburo member Mahesh Basnet leads UML members in countering the youths critical of the party.

Rivalry between the UML and Gen Z youths has deepened after a group of Gen Z youths blocked UML General Secretary Shanker Pokhrel and Basnet from visiting Simara in Bara district on Wednesday.

It is not created against anyone, said Oli about the new youth wing. “It is not meant for violence or terror.”

But Basent, who played a leading role in forming the force, warned that if anyone, in the name of Gen Z, tried to obstruct the UML, there would be retaliation.

Basent claimed that the UML itself would address the genuine demands of Gen Z, and said that the House of Representatives must be reinstated to provide justice to those injured and martyred in the Gen Z protests.

“Wherever there is obstruction in the name of Gen Z, there will be resistance,” Basnet said. “We are in contact with Gen Z youths. But using their name and banner, other types of groups are becoming active, which cannot be tolerated.”

Oli and Basnet devoted much of their inaugural address to talking about Gen Z youths. Sometimes they used threatening language; at others they sounded sympathetic to them.

“If anyone tries to lead the country down an undemocratic path, tries to create anarchy, and resorts to arson, vandalism, and terror, the volunteers will stop them,” said Oli. “The government has announced elections but we see authoritarian tendencies—such as not allowing peaceful assemblies, not letting leaders go to certain places, and not allowing them to address gatherings.”

He was of the view that anarchic activities were being carried out by pseudo Gen Z groups. Disorder cannot be created in the name of Gen Z, he said. “The government must immediately stop anarchic activities. They say they will hold elections, yet they do such things. The question is: how will they conduct the elections?”

At the UML Secretariat meeting on Thursday, senior vice-chairman Ishwar Pokhrel, vice chairs Bishnu Poudel, Surendra Pandey, Asta Laxmi Shakya, and secretaries Yogesh Bhattarai and Gokarna Bista, among others, reportedly opposed the idea of forming the new youth front. Stating that such a move could invite confrontation, they also pointed out chances of misuse of such a force.

The UML in the past formed the Youth Force and People’s Volunteers but both units did not remain active for long.

Paudel even objected that there was no provision in the party charter to create such a force. “We only have the provision for forming a volunteer organisation, not a youth organisation,” a leader quoted Poudel as telling the meeting.

“We already have a youth wing in the party. We do not need a parallel youth unit at this moment.”

Senior party leaders cautioned Oli on Thursday about any confrontation with other forces being counterproductive for the party.

“Forming such a force does not align with our party’s policy or direction. Therefore, it is not good. A party and leaders who believe in mass support and democracy should not rely on a force for protection. What happened in Madhesh when attempts were made to run things through muscle power?” a secretariat member told the Post, questioning the basis of the new youth front’s formation.

They further suggested that regardless of what Gen Z or the government might do, the UML, being a responsible party, must present itself more responsibly, a secretariat member said. “But Oli did not listen to them.”

“Multiple voices and concerns were raised about the objective of forming the NVF,” party vice-chair Surendra Pandey told the Post, saying that the UML does not need a “militant”-like youth organisation at this moment.

Moreover, Shrestha’s links to criminal activities made it more controversial.

According to Nepal Police sources, Shrestha faces four charges of attempted murder, two charges of public offence (indecent behaviour), and a charge of kidnapping and hostage-taking.

Shrestha made concerning remarks at the inauguration of the NVF. “Even in this situation, we are ready to fight and confront—on the streets or anywhere—wearing red bands on our heads,” Shrestha warned. “In saying this though, we do not take the law into our own hands. We will support those who do good.”

Shrestha stressed that people’s homes were burned down in many places, but they cannot speak out. He vowed to become the voice of the voiceless. “Just as government offices, courts, and public property have been destroyed, I call upon other political parties as well to join hands with us and hit the streets with renewed energy,” he said.

The Nepal Police Criminal Record System shows seven cases filed against Shrestha between 2006 and 2018.

Police last arrested him on September 11, 2018, on charges of involvement in kidnapping and hostage-taking. Ram Bahadur Katuwal, originally from ward 5 of Kamalamai Municipality in Sindhuli and living in Ratopul, had filed a complaint saying that Shrestha had threatened him. A team from the Valley Crime Investigation Office detained Shrestha on the basis of the complaint.

Police also investigated him for allegedly abducting Ganesh Kumar Kunwar on November 19, 2016 and extorting money. Investigators found that Kunwar had been held at a rented room and forced to issue cheques worth Rs1.1 million.

Shrestha served as Sindhuli district chair of the Young Communist League, the youth wing of the erstwhile Maoist party. After the Maoists and the UML formed the Nepal Communist Party, he remained with the UML.

According to police, Shrestha also faced attempted murder cases in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2010, he was charged under the Public Offences Act for allegedly assaulting Rajan Ghising of Sindhuli. In 2013, he was arrested in another kidnapping and hostage-taking case.