Inquiry Commission Holds Former Home Minister and Secretary Responsible for Violent Clashes Near Federal Parliament Building

The inquiry commission's report has concluded that the then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and Home Secretary Gokulmani Dwadi were primarily responsible for the gruesome incident and the resulting human casualties that occurred in front of the Federal Parliament Building on Bhadra 23 during the GenZ movement.

The report states that these two high-ranking officials, who commanded the country's internal security, neglected their official duties and remained silent spectators, allowing the movement to escalate violently and cause unimaginable damage. The commission determined that the state had to pay a heavy price due to their dereliction of duty in maintaining law and order and effectively mobilizing security forces.

Then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was found to be completely unsuccessful in fundamental responsibilities such as evaluating the effectiveness of security agencies, enacting legal reforms, and providing appropriate non-lethal weapons in a timely manner. The fact that Home Minister Lekhak remained engaged in discussions of the State Affairs Committee even as clashes erupted between police and protestors at the Federal Parliament Building premises on Bhadra 23 clearly shows how lightly he took the situation.

According to the report, during the confrontation that lasted nearly four hours, he made no effort to de-escalate tensions by ordering a ceasefire to the security forces or to demonstrate a 'demonstrative effect' by coordinating with the army through the Prime Minister to mitigate risks. The report attributes Lekhak's personal and professional incompetence as the main reason for failing to establish legal arrangements for coordination between security mechanisms, learning lessons from the 2082 B.S. Kotshwor incident, and preventing the unnecessary use of lethal weapons.

The role of then Secretary Gokulmani Dwadi, who managed the administrative leadership of the Home Ministry, was also found to be equally irresponsible. Even when the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu reported that the situation around the Parliament Building was deteriorating and that the police alone could not manage it, Secretary Dwadi showed no proactiveness in normalizing the situation.

The main official responsible for receiving reports from CDOs of all 77 districts and coordinating between security agencies remaining silent during a confrontation that lasted four hours indicates that he deviated from his duty. Instead of coordinating the necessary logistical support and management of non-lethal weapons for the security forces, Secretary Dwadi failed to provide concrete suggestions to the Home Minister for minimizing human casualties.

According to the commission's report, this 'leadership vacuum' observed in the Home Ministry leadership revealed a significant gap in operational coordination between the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force. Even when security experts pointed out the lack of effective 'operation tactics' between the two organizations, the Home Ministry officials made no attempt to rectify it.

Consequently, many youths lost their lives and hundreds were injured when the police fired indiscriminately after failing to control the crowd in the Parliament Building premises. The detailed report of the commission concluded that because Home Minister Lekhak and Secretary Dwadi failed to ensure timely and proper mobilization and coordination of security personnel despite having minute-by-minute updates on the security situation, the GenZ movement took a violent turn nationwide.