Congress MP Sita Thapaliya Urmila Demands Government Accountability for Self-Immolation

Kathmandu. Nepali Congress MP Sita Thapaliya Urmila has stated that the government should take responsibility for the death of 25-year-old Ganesh Nepali from Mugu, who self-immolated in front of the Passport Department. Speaking at Friday's House of Representatives meeting, MP Thapaliya said that a situation where citizens have to set themselves on fire is a failure of the state.

MP Thapaliya recalled the statements made by the then Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah when Prem Acharya self-immolated in New Baneshwor in the past and questioned the current silence. 'Where and what is the Prime Minister, who questioned yesterday, doing today? Has the state truly become so helpless and failed that citizens have to set themselves on fire to express their pain?', she said.

Accusing the government of making it impossible for the poor and working class to survive, MP Thapaliya said, 'When I was the mayor, the bicycles of the poor were looted and destroyed, and when I was the prime minister, the houses of the landless were demolished but not managed. Today, people who earn a daily wage have reached a point where they cannot survive. Who is this city for?'

Scoffing at the issue of painting the Sajha Yatayat buses blue, she said that changing the color does not provide a sense of security. 'Prime Minister, now take off your dark glasses. The real situation of the country is shown not by the reports in Singha Durbar, but by the suffering of the citizens scattered on the streets,' she said, 'Citizens will not feel secure by painting green buses blue. Security is felt when the state provides justice, creates employment, and establishes good governance.'

She criticized the government's insensitivity, stating that the stress created by the heavy fines imposed on vehicles pushed Ganesh Nepali towards self-immolation.