KATHMANDU, Sept 3: CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has publicly challenged Prime Minister Balendra Shah over remarks he made in Parliament regarding the recent Bhotekoshi flood disaster, accusing the prime minister of making unverified and misleading statements at a time of national grief.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Pokharel took issue with Shah’s comments that Nepal had also encroached on Indian territory and that no expertise existed anywhere in the world to rescue people trapped inside tunnels filled with water and mud.
Questioning the basis of the prime minister’s claims, Pokharel said the head of government should exercise greater responsibility when addressing Parliament, particularly during a national disaster. “Prime Minister, how can you, as the country’s executive head, stand at the parliamentary rostrum and confidently make such baseless claims at such a sensitive time?” Pokharel wrote.
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He argued that such statements could deepen the distress of citizens already affected by the disaster and project a negative image of Nepal internationally. In the post, Pokharel directly asked Shah, “Prime Minister, who is teaching you to make such unverified claims?”
He further criticized what he described as contradictory and unsupported assertions made from the parliamentary rostrum. “Sometimes you stand at the rostrum and say, ‘Nepal has also encroached on Indian land!’ And at other times, while adding salt to the wounds of flood victims, you claim, ‘There is no expertise anywhere in the world capable of rescuing people from a tunnel filled with water and mud!’” he wrote.
Pokharel said the country was passing through a period of profound sorrow following the devastating floods, while the broader impacts of climate change were increasingly affecting human societies worldwide. “At such a sensitive time, how can you, as the country’s executive head, stand at the rostrum and confidently make such baseless claims?” he asked.
He also questioned whether the prime minister had considered the potential psychological impact of such remarks on disaster victims and their families. “Have you ever thought about the serious psychological impact this could have on citizens who are suffering and on human society as a whole, and what kind of message this sends to the international community about our country?” Pokharel wrote.
