Begum stirs civil servants nationwide

KATHMANDU, Nov 11: Various government employees´ unions staged sit-in in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) inside Singha Durbar on Wednesday demanding action against Minister of State Karima Begum, who assaulted Chief District Officer (CDO) of Parsa Durga Prasad Bhandari on Tuesday. [break]

Begum had slapped Bhandari five times in his office for sending an "old" vehicle to pick her up from Simara airport.

Civil servants in Kathmandu and other districts asked the government to take legal action against Begum for her ´barbaric act´ against a senior government staff.

President of the UML-affiliated Nepal Government Employees´ Organization (NGEO) Ganesh Basyal said they submitted memorandum to the prime minister, home minister, general administration minister and agriculture minister demanding action against Begum.

"We have three main demands," Basyal said, adding that the government must take stern and visible action against the minister, provide compensation to the victim and publicly apologize for Begum´s action.

He said they requested the government to provide financial compensation to the victim CDO. They have also urged the government to create safe work environment for its employees.

Before submitting the memorandum to the prime minister and ministers concerned, the NGEO organized a protest meeting in front of the agriculture ministry. Hundreds of government employees cutting across different ideologies expressed solidarity with the protest.

NGEO staged the sit-in from 12 noon to 1 p.m. According to Basyal, officials under the Home Ministry including all District Administration Offices across the country halted work from 10 am to 12 noon.

All government offices in Parsa were closed, demanding action against the state minister and seeking security for the civil servants.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, the Maoist-affiliated National Government Employees´ Federation staged a sit-in in front of the agriculture ministry from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., demanding punishment for Begum and security for the civil servants.

The federation also submitted a memorandum to the home minister seeking effective security for government employees and action against Begum, according to Jhanka Dhakal, a member of the federation.

According to Basyal, they have requested the government to ensure discipline among its ministers. "Ministers are required to abide by rules, regulations and law of the land," Basyal said.

Slap to entire nation: Bhandari

Parsa CDO Durga Prasad Bhandari on Wednesday said the slap he received from a state minister was a slap to the entire nation.

Bhandari said though he got slapped for no apparent reason, he did not arrest Begum out of respect for the dignity of her ministerial position.

“I did not arrest her to maintain the dignity of the ministerial position,” Bhandari told myrepublica.com. “The state must take action if it wants the morale of the entire civil service not to suffer.”

Bhandari said he did not make any arrest though he was aware that a CDO has authority to arrest and file a case against the minister in such a case. “I stayed within bounds though the minister herself failed to do so.”

No remorse: Begum

Meanwhile, Begum has said she has no remorse for the incident. Talking to media persons on Wednesday, Begum said she had taught the CDO a lesson. “I have no remorse for what I did,” she said.

Begum has also started changing her reason for slapping the CDO. Though she earlier said that she slapped the CDO for sending an ´old´ vehicle to fetch her, on Wednesday she claimed that she slapped him for "not doing the people´s work".

CDO Society concerned

Meanwhile, the CDO Society, Nepal, has condemned the state minister´s assault on Bhandari. Issuing a press release on Wednesday, the society said all government employees were shocked by the incident.

The society has urged the government to take action against Begum. “All government employees will be compelled to retaliate against such ministers if the government doesn´t take action against her soon,” reads the statement.

´Disgraceful´ act

Minister for Culture Minendra Rijal on Wednesday termed state minister Karima Begum´s act to slap Parsa CDO ´disgraceful´.

Speaking at a press conference in Birgunj, Rijal said the act was ´wrong´ no matter what were the excuses behind it. He said that nothing could be more disgraceful act than to slap the government officer by those holding the respected position of ministers.

Rijal said the act was the reminiscent of the old tradition of beating the tillers with sticks by their landlords.