The main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, has demanded clarification from Prime Minister Balendra Shah regarding the death of Ganesh Nepali, who set himself on fire in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu, on Thursday.

The Congress stated that while Prime Minister Shah used to question the government when he was in opposition, he has remained silent after assuming leadership of the government. In Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, Congress Chief Whip Basana Thapa urged the Prime Minister to be accountable.

“I want to ask you in your own words, Prime Minister: Has the state really become so helpless and unsuccessful that citizens are compelled to set themselves on fire just to make their pain heard? If not, then why do such incidents keep recurring? The time has come to take off the dark glasses,” Thapa said.

In Magh 2079, when Prem Acharya self-immolated in Baneshwar, then Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Balendra Shah, had protested against the government. Shah had sharply criticized the then government through social media.

The Congress also reminded the Prime Minister of what he had written about that incident. Thapa said, “Why your silence regarding yesterday’s incident (the death of Ganesh Nepali)? When in opposition, you used to raise tough questions about the state’s failures, but now, as the leader of the government, why are you avoiding answering those same questions?”

Thapa also criticized the behavior of security personnel towards Nepali, who set himself on fire after the Metropolitan Police put a wheel lock on his motorcycle. “Even when a young man set himself on fire due to state terror, the state remained a mere spectator. His body was engulfed in flames, yet instead of sending an ambulance, the state dragged him away like a criminal using the police. I want to ask the government: was this a rescue or an arrest?” she said.