Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Shashank Koirala has accused the government of inviting armed conflict by banning the Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN.
Organizing a press conference at Ghorahi of Dang on Wednesday, Koirala stated that it is the government's responsibility to bring the disenchanted side to dialogue and resolve the differences, and opined that the government went against that by banning Chand's party.
He added that the government holding dialogue only with CK Raut and not with Chand is wrong. He said the government should create an environment for dialogue to stop the country from going into conflict by learning a lesson from the decade-long Maoist conflict.
"Suppressing Chand's party by declaring it a terrorist group is not possible in the 21st century. It would be prudent to resolve the problem through dialogue," he advised.
The Cabinet meeting on March 12 had decided to ban activities of the Chand-led party after rise in destructive activities and extortion drive.
The government has arrested several leaders and cadres of the party across the country after the decision.
PM KP Sharma Oli, addressing the last meeting of the winter session of House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday, reiterated that the government will not back off from the ban on destructive activities of the party.
He urged the party cadres to hand over the weapons warning of action for failing to do so. "You may as well come and hand over the arms. The government knows how to take them back if you don't submit."
He said the government will take measures to control the party's activities if convincing does not work. "This is a government with two-third majority. It will definitely control terrorist, destructive and illegal activities. This government does not have a reverse gear."
