Nepal's ex-PM Deuba returns after months abroad for treatment, receives grand welcome

Kathmandu: Former Nepalese Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was beaten during the Gen-Z protests last September, returned to Kathmandu on Thursday after nearly six months abroad for medical treatment, receiving a grand welcome from party leaders and cadres.Deuba, 80, had flown to Singapore on February 25 along with his wife and former minister Arzu Rana Deuba for medical treatment. He returned to Nepal alone on Thursday. On his arrival, Deuba was welcomed at the airport with musical bands and cultural pageants. Party cadres from across the country, who had arrived in Kathmandu to attend the national gathering of the non-establishment faction of the Nepali Congress, also gathered at the airport to welcome him.Speaking to ANI while waiting for Deuba at Tribhuvan International Airport, senior Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi said the former Prime Minister had gone abroad for treatment after he and his wife were injured during the protests."He had gone to Singapore for his treatment. As we all know, in the last incident, he was brutally beaten and his wife and he were injured, with injuries to their heads, and today he is coming back to Kathmandu. Thousands and thousands of Nepali Congress friends are here to welcome him; he will go home, and tomorrow we are convening the national convention of the Nepali Congress, where he will be the chief guest and address our party," Nidhi said.Deuba was beaten by a mob that stormed his residence during the Gen-Z protest on September 9 last year. He and Arzu Rana Deuba were seriously injured and subsequently left the country for medical treatment.The couple were later spotted in Hong Kong. They have not publicly disclosed details of their movements or treatment, stating at different times that they were abroad for medical care. They have also not specified the ailments for which they were receiving treatment.Deuba's return coincides with the Nepali Congress non-establishment faction's national gathering, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu from August 14 to 16. He is scheduled to address the gathering on Friday.His return and the national gathering come amid an ongoing internal dispute within the Nepali Congress, particularly over party leadership and organisational restructuring.Meen Bahadur Bishwakarma, Chief of the Information, Communication and Publicity Department of the Nepali Congress Central Committee, said Deuba's political experience could help bring different political forces together."Since he has worked a lot in Nepali politics, being a supreme leader, President of the Nepali Congress and five-time Prime Minister and all the time he runs the government, he has always managed the political parties. He became the common leader of all political parties too. That's why he will be the guardian or the common leader of all political parties so that the change of political scenario of Nepal may change in a smooth way so that the Nepali Congress also can be united and other parties also will be coordinated," Bishwakarma told ANI.He also said Deuba was expected to remain in Nepal for a long period."There is no schedule to return back to foreign countries; he will stay a long time and meet all the political leaders and others as well. I don't know about him leaving Nepal, but he will stay long, I think," he added.Deuba's arrival also comes amid a legal battle over the leadership of the Nepali Congress that has been reopened before the Supreme Court.On April 17, the court had recognised the Gagan Thapa faction as the official Nepali Congress, months after Thapa ousted Deuba through a special general convention. In the first week of August, the Supreme Court allowed a review petition, sending the case back for a fresh hearing before a three-justice bench. The outcome of the new hearing will determine the party's official status.Nidhi described the ongoing developments within the party as a positive sign for Nepal's democratic process."Very good sign is developing in Nepal; so democratic society and democratic happenings are going on through the Nepali Congress convention the party will be strengthened, united and a democratic force under the leadership of the Nepali Congress party, which will re-emerge in vital strength," Nidhi, also a former Home Minister, told ANI.The former Prime Minister is also being investigated in a money-laundering case that was initiated before he and his wife left Nepal. The investigation began in November last year.The Department of Money Laundering Investigation subsequently froze movable and immovable assets registered in the names of the couple, their son Jaybir Singh Deuba and some relatives. The freeze order remains in place.The government under Prime Minister Balendra Shah had issued arrest warrants against the couple at the request of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.The Shah government had also requested an Interpol Red Notice, but the global police network declined the request. The Supreme Court subsequently annulled the arrest warrant on May 25.Nidhi rejected the allegations against Deuba, saying the matter would be resolved through the legal process."These are all revengeful acts, false and fake charges. All (the issues) will be cleared through the due process of investigation," Nidhi said.After landing in Kathmandu, Deuba called for national and party unity following his return after nearly six months abroad for medical treatment.In a statement issued on Thursday, Deuba said he had returned "not to gain power but to strengthen national unity."He called for healing the wounds caused by past divisions and hostility and choosing reconciliation over retaliation.Deuba said the Nepali Congress had embraced the change demanded by the younger generation.Referring to the Gen-Z movement in September last year, he said he had supported addressing its legitimate demands. However, he said change should not mean portraying the struggles, sacrifices and contributions of previous generations as failures."Change does not mean that the past was bad or that the sacrifices, struggles and contributions of our generation were wrong," Deuba said.He said the responsibility of the current government was to respond to the public desire for change, while warning that no one could stand above the people in a democracy if a government formed through a fresh public mandate failed to respect the people's vote.He also said the Nepali Congress was ready to support the process of managing change.Deuba stressed the need to immediately address disagreements and frustration within the Nepali Congress. He said that regardless of whether the party was numerically large or small in Parliament, the Nepali Congress had led major political changes in the country since 2007 BS."The Nepali Congress must move forward not on the basis of anyone's ego, but by keeping the supreme interests of the people at the centre," he said.Deuba said the younger generation should be given greater opportunities in leadership but rejected the narrative that portrays the older and experienced generation as inherently problematic. He said sharing his long political experience with the younger generation was his responsibility.He said the Constitution was promulgated through the long struggle and sacrifices of Nepalis and that its protection and necessary amendments should be pursued through national consensus.He called on the Nepali Congress to remain united and work with other political parties through consensus and cooperation to strengthen nationalism and democracy.Deuba also said that throughout his political career, he had placed the nation, democracy, citizens, the Constitution and the law above everything else."My life is an open book," he said. "As long as I live, I will continue to work in accordance with the nation, national interest, democracy, the best interests of the country and its people, the Constitution, law, ethics, values and principles."Deuba said he had returned not as a leader seeking power but as a lifelong citizen of the country, committed to serving with humility, dedication and love.He said Nepal again needed broad-based national unity among all political forces.Deuba's call for unity comes amid an intensifying internal dispute within the Nepali Congress, with rival factions preparing for a national gathering and debating the party's future leadership and direction.