Army was planning coup, say media

KATHMANDU: At a time when political parties are raising concerns about the clarification issue of the Chief of the Army Staff, reports say a coup was being planned by the top Generals of the Nepal Army.
Nepal’s national dailies Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post on Friday carried reports that said the Army Chief, General Rookmangud Katawal, was told by his colleagues to solve the problem by staging a soft coup. The reports are based on a recent meeting of the Generals.
“This is how the plan was,” The Kathmandu Post writes, “Maoist leaders, Ministers and other selected individuals would be arrested. Former king would be put in Nagarjun Palace. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and a number of other leaders would be cut off from the public.” However, there was no plan of military coup but only a soft coup which would have taken place on Wednesday morning. The reports concluded that it was fear of this that put the Maoists on the back foot.
The Defence Ministry had asked General Katawal to submit a clarification on three issues. There have been talks that the Maoists wanted to promote Lieutenant-General Kul Bahadur Khadka, who is close to their party, to the post of Chief of Army Staff ousting General Katawal, and the first step was to ask for clarifications.
“The plan was to get rid of Katawal by any means. Even by killing or abducting him, or putting him under house arrest,” said the paper.
As per the report, General Katwal had received enough support from India. “….He had received strong backing from India and he felt emboldened. For our part, we gave him a lot of moral support,” it quoted a senior officer. “We told him ‘don’t worry. We will get the support. We proposed a coup. We had no time to lose. Losing time meant the Maoists would get Katawal.” According to Kantipur, Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood’s meeting with President Ram Baran Yadav made the Maoists step back from ousting General Katawal. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday called on the political parties to work together. Speaking at a function organised to mark the third Loktantra Diwas, he expressed concern whether “the misunderstandings” seen in the current political scene would “invite some kind of conflict” in the future.