 "Nepal: When Sushila Karki's husband hijacked plane carrying Indian actor Mala Sinha")
Sushila Karki, former chief justice of Nepal, is the frontrunner to become the Himalayan nation’s interim prime minister. This comes after intense protests led by youth turned deadly, leading to the resignation of KP Sharma Oli.
As Karki gains the spotlight, her career in the judiciary and personal life have come into focus. She is married to Durga Prasad Subedi, a former youth leader of the Nepali Congress, whom she met while studying at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi. What stands out is that Subedi was involved in Nepal’s first plane hijacking 52 years ago.
Popular Bollywood actor Mala Sinha, who starred in movies like Pyaasa and Geet, was on board this hijacked flight.
We take a look at what happened.
Nepal’s first plane hijacking
A plane en route from Nepal’s Biratnagar to Kathmandu was hijacked on June 10, 1973.
Three members of the Nepali Congress took over the Canadian-made 19-seater Twin Otter aircraft. Among the passengers were actor couple CP Lohani of
Nepal and India’s Mala Sinha.
Subedi, along with Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai, were involved in the hijacking of the Royal Nepal Airlines, which was masterminded by Girija Prasad Koirala, who later went on to become Nepal’s prime minister.
Subedi, who was recently released from jail at the time, was one of Koirala’s close aides.
The hijacking was carried out to raise funds for an “armed struggle” against the monarchy under King Mahendra.
The plane was carrying Rs 30 lakh of government money. After a brief struggle with the crew, the hijackers forced the pilot to land on a grassy strip in Forbesganj, Bihar. Five other conspirators were waiting there. Sushil Koirala, who also went on to head Nepal as the PM, was at Forbesganj and was actively involved in the seige.
The group removed three boxes of cash from the plane, which flew again with the remaining passengers.
The money was transported by road to Darjeeling in West Bengal.
Within a year, all members of the group, except Dhungel, were arrested by the authorities in India.
Subedi and others were jailed for two years. They were released during the Emergency in 1975.
Will Sushila Karki be Nepal’s temporary PM?
Sushila Karki’s name has been backed by several Gen Z protesters leading the demonstration against corruption, nepotism and a lack of economic opportunities in Nepal. Her strong stance against corruption and judicial reforms has made her a favourable candidate for them to temporarily head Nepal.
A source told Reuters on Friday (September 12) that Karki is likely to be the interim PM. “Sushila Karki will be appointed interim prime minister,” a constitutional expert consulted by Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel and Army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, said to the news agency.
“They (Gen Z) want her. This will happen today,” the source added.
However, Nepal’s Constitution bars retired justices from holding political or constitutional office, which could create obstacles for Karki.
The protesters remain divided over the candidate to temporarily lead the country.
Another group within the Gen Z movement has proposed the name of Kulman Ghising, the former Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority. He is widely credited with bringing an end to Nepal’s years-long power outage crisis.
Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, who is popular among Gen Z, has supported dissolving Parliament, a major demand of the protesters. He has also endorsed Karki’s interim leadership.
The Himalayan nation is facing a political crisis after Gen Z demonstrators took to the streets against corruption, with the protests sparked by a social media ban.
At least 19 people were killed when police opened fire on protesters on Tuesday, forcing Oli to resign. The death toll has since increased to 34 and more than 1,300 were injured, Nepal’s health ministry has said.
With inputs from agencies
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