SUNSARI: Home Minister Sudan Gurung has said that the government is taking the recent conflict and clashes in Sunsari very seriously.
After visiting the district and meeting the injured as well as the families of the deceased, Gurung said the government is committed to ensuring citizens’ security and justice.
The Home Minister said people have high expectations from the current government and that their demands are legitimate.

“There was a complaint that repeated demands in the past were not addressed and investigations were not impartial. That will not happen this time. We will not disappoint the citizens who sent us here through their votes,” he said.

Responding to questions raised by local residents about mosques and madrasas allegedly being built with large investments without registration and without government oversight, Gurung said, “It has been only three months since we came to government. We cannot carry the entire burden of what happened in the past or who failed to monitor it. But the government will pay attention to such issues from now on.”

Asked why he arrived five days after the incident, the minister said security management had required some time.
“It is natural for people to expect the Home Minister to reach the affected area immediately. But I also had the responsibility to ensure that the situation did not deteriorate in other parts of the country. As a result of those preparations, we were able to keep the situation under control,” he said.

Gurung also acknowledged that security agencies have been facing shortages of resources and budget. He noted that the new budget came into effect only from July 16 (Shrawan 1) and said the government would now work to further strengthen the security apparatus.

He added that the government has already begun working on plans to make security agencies more accountable and to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.