Kathmandu, September 25
The government has accused former king Gyanendra Shah of taking historical documents such as the Sughauli Treaty with him before leaving the palace.
The Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee of the National Assembly had formed a five-member sub-committee to look for historical documents of national importance in October 2018. The committee, however, had not been able to recover many historical documents.
After not finding the documents, the committee had asked Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali where the documents might be. The minister pointed towards Shah. The committee says that the original documents of 1816 Sugauli Treaty and the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship have gone missing.
“Minister Gyawali told us the documents aren’t with the government. He said it might have been taken by the former king,” informed a committee member.
The committee has also quizzed Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel and Law Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal regarding the documents. “Both have no idea where the original documents are,” the committee member said.
In the meantime, the committee has found that some documents of national importance are at a museum in London. After finding out, the committee has asked the government to write to England to return those documents. Along with that, the committee has also written to libraries in Kolkata, India to see if there are any documents. A source at the National Assembly also informed that the committee has also failed to find old maps and laws.
“It quite odd that we haven’t even found the maps of greater Nepal. There are no original documents. This is quite shocking,” a committee member told Onlinekhabar.
