Nepal, Oct. 6 -- ruling parties are reluctant to take responsibility for the tragic deaths of 19 youths on the first day of the Gen Z protests on September 8 last year. Meanwhile, the incumbent Rastriya Swatantra Party appears to have little interest in acknowledging that acts of killing, arson, looting and vandalism took place on September 9 and continued into the following day.

As a result, the government has been making every effort to release most of those arrested in connection with the criminal acts during the protests, except those accused of murder. Home Minister Sudan Gurung personally asked the committee formed to study the charges against those arrested during the Gen Z movement, led by former High Court judge Baburam Regmi, t...