Kathmandu, July 2 -- The National Human Rights Commission has initiated an inquiry into reports that the Rastriya Swatantra Party enrolled minors as party members. In a letter to the party, the constitutional human rights watchdog has asked it to clarify whether it inducted children below the age of 18 as party members.

In the party's organisational report presented during the closed-door session of its first general convention on June 23, then General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti said that 35,257 of the party's 523,465 members were under the age of 18. The report drew strong criticism from various rights organisations.

The commission then took up the matter. In a statement, the commission's assistant spokesperson, Shyam Babu Kafle, sai...