The Nepal government's decision to declare a public holiday on November 2 for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's scheduled visit to Nepal quickly came under fire as twitterati wasted no time in critiquing the move.
A Cabinet meeting yesterday decided to declare November 2 a public holiday and as soon as the decision was announced publicly, people took to social media and accused the government of becoming submissive to India, reports the Kathmandu Post.
"Nepal government has no right to humiliate the whole nation by these gimmicks," wrote @SumanKhadka14 on Twitter.
Another @Drsudhamshu tweeted: "Holiday should be declared not only during arrival but also during departure. Or else, we will be forced to take stringent steps!"
Following social media criticism, the government later went on defensive and said the decision was taken in view of public inconvenience as "during such a high profile visit, it would be difficult for the people to commute".
It further said a public holiday will also be announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, which is yet to be conformed, keeping in mind possible traffic chaos in the city,
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In a press statement, the government has also said that it took the decision to declare November 2 a public holiday "as per the suggestion from the general public".
Questioning the decision, former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai (@brb1954) tweeted: "Foreign guests must be accorded due respect. But will our true friends be happy if we leave all our work aside/ make the country even poorer/ put out a begging bowl? Let's think!"
President Mukherjee's visit next month will be the first by an Indian president in 18 years.
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