Ram Bahadur Thapa, the home minister of Nepal, threatened Nepal's beleaguered Prime Minister Oli’s rivals of locking them up in the city zoo if their protests against the government turned “non-vegetarian”- a term used by Dahal in his earlier remark, asking supporters, in a veiled manner, to resort to violence if required.  

The comment by the pugnacious home minister came while addressing a massive rally in Kathmandu in a bid to boost the strength and morale of the Oli faction of the ruling NCP. 

“If anyone tries any reckless effort to carry out the ‘non-vegetarian’ agitation, that person will be locked inside the zoo. Our law and constitution consider such ‘non-vegetarian’ agitation a crime,” Thapa was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.

A day earlier, the Dahal-Nepal faction enforced a general strike across the country. Cases of violence and arson were also reported on the day. Reacting to the violence during the general strike, Prime Minister Oli said his government would compensate those who had suffered losses to their properties. 

Authorities in Nepal had arrested around 80 people, including members of the standing committees of the Dahal faction. 

Interestingly, in the 90s, during the armed struggle against the monarchy in Nepal, Thapa used to be one of the most trusted lieutenants of Dahal. Soon after the dissolution of the lower house, Home Minister Thapa, despite several attempts by Dahal, sided with the Oli faction.