Hunger Strike for Dalit Demands
Hunger Strike for Dalit Demands
14 August, 2007, KATHMANDU – Over one hundred Dalit activists and leaders are participating in a public hunger strike at the Maitighar Mandala - a busy intersection near The House of Parliament and the Nepal Bar Association . This comes a week after 60 Dalit demonstrators were arrested over the course of a three day protest at Singha Durbar, a restricted location less than two hundred meters from the current demonstration. The strike began at 9:00 am NST and will last 24 hours.
This event is part of a series of peaceful demonstrations designed to promote the 16-point demands of the Dalit community on the Nepali Coalition government. The most publicized of these demands is the guarantee of proportional representation of Dalits in Nepali government for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election. Currently the government has only assured 6% representation for Dalits, which should be upgraded to 20%, as Dalits comprise 20% of the total population.
Though the strike participants have affiliations with over 30 different Dalit advocacy organizations, none of these organizations claim to be sponsoring the demonstration. Suvash Darnal, Chairman of the Jagaran Media Center (JMC) explained that this unified effort goes beyond the agendas of individual institutions. He articulated that he is participating, not as a leader of the JMC, but as a “well informed Dalit citizen”.
As the elections approach and the demands of Nepal ’s Dalit remain unmet, Dalit leaders have increased the intensity and frequency of their demonstrations. Within the past four weeks there have been more than 10 large scale demonstrations among Dalits across Nepal . Binod Pahadi, senior leader of The Dalit Citizen Movement’s Coordinating Committee, stated that if the government does not recognize and fulfill the 16-point demands of the Dalit community, which have been clearly articulated in these demonstrations, future action may not remain as peaceful.
Report by:
Prakash Mohara
Jagaran Media Center
On bahalf of
Dalit Citizen Movement Coordinating Committee
‘The Dalit Civil Movement in a 24-hour relay hunger strike at Maitighar Mandala stating that the government ignored their 15-point demand, Tuesday. (Source: nepalnews.com, Aug 14 07)
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