Solution to Ganga Maya Adhikari's concern anytime soon?

KATHMANDU: While health condition of Ganga Maya Adhikari from Phujel in Gorkha district, who has been staging a fast-unto-death at the Bir Hospital demanding actions against her teenage son's killers, is deteriorating, an activist supporting her said there might be an agreeable solution to her concern soon.

Human rights activist Charan Prasai said Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was of late ready to address her demand that suspects of her teenage son Krishna Prasad's murder be submitted to the court.

Krishna Prasad was murdered in June 2004 in Chitwan district apparently by the then Maoist combatants and the Maoist party, led by PM Dahal, had been arguing that all cases from the insurgency period including the Krishna Prasad murder case should not be dealt by any regular court, but by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Ganga Maya, on the other hand, has been demanding that the Chitwan District Court, where the case is sub-judice, be allowed to finalise it.

"We had a meeting with Prachanda (PM Dahal) on Friday morning," Prasai told THT Online over phone, "He said he was serious toward Ganga Maya's demand and said the party could make a sacrifice if that would give a positive message."

Prasai said PM Dahal told him and activists Kapil Shrestha and Kanak Mani Dixit, who had reached Baluwatar to urge the PM to take concrete initiatives to save Ganga Maya's life, that the Maoist party was ready to give in to Ganga Maya's demand that the regular court handle the case if the move would spread a positive message about implementation of transitional justice in the nation.

As Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha himself had taken initiatives for the meeting, there is some hope that a solution could be found soon, according to Prasai.

The activists during the meeting had warned the Prime Minister that the ongoing transitional justice process of Nepal could not win trust from conflict victims as well as international human rights bodies if anything happened to Ganga Maya.

"Conflict victims largely do not believe the transitional justice process, currently" Prasai said the activists told the Prime Minister, "If you want to make it credible enough, addressing Ganga Maya's concern can be a right starting point."

Likewise, Prasai said he along with some laywers had a meeting with Attorney General Raman Kumar Shrestha over the same issue on Saturday and Shrestha was also positive about settling the case following the international norms and values.

"Finally, after years," Prasai said, "It seems we have found a meeting point now."

Health deteriorating

Meanwhile, the health condition of Adhikari, currently staging a fast-unto-death at the Bir Hospital, is deteriorating.

"It is critical for last few days," Prasai, who had met Adhikari just today, said, "The blood circulation is not smooth and she says it is so painful."

Her condition was at the worst point so far on Saturday and doctors had already lost hope, according to Prasai.

"She was unconscious throughout the day and was unable to speak," he said, "But, meeting today, I found that her condition has been improved, but not satisfactory at all."

The woman had begun her strike earlier this month. She had announced not to take even saline solution during the strike.

"In fact, she did not (take the solution) for the first seven to eight days," he said, adding that she agreed for the same later, following persistent requests from the attending doctors.

She was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit on the sixth day of her strike.

"But we cannot say anything about how her life will go further," he said, "She also says the same."

Adhikari and her husband, Nanda Prasad, had first begun their hunger strike in front of the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar in January 2013. They launched their second hunger strike the following month and ended it on the 47th day after an agreement with the government, which included action on the First Information Report against some suspects, including Parshuram Paudel. But, they were released later.

Nanda Prasad had died on September 22, 2014 after 329 days of fast-unto-death at the Bir Hospital. Even after losing her husband, Ganga Maya had continued her hunger strike for a total of 360 days until the government signed a five-point deal with her in October 2015.

Nanda Prasad’s body is still at the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The Adhikari family has been refusing to receive the body and give him a funeral until they get justice.

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