Lalitpur, April 12:

People from various indigenous communities today took part in a rally in Lalitpur at the call of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), defying prohibitory orders of the government and expressing solidarity with the ongoing movement for democracy.

The rally began from Nayabato at Dhobighat. Participants scuffled with police briefly after the police tried to block the protest march. However, the rally proceeded without any interruption after the initial hiccup.

The rally was followed by a mass meeting. Addressing the meet, NEFIN general secretary Dr Om Gurung said employees of the Janajati Empowerment Project (JEP) would provide a day’s salary to the First Aid Treatment Fund set up for the treatment of protesters injured during pro-democracy demonstrations.

Finance secretary of the federation, Pasang Sherpa claimed that autocracy had already been defeated.

Representatives of various organisations of the indigenous communities taking part in the rally expressed solidarity with the movement and vowed to continue the agitation until total democracy is established in the country.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous Nationalities Peace Commission Nepal appealed to the government to declare a ceasefire and begin talks with the political parties to find a way out of the current crisis plaguing the country.

President of the commission, Parshuram Tamang condemned the government’s bid to suppress peaceful demonstrations. He added that such suppressions would only add fuel to the protests.

In a separate press statement, eight different organisations of indigenous communities expressed solidarity with the ongoing seven-party movement for democracy.