Kathmandu, August 11:

Maoist victims today staged a rally to pressure the government to meet their demands. Some 400 Maoists victims from different parts of the country participated in the rally taken out from Dharmashala in Gaushala. The rally converged in Gaushala after passing through New Baneshwor and Old Baneshwor.

“The security personnel rained batons on rallyists in New Baneshwor yesterday, though we had no plan of passing through the prohibited area near the International Convention Centre,” Bhoj Raj Timilsina, president of National Struggle Committee of Maoist Victims, said. At least 40 people were seriously hurt in yesterday’s incident, Timilsina added. “Among the injured, Maoist victim Ganesh Adhikari from Nuwakot had his hand fractured. The injured are undergoing treatment in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital,” Timilsina added.

He accused the security men of misbehaving with women during the scuffle. Nanda Prasad Kandel, a Maoist victim from Baglung, pointed that the Maoists were yet to return property that they had seized during the decade-long insurgency.

“Though the Maoists signed the peace agreement and pledged to return the seized property to the rightful owners, they have not lived up to their pledge,” Kandel added.

Kandel said the Young Communist League cadres in his village refused to hand over his property, saying they had not received orders to return the property.