KATHMANDU, JUNE 13
A youth demanding citizenship attempted self-immolation at Maitighar Mandala today.
Niraj Kamat, 25, attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol on his body at Maitighar Mandala. Youths have been protesting against the Supreme Court interim order for the immediate distribution of citizenship certificates. They have been protesting against the court order for seven days.
"Niraj Kamat, 25, a resident of Katahari in Morang attempted self-immolation during the protest for citizenship at Maitighar Mandala. He was taken to National Trauma Centre for medical examination," Spokesperson of Nepal Police, Kathmandu Sitaram Rijal told THT. "The condition of the youth is stable. We were able to stop him immediately as the police were nearby," said Spokesperson Rijal.
"Don't worry. Our brother Niraj is fine. While he was trying to self-immolate by pouring petrol today, all friends stopped his attempt and hiss life was saved. He had to take such a step out of emotions due to the discriminatory intervention of the Supreme Court today. The case was adjourned for another hearing without any reason," Ishan Khan said in his Facebook post. "Although we have repeatedly appealed to the Supreme Court not to extend the time limit and cause further suffering, we are strongly opposed to court's action of postponing the hearing until July 18. I wish Niraj a speedy recovery," read his post.
Indrajeet Safi posted a video with Niraj. When Safi asked why Niraj attempted self-immolation, the latter started crying out loud.
"Don't panic, Niraj is fine. Justice has died in this country," said Safi in a video with Niraj.
Earlier, Niraj Kamat had said, "The law is clear. However, they are not letting this bill become effective due to their vested interests. We are suffering because of them. Even we don't want non-Nepalis to obtain citizenship.
His grandfather and father obtained naturalised citizenship in 1986 and 2007 respectively. However, Niraj, who tried to get citizenship after turning 18, has been agitating for citizenship for the past five years. The Supreme Court issued an interim order to stop the immediate implementation of the citizenship act after President Ramchandra Paudel certified the Citizenship Bill. Since then, the Citizenshipless Struggle Committee has been protesting at Maitighar Mandala.
According to Senior Advocate at Supreme Court Dinesh Tripathi, there are five vacant seats for judges and around 10 cases are in queue. Therefore, the citizenship case has not got priority. "Due to time constraint, the SC could not listen to the petitioners as there were not enough judges and time was limited," he said.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
