Maoist victims continue protest

Kathmandu, November 6:

The Association of Victims of Maoist Atrocities today said that their sit-in protest would continue till their demands were met.

Amidst a sparse presence of mediapersons, Kalyan Budhathoki, vice-president of the association, said that they were left with no options than to launch the protest to bring their problems to the attention of the seven-party alliance and the Maoists. The demands include compensation for the victims, representation in interim government, employment for the youths, education for their children and return of all the property.

“We are just asking for our civil rights which every citizen is entitled to,” he said adding, “We were made to flee. We want to go back.” He urged the government and the Maoists to create a favourable environment for the victims to return home.

He said the association resorted to fast-onto-death on the premises of major political parties’ offices from November 2 to draw their attention towards their problems. He even warned of Maoist-style insurgency “if need be”. “They must know that we have already over 200,000 victims in 73 districts, except Manang and Mustang. If it happens, it will be another misfortune for the country.”

The Maoist victims are staging hunger strikes on the premises of Nepali Congress (NC), NC-D and UML offices. The health condition of the agitators is deteriorating due to cold.