Indefinite bandh in Doti, Dang

Dang/Dhangadi, January 17

The government’s declaration of provisional headquarters for all seven provinces has given fresh impetus to the agitation in Doti and Dang, where an indefinite general strike has been called from today.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers today had decided to recognise Biratnagar, Janakpur, Hetauda, Pokhara, Rupandehi, Surkhet and Kailali as temporary provincial headquarters for provinces 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively.

In Dang, the locals have called on the government to rectify its decision recognising Rupandehi as the provisional provincial headquarters. “Dang will remain shut indefinitely from tomorrow until the government rolls back on its ‘conspiratory’ decision,” declared Sabin Priyasan, member secretary of the agitating Provincial Headquarters Concern Committee, adding that every facility  including government offices will remain closed. “How could the government look past the place where the high court is located?” Priyasan asked, calling the government to rectify its decision. While vehicles stayed off the road, marketplaces in Ghorahi, Tulsipur, Lamahi, Bhalubang, Gadhawa, Narayanpur and Bijauri among other places remained shut today.

In Doti’s Dipayal too, tension rose with the government fixing provisional headquarters. Here too, a struggle coordination committee that has been agitating seeking Dipayal as the provincial headquarters for Province 7 has called an indefinite shutdown across the district from today. Earlier, a daylong bandh was called across the district for today over the same demand. According to the agitation coordination committee coordinator Narendra Khadka, a meeting this evening decided to enforce an indefinite strike in the wake of the government decision to declare Kailali as the provincial headquarters. “Everything, from vehicles, to government and non government offices, businesses and factories will be closed during the bandh,” he said.

Earlier, the district had been shut for five days since January 3. “As the government has done injustice by declaring some other place as the provincial headquarters, we are ready to go to any extent against this injustice,” said agitation coordination committee member Dipak Khadka, adding they had earlier taken a decision that those who had got their citizenship certificates from the district administration would return the certificates to the government through the administration unless Dipayal was made the provincial headquarters. Meanwhile, even political parties have expressed solidarity with the agitation.