Family seeks ‘living martyr’ status for him

Banepa, January 29:

The family of Mukesh Kayastha (15), who was injured during the Jana Andolan II, has asked the government to declare him a living martyr.

Mukesh was hit in the temple during a police firing at Teendobato in Banepa on April 9, 2006. He has not regained consciousness and his mother Meera has been taking care of him at home. Doctors had initially said Mukesh could regain consciousness in two years, but he has not regained it even in three years, Meera said.

“Despite the big political change in the country, the government has done nothing for him yet,” laments Meera. The family has been using simple therapy at home with a hope for his recovery. Of late, he has started slightly moving his left hand.

“The government should not forget the contribution of those injured and killed in the Jana

Andolan II,” Mukesh’s father Krishnaman said, adding, “My son could recover if he could be treated in a foreign country.”

Mukesh was treated in Bir Hospital for a year and Neurological Hospital in Bansbari for six months. He was then shifted to his home. The government had provided Rs 1.7 million for his treatment in Bir and Neuro hospitals. Mukesh was discharged from the Neuro Hospital on August 24, 2007. The government had decided to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 4,000 throughout his life. But the fund has not been released since July last year, Meera lamented. “I cannot go out of my home as I have to take care of him round the clock. “

Krishnaman says the government should arrange an attendant for his son. He said they would launch an agitation if his son was not declared a living martyr by April 9 this year.

“If the government cannot announce him a living martyr, it would be rather good if the government shot us dead,” an emotional Meera said.