RAJBIRAJ, DECEMBER 17

A sit-in was staged in Saptari today expressing solidarity with the ongoing agitation of sugarcane farmers in the capital.

The strike that lasted for an hour this afternoon in front of the District Administration Office was carried out at the initiative of Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal-aligned Farmers’ Association.

Sugarcane farmer Binod Yadav said the peaceful agitation was meant to create pressure on the government to fulfil the farmers’ rightful demands and resolve the problems faced by sugarcane farmers.

“While the government must ensure that sugarcane farmers get their dues paid, it also must ensure timely availability of fertiliser and seeds and declare the support price for paddy. This is why we had to agitate,” Yadav said.

Farmer Dipendra Chaudhary warned they would be compelled to intensify their agitation across the country if their demands were not fulfilled at the earliest.

Meanwhile, JSPN-aligned youths also staged a demonstration in Saptari district headquarters Rajbiraj today in support of the agitation of sugarcane farmers and protesting the government’s anti-constitutional moves, such as its adoption of a controversial ordinance lately.

A rally of slogan-chanting youths that had started from the local Shiva temple had taken a round of the bazaar before concluding in a protest meeting. Youths, speaking at the meeting, had warned they would intensify their agitation if the agitating farmers’ demands were not fulfilled and the controversial ordinance was not withdrawn.