Janakpurdham, Sept 2

A group of Federal Socialist Forum cadres and leaders led by Province 2 Minister of Internal Affairs and Law Gyanendra Kumar Yadav staged a sit-in in front of Nepal Rastra Bank for defying provincial government’s public holiday notice to mark Krishna Janmashtami today in Janakpur. The sit-in continued from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

A Cabinet meeting of the province had decided on Thursday to give public holiday today to mark Krishna Janmashtami. The public holiday notice was circulated to all offices under the federal government. However, Nepal Rastra Bank, DAO and District Court, Dhanusha, remained open.

Minister Yadav said they were forced to stage a sit-in, as government offices under the federal government had defied their public holiday notice.

Dhanusha CDO Prem Lal Lamichhane reached the site and urged the minister not to stage sit-in. The CDO said 12 cadres of the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal were freed after the minister sought their release. Lamichhane said he told the minister to consult the federal government regarding other issues.

FSF-N cadres, meanwhile, were arrested while they were enforcing office closure.

Earlier, Minister Yadav padlocked the office of Janakpur-based Nepal Rastra Bank for defying public holiday notice of the provincial government.

Yadav said the new provisions and laws enacted a fortnight ago gave provincial and federal governments right to announce public holidays. He threatened to take action against office chiefs for defying the law.

According to Lamichhane, the number of service seekers at offices under the federal government was minimal. He said DAO was opened to carry out works related to security, peace and disaster management.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Students’ Forum, a sister wing of the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal, padlocked four offices for defying public holiday in Lahan, Siraha, today. Offices of transport management, Nepal Bank Limited, inland revenue and Nepal Electricity Authority were padlocked by students.