Kathmandu, August 1:

Leader of the Tharuhat United Struggle Committee Kishor Biswas today announced fresh protests against Vice-President Paramananda Jha’s act of taking the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi.

The committee, which comprises eight organisations of the Tharus, said it would organise a torch rally on Sunday and Tharuhat bandh on Monday.

“The struggle against the insult upon mother tongue of Nepal has not ended. We want to remind leaders of political parties that we are still concerned about our mother language and ethnic identity,” he said at a press conference today.

He said that since there are numerous ethnic groups in the Tarai, a particular language cannot be regarded as the common language of these groups.

“At a time when thousands of people hit the streets, students’ unions have retreated and political parties have kept mum. Even Prachanda has kept mum. This is strange,” he said.

Biswas said, “The Vice-President should be sacked immediately for taking the oath of office against the spirit of the interim constitution.”