KATHMANDU, July 9: Ganga Maya Adhikari of Fujel, Gorkha, who is on the 41st day of her fast-unto-death Monday, has refused to end the hunger strike even after the surrender of Chhabilal Paudel, one of the prime accused in the killing of her son.
Paudel surrendered to the authorities on Sunday.Rajib Gautam, secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ram Krishna Subedi, officiating secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, the chief district officer of Kathmandu and human rights activist Subodh Pyakurel visited Ganga Maya at Bir Hospital on Monday. They urged her to end her hunger strike, pointing out that her major demand has now been fulfilled.
“We called on her to repose faith in the courts and the law and withdraw her strike,” said Secretary Gautam. “She demanded fulfilment of her demands immediately, but legal procedures take time,” he said, claiming that the government would honor its commitment to fulfill her demands.
However, Ganga Maya rejected the government proposal. She asked about the other convicts and the implementation of the Supreme Court decision on ensuring justice, human rights activist Charan Prasai told Republica on the phone from Bir Hospital.
Save Ganga Maya' activists arrested
She prefers death to injustice and will not surrender to verbal assurances, as court convict Balkrishna Dhungel was later given an amnesty by the government.
– Charan Prasai,
human rights activist
“She has demanded the creation of an environment for ensuring justice for her,” he added. “She prefers death to injustice and will not surrender to the government’s verbal assurances, as murder convict Balkrishna Dhungel was later given an amnesty by the government.”
Ganga Maya’s son was killed by the Maoists during their armed insurgency and her husband died in the course of a hunger strike in protest at Bir Hospital. His body is being kept at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital as the family has refused to take it for performing last rites. Ganga Maya has been hospitalized at Bir after she resumed the hunger strike.
According to the hospital authorities, she is being treated at the ICU. Her condition is critical and anything can happen now, said Dr Menon Gorkhali of Bir.
Ganga Maya started her hunger strike at Bir Hospital on May 29, demanding punishment for those who killed her son Krishna Prasad. She asked the government to arrest Chhabilal Paudel, his son Parshuram Paudel, nephew Bhimsen Paudel, Ram Prasad Adhikari and Januka Paudel for murdering her son during the Maoist armed insurgency.
This is the third hunger strike staged by her. Ganga Maya and her husband Nanda Prasad had first launched their fast-unto-death in January 2013.
The couple, who began their second fast-unto-death the following month, ended it on the 47th day following an agreement with the government. The agreement included action on the First Information Report against some suspects, including Parshuram Paudel. But the arrested suspects were later released.
Ganga Maya’s husband died on September 22, 2014 at Bir on the 329th day of his hunger strike . She then continued the hunger strike alone for a total of 360 days until the government inked a five-point agreement with her in October 2015.
