And though the protestors are unhappy with the indifference shown by the government in dealing with the issues, they are not ready yet to resume their protests. [break]
“We had decided to suspend the campaign for 15 days following Regmi´s repetitive assurances that certain things would definitely be addressed. But the government has not done even minor things it could easily like making public the report related to missing Chhorimaiya Maharjan,” said a campaigner Manoj Khadka.
“However, we are not quite prepared to resume the protest. And it is basically because the campaign is divided over whether to take up only the issues of violence against women or fight for impunity and justice as well,” he added.
The campaign, which had begun on December 28 and continued for 106 days, initially raised voices against violence against women but later expanded focus to take up the issues of impunity. The protesters would gather in front of Prime Minister´s residence in Baluwatar from 9 am to 11 am and demand justice.
According to Khadka, though the campaign seemed to have yielded some results, those were not due to sincere efforts made by the government. “It is true that some progress were made in the cases of Sita Rai, Saraswati Subedi, Siba Hasmi following the pressure created by the campaign. But it is sad to know that the government officials never take it as their duty to deliver justice but act only when under pressure.”
Another campaigner Jagannath Lamichhane said that they need some more time to decide the future of the campaign.
“This is a people´s movement and it does not have a coordinator or a leader. So we cannot say whether the campaign would resume or not. As for now, there is no sign of this,” he said.
Meanwhile, former parliamentarian Sapana Malla Pradhan, who is a member of the high level committee formed by the then government on the second day of the campaign, informed that the committee is set to submit its final report to the government on Sunday.
“It is a great thing to have a person leading the government who is both the head of the executive and the judiciary. We are going to submit our report tomorrow and we will see a sea change in the system if the recommendations are followed,” she said.
Another member of the committee and spokesperson of the national women commission Monha Ansari added that the report has focused on policy change. “The report we had submitted earlier was about specific cases of violence against women. This time, it is all related to policy change so the justice is delivered effectively.”
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