After FNCN staged a 40-day relay hunger strike at Ratnapark, the government had agreed to form a 16- member taskforce on February 2013. The taskforce headed by former constituent assembly (CA) member Binod Pahadi was formed to look into the concerns of the community. The term of the taskforce ended on July 13.
“The taskforce´s term has already ended but Pahadi and member secretary of the Peace Ministry Devraj Dhakal are in Korea visit along many other members of the taskforce,” he said. “The taskforce was formed to address the issues of burial ground and to study the state and condition of the Christian people. But no result oriented work was done until the taskforce´s term ended,” he added.
Also a joint coordinator of the taskforce himself, Gahatraj claimed that even genuine people could not push for the results as a large number of people were working for personal benefits. “The taskforce was to ensure that the 6-point demand signed by the government and our organization would be met. But due to the corrupt attitude of the committee members, no progress was made.”
Similarly, Isu Jung Karki, member of the taskforce, noted that lack of coordination and sincerity kept from drawing good results. “The problem of burial ground is as it is. We had asked for temporary solutions for now,” he said. “But nothing was done in that regard as well.”
According to Gahatraj, despite the fact that the history of Christianity in Nepal dates back to almost 400 years, they are still much ignored. “Until a few years ago, we did not face serious problems in burying our dead. We had been burying our dead in Shleshmantak Jungle of Pashupatinath area. Ironically, soon after Nepal became a secular country, Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) did not allow us to bury our dead ones in Shleshmantak jungle,” he said. “We want a new committee formed without delay to address our issues.”
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