KATHMANDU, Aug 3: The ‘Enough is Enough’ is campaigner 'Iih', who has been staging Satyagraha (hunger strike) for the last 17 days, has been hospitalized after his health condition deteriorated.
Iih was taken to HAMS Hospital at 10 am Monday after his health started deteriorating. “He has serious complications in his kidney, heart and blood pressure levels, “said Pukar Bam, one of the fellow campaigners. Iih has taken a pledge to continue his strike even in the hospital.
Social activist ‘Iih’ starts hunger strike with 11 demands
Iih has been staging a hunger strike for the second time demanding an effective government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, Iih has urged the government to ensure 100% PCR test for COVID-19 suspects.
Iih had initiated a hunger strike for the same demands earlier last month too. 'Iih' and another campaigner, Pukar Bam had broken their hunger strike after 12 days following a 12-point agreement with the government.
Prime Minister K P Oli himself had visited both Iih and Bam at the hospital to express concerns over the demands after they started staging hunger strikes on July 2. The campaigners again started the hunger strike on July 22 alleging that the government had failed to implement the agreement reached with them.
The 12-point agreement mentioned that the government would discontinue the use of rapid diagnostic tests and increase polymerase chain reaction tests to identify COVID-19 infected patients, expand the scope of such tests to include healthcare and frontline workers, migrant returnees as well as contacts of people who have tested positive for the virus and publicize its spending on the pandemic in transparent manner.
