Protests continue, man dies in Saptari firing

SAPTARI, Aug 18 : The local administration in Saptari district clamped a curfew in Bhardaha VDC from 4 pm on Tuesday till 5 am, Wednesday after a man was killed in police firing.

Rajiv Raut, a 25-year-old local farmer, was killed while four others agitating against the draft constitution sustained injuries during a clash between police and demonstrators, according to the district police office. Surendra Mandal, Devnarayan Bishwash, Dipak Sah and Gopalraj

Mandal, who were injured, have been rushed to Biratnagar for treatment.

Although Raut was killed at around 8:30 am, Chief District Officer (CDO) Birendra Yadav formally confirmed the death at around 3 pm. CDO Yadav informed a press meet organized at district headquarters Rajbiraj that the district administration has clamped a curfew in the Bhardaha area from 4 pm Tuesday till 5 am, Wednesday.

Reports about the incident by eyewitnesses, demonstrators, police and the local administration vary somewhat. Police spokesperson DSP Narayan Prasad Chimariya claimed that police opened fire when some 600-700 locals led by the United Madhesi Front tried to vandalize the area police office and set it ablaze. Raut was killed when police opened fire in self-defense, Chimariya asserted.

CDO Yadav for his part said, “When the agitators entered the area police office and started to vandalize the communications sets, police had to open fire to bring the situation under control.”

Police had resorted to several rounds of firing in the air and tear gas shells, according to District Police Office, Saptari.

Meanwhile, agitators and eyewitnesses alleged that the police opened fire indiscriminately when the agitators took to the streets. They were continuing their protests from the previous day when they clashed with police trying to escort 250 vehicles stranded on the East-West Highway.

Meanwhile, human rights activists have condemned the incident. They have urged both the agitators and police to exercise patience. “The four injured were rushed for treatment only after we visited the site,” said Shambunanda Chaudhary, a human rights activist.
Following Raut’s death, local demonstrators vandalized the police office and set materials there ablaze. The protests intensified at district headquarters also.

Locals defy banda in Jajarkot
Bowing to local pressure, the groups that had imposed district-wide shutdown demanding an undivided Mid-West province with Surkhet as its capital, called off their indefinite strike on Tuesday.

Continuous shutdown for the last nine days had thrown normal life out of gear in Jajarkot district.
Life in the district has returned to normalcy as soon as the strike was called off, said DSP Dan Bahadur Malla, chief of the District Police Office, Jajarkot.

Locals had been exerting pressure on the agitating groups to call off strike as continuous shutdown had already started creating shortage of daily necessities such as salt, oil, lentils, rice and petrol, among other things. As agitators had turned a deaf ear to the request of locals, the latter finally decided to defy the strike, said Malla.

Protesters declare Mid-West Province
Protestors in Surkhet district have put up signboards at various places of Mangalgadi Chowk, the main gateway to Birendra Nagar Bazaar, declaring mid-west region as Mid-West Province, on Tuesday.

Protesters led by the Joint Citizens Struggle Committee have been demanding an undivided Mid-West province with Surkhet as its capital.
“We have put up signboards declaring mid-west region as mid-west province as the four major political parties ignored our demand,” said Devendra BC, coordinator of the committee. “We are also preparing to put up signboards at various government offices on Wednesday. If our demands are not met within three days, we’ll start running the provincial government ourselves.”

Surkhet locals have taken to the streets since the last ten days to press their demands. Three people have already lost their lives in the protests.
At a function held in the district on Tuesday, Mukunda Shyam Giri, central member of Rastriya Prachatantra Party (RPP) Nepal, urged the government to respect the feelings of locals.

UML leader Kul Mani Devkota, RPP chairman Kavi Ram Puri, CPN-Maoist central committee member Chakra Mani Sharma, among others, also presented their views at the function.

Protests continue in Tarai districts
The United Madhesi Front comprising four Madhes-based-parties -- Sadbhavana Party, Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, Tarai-Madhes Sadbhavana Party and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal -- has been staging protests across Tarai districts from Jhapa to Parsa for the last three days against the proposed provincial boundaries.

Local protestors in Siraha vandalized two ambulances in Mirchaiya on Tuesday morning. Normal life in those districts was hit hard due to the strike.

Protests demanding Tharuhat, undivided Karnali continue
Tharuhat supporters continued their strike for the 11th day in Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur Tuesday, demanding an autonomous Tharuhat-Madhes province.

Six protestors were injured in a clash with police in Taulihawa, Kapilvastu district on Tuesday.

Of the total six injured, three were reported to be in critical condition, according to Dr Pawan Kumar Agrahari of Taulihawa Hospital.

Likewise, protests demanding undivided Karnali continue in Karnali zone. Life in Jumla district has been hit hard due to the curfew imposed by the local administration since the last three days. Due to curfew, locals of Kamitole at Chandan municipality have been staying indoors. “We have not even been able to defecate out in the open,” said Laxmi Budha, a local. “We never faced such a problem before,” he added.