The farmers warned the political leaders present in gathering on Thursday that they would not tolerate lip service anymore. “You have made us fools in the previous election. We will see how you come asking for vote this time around,” the farmers warned. [break]
“We will not vote for any leader until our land problems are resolved,” said one of the farmers. In the gathering organized with the slogan “Safe Houses for All, Arable Land for Farmers”, the peasants expressed the pain and hardships they have endured due to government´s indifference to their plight.
“We won´t be fooled by sweet talk anymore. The political leaders can not cheat the farmers for ever,” said Siva Nath Ghorasaini, a victim from Fataksila. “We don´t want leaders to come to us asking for votes before our problems are resolved,” added Ghorasaini.
CPN-UML politburo member Prakash Jwala, UCPN (Maoist) central committee member Krishna Prasad Sapkota and Rastriya Prajatantra Party joint general secretary Baburam Poudel, among others, were present at the gathering.
The leaders could not muster the courage to deliver speech and left the gathering with lame assurances.
Dambar Kumari Thami of Ramche VDC said they would “settle the score” with political leaders in the upcoming election if they continue to overlook their problems.
Central Chairman of National Land Right Forum (NLRF) Som Prasad Bhandari said that they would continue their struggle until their problems are resolved.
Sindhupalchok farmers have been struggling for the past two decades demanding a solution to their land problem.
As per the data made available by NLRF, 27,000 households in the district are victims of the land related problem. There are 113 kinds of Guthi land in the district. The people do not have land ownership certificate as the land they are using are registered in the name of Pashupati Guthi, Tripurasundari Guthi, Digu Taleju Guthi, Listimai Guthi, among others.
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