KATHMANDU, Jan 17: The women activists from Banke who have been protesting at Maitighar Mandala for the past some days seeking justice for Nirmala kurmi got confused when Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane reached the venue of their sit-in protest on Saturday. Ruby Khan, the leader of the protest, said that they were in a dilemma after Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane asked them to stop the protest, promising them that he would deliver justice by getting the Nirmala Kurmi case investigated.

"I was very happy when media person Rabi, who has been harmonizing his voice with our voice, visited us. However, due to the repeated betrayals from the previous governments, we are not able to stop the protest just because Home Minister Lamichhane has asked us to," she said.

She said that even though she could easily trust media person Rabi Lamichhane, she could not be reassured by Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. "When he asked us how he could live in warmth while we were protesting in the cold, our eyes welled up. But as we have been deceived by the government in the past several times, we will not stop our protest.”

The group of women rights activists who organized a walk to Kathmandu from September 17, 2021 raising their voices for justice for Nirmala Kurmi, told Republica that they had high expectations from mediaperson Rabi Lamichhane, who has been raising his voice for justice. "We are very happy that Home Minister Lamichhane came to the place where we are protesting and assured us to provide justice. Now there is hope that justice will be found," she said, "If we get justice, the light of hope will spread throughout the country."

It has been 19 days since the group of women rights activists started the third phase of protest in the capital. They have spent 55 days in Maitighar before and are afraid that the government will leave them in confusion. “There are reasons for us not to trust the government,” Khan said, “At present, our condition is like the proverb - Once bitten, twice shy.”

They allege that the government has not given justice to Nirmala Kurmi and Nankunni Dhobi of Banke. The group led by rights activist Ruby Khan has demanded that a judicial commission be formed to investigate the death of Nankunni Dhobi and the missing Nirmala Kurmi and the case should be taken to the court and the safety of the women protestors should be guaranteed. 

Similarly, the women activists allege that the government has promised to investigate the truth of the incident many times, but it has not fulfilled its promise yet. "Justice has been delayed because the so-called big people have been involved in the incident," said Khan, "This is not only ours, but also the current government's ordeal." 

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has said that he has instructed the CIB to investigate the Nirmala Kurmi incident. Press Coordinator Navraj Pandey said that the home minister gave this information after meeting Ruby Khan, who has been protesting at Maitighar Mandala in the capital so as to seek justice for Kurmi.

On Friday, the rights activists met the spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Fanindra Mani Pokharel, and handed him a memorandum. They have drawn the attention of the government not to repeat the past attitude of only negotiating to stop the protest, repeatedly conducting flawed investigations, and trying to protect the main accused. After hearing about the memorandum, Home Minister Lamichhane went to Maitighar to meet Ruby Khan.

 
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