Kathmandu: Following strong protests by people of Kirat community on Monday against the government's decision to forbid non-Hindu Christians and ethnic Kirats to conduct burial in the Sleshmantak forest, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has directed the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) to allow Kirat community to bury their dead in the area until an alternative arrangement is made.
The prime minister gave this direction after holding meeting with representatives from the Kirat community on Monday afternoon. He also assured that a taskforce would be formed on Tuesday to find an alternative graveyard for Kiratis.
Earlier on Monday, police had arrested over a dozen demonstrators of Kirat community including three lawmakers at places including Gaushala and Pashupatinath temple area while they were staging demonstration demanding that the people of the community be allowed to conduct traditional burial ceremony in the Babnkali area of Sleshmantak forest.
UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker Sudhan Rai informed Nepalnews from the Gaushala police post that several demonstrators including two other lawmakers from the community, Raj Kumar Rai of CPN-UML and Parmila Rai of Nepali Congress, were arrested from the demonstration.
Police had to resort to force to control the crowd agitated after being denied burial righs in the forest. Police had to baton charge and fire teargas shells to disperse the crowd. In the process many demonstrators were injured and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
Since Sunday, people from Kirat community have been protesting against PADT's decision to forbid them from conducting a burial in Sleshmantak forest. The community has threatened of massive agitation if the biased decision is not revoked soon.
Relatives of Jash Ram Rai, 40, who died of blood cancer at Teku Hospital in the capital, staged a sit-in protest outside PADT's office on Sunday after they were not allowed to bury him in the forest which Hindus believe to be "sacred". This despite the fact that people from the community have been burying their dead in the forest since many decades.
They later clashed with the security personnel mobilized to enforce the government's directive that has made them the lated victim of PADT's bias along with Christian community.
On Saturday also, the Kirat community, who bury their dead as per their ancient tradition despite being Hindus, clashed with the police after being forbidden to conduct a burial of Udayapur native Oshin Rai in the forest.
However, aggrieved relatives were allowed to bury Oshin after leaders representing the Kirat community exerted pressure on the authorities.
Saying non-Hindus are not allowed to bury their dead in the Sleshmantak forest, PADT has already ordered the demolition of all non-Hindu graves in the forest. Hindus like 'Sanyasis' are still allowed to bury their dead in the forest.
Both the Kirat community and minority Christian community have asked the government to allow them to conduct burial in the forest until another arrangement is made for them (by providing land elsewhere) to bury their dead.
Christian community has even warned they would parade their dead in front of the prime minister's office unless granted a burial site of their own.
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