Landless squatter protest
Times of India, December 5, 2009
Maoists call Nepal bandh tomorrow after clashes leave 6 dead
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Maoist leadership has announced a Nepal bandh Sunday after clashes between security forces and homeless Dalits in the far west killed at least six, including a woman and a policeman.
“Our party has always mooted land reforms to enable the landless possess land,” said Maoist lawmaker Netra Bikram Chand Biplab, announcing the general strike in Kathmandu at an impromptu press conference at the party headquarters after an eviction drive by security forces in remote Kailali district Friday resulted in violence, arson and death.
“We condemn the barbaric attack on the unarmed and homeless and demand action against the Home Minister (Bhim Rawal) and guilty policemen,” Biplab said.
Police said they had been ordered to remove a squatters’ colony from Dudhejhari forest in Baliya village in Kailali after nearly 15,000 Dalits encroached on the forest and began cutting down trees. They also said that the eviction had been approved by all major parties, including the Maoists. The demolition was fiercely opposed by the settlers who fought back with bricks, bamboo poles and even knives and axes. While police constable Padam Er was killed on the spot, three more policemen were injured seriously after being hit with axes. Read the rest of this entry »
Revolution in South Asia 