Over 100 leading human rights activists, professionals and senior civil society members staged a ten-hour long hunger strike at Maitighar in Kathmandu, demanding democracy and peace in the country.

Civil society members in a 12 hour long fasting program urging for the reinstatement of democracy and peace in the country at Maitighar Mandala, Monday, Dec 19 05. nepalnews.com/rh

Civil society members in a 12 hour long fasting program urging for the reinstatement …
The participants of the hunger strike from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. said the protest was intended to exert pressure to the ruling side to return to the democratic process. To give peace a chance, the government must reciprocate the ceasefire declared by the Maoists, they opined.

Talking to reporters, former speaker of the House of Representatives and noted human rights activist, Daman Nath Dhungana, who was one of the participants of the hunger strike, said, “If the King does not immediately start the process to return to democracy, people themselves will decide the political course of the country.”

Civil society leader Devendra Raj Pandey, rights activists Krishna Pahari and Charan Prasain, Nepal Bar Association (NBA) president Shambhu Thapa, Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) president Bishnu Nisthuri and dozens of others joined the daylong fast.