War victims boycott felicitation function

Added At:  2011-01-31 12:03 AM  

Last Updated At: 2011-01-31 12:03 AM

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HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

MYGDI: The families of those people, who died in this district at the hand of the state’s security forces or the Maoists during the decade-long insurgency, refused to attend a programme scheduled today to mark the Martyrs’ Day to protest the state’s apathy towards their plight.

According to Durga Prasad Acharya, secretary of the Network for the War Victims’ Rights, the war victims boycotted the Local Peace Committee’s felicitation programme as it is futile to receive the honour at the expense of self-respect.

The government’s responsibility does not end by distributing Rs 1 lakh to each family of the victim, Acharya said, demanding that livelihoods of the victimised families be guaranteed.

He lambasted the local

administration for not providing scholarships to the martyrs’ children in local schools despite government’s directives.

“We lost our guardians during the war,” KP Adhikari, a war victim, said, termed the government’s act of offering shawls to the victimised family members insensitive.

The training session started at 1 pm. Rudra Kisan, a secretariat member of the peace committee, informed that they had to cancel the felicitation following strong criticism and pressure from the victims.

While a former coordinator of the committee, Netra Mahat, said the felicitation programme was cancelled after some victims said they will not attend such a programme unless the guilty are brought to justice.

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