Kathmandu: Two Maoists lawmakers were
roughed up by locals when they tried to set a bus filled with
passengers on fire along the Pasang Lhamu High Way in Western
Kathmandu.
Maoist MP Prem Tamang was seriously injured in the
scuffle between the locals and workers of Maoist affiliated
Tamsaling Joint Struggle Committee (TJSC), while his fellow
parliamentarian Santu Maya Tamang was slightly hurt.
The incident occurred yesterday, when the locals of
Balaju area were protesting against the imposition of bandh on
the highway by TJSC activists led by Tamang.
The police later arrested and released five TJSC
activists and six others who were involved in bashing the
Maoists.
TJSC had announced a strike along the Kodari Highway, BP
Highway and Pasang Lhamu Highway yesterday, to press for
their demands for greater rights and representation to the
ethnic Tamang community.
This is probably the first incident in which the locals
thrashed the Maoist lawmakers in the capital after they joined
mainstream politics three years ago.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction in a
press statement urged the TJSC to seek solution to their
problems through peaceful means of dialogue instead of
strikes.
Bureau Report
