Banking News – Leaders of the Citizen Protection Campaign led by Durga Prasai have rejected the government’s request to relocate citizens staging a sit-in outside the National Human Rights Commission office in Pulchowk, Lalitpur, to a safe location.

Citizens have been staging a six-day sit-in in an open and risky roadside area. The government had proposed relocating them to a safe place and arranging food, shelter and medical treatment, followed by detailed discussions on their demands.

However, members of the negotiation team representing the Prasai-led campaign have refused to relocate the protesters.

According to Liladhar Subedi, coordinator of the government negotiation team and Joint Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the government has already started negotiations with a serious commitment to protecting citizens and addressing their demands.

The National Human Rights Commission had also written to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Shrawan 29, urging the government to relocate the citizens to a safe location, arrange accommodation and security, and continue dialogue.

Subedi said the government is ready to resolve the issue through dialogue while ensuring the safety and security of citizens and considering the commission’s recommendations. However, he said Durga Prasai and the negotiation team acting under his direction have repeatedly rejected the request.

A leader among the protesters alleged that Prasai was pursuing his political interests by putting ordinary citizens at risk.

“Negotiations with the government have already started. Now, when we say let’s move the citizens from the cold road to a safe place and save them, our leader (Durga Prasai) does not agree. The health of elderly citizens has already deteriorated after keeping them on the road for six days,” the protest leader said.

Prasai had on Tuesday sent a nine-member negotiation team led by Bishnu Bohara to hold talks with the government. The government team urged the representatives to first help save the citizens on the road and then discuss their demands in detail.

The delegation left the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers late Tuesday night, saying it would consult Prasai, and returned for negotiations on Wednesday.

However, Prasai subsequently released a video accusing the government.

A person participating in the sit-in said, “Because of Prasai’s politics and stubbornness of provoking ordinary people and keeping them at risk on the road, the actual victims are facing an even more serious crisis.”