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Nepalgunj gradually coming to normalcy [ 2006-12-29 ] |
By Our Correspondent
NEPALGUNJ, Dec. 28: A team comprising representatives of the government and the eight political parties arrived in Nepalgunj Thursday afternoon to make an on-the-spot inspection of the destruction and vandalism that took place in the last three days.
The riot and vandalism in the last three days had left hundreds of thousand worth of property, both public and private, damaged or destroyed and at least one person dead when the security forces opened fire at the rioters.
The local administration had imposed round the clock curfew to control the riot. There was massive deployment of the security forces from Wednesday afternoon and the curfew was lifted from Thursday morning. The situation is gradually coming to normalcy.
The government formed a high-level team with the minister and senior leaders of the political parties. The team has started the evaluation of the situation and the cause of unrest meeting with representatives of the civil society, industrialists and businessmen.
The team consists of Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Mahanta Thakur from the government and vice president of Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala, acting general secretary of CPN-UML Amrit Kumar Bohara, Krishna Bahadur Mahara of CPN (Maoist), President of Jan Morcha Nepal Lila Mani Pokharel, NP Saud of Nepali Congress (Democratic), Minister and General Secretary of Nepal Sadvabana Party (Anandi Devi) Hridesh Tripathy, Prem Suwal of Nepal Peasants and Workers Party, Jagat Bogati of United Left Front from the parties.
After making the preliminary investigation, Minister Thakur said compensation would be provided on the destruction and damages, and asked all to cooperative with the team in the fact-finding mission.
Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress said all sections of the society must unite to fight against the anarchist elements trying to clash the ethnic communities.
The team also visited the Nepalgunj Medical College to look into the damages caused to the hospital. Doctors and staffs of the college have stopped all services in protest of the attacks demanding security. The team will make visits to different places of Nepalgunj to look into the damages.
Meanwhile, the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry after its investigation said that 126 shops were vandalised, damaged and arsoned.
Also today, a peace rally was organised in Nepalgunj to maintain peace and communal harmony.
Different parties also organised corner meetings and speakers said it was the responsibility of all to fight against communal clashes and those who perpetrate them.
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