A national gathering of landless squatters and informal settlers has begun in Butwal.
Landless squatters and informal settlers from across the country have launched protests, accusing the government of attempting to evict them and bulldoze their houses without proper management. As part of their protest, they organized a national gathering in Butwal on Sunday.
The protesters marched from Rajmarga Chauraha to Traffic Chowk, where they converged into a mass assembly on Sunday afternoon. Landless squatters and informal settlers from 22 districts of different provinces joined the demonstration.
Even women and senior citizens took part in the march holding umbrellas in the scorching heat. Protesters said that they were demonstrating against the government’s actions of demolishing their houses and huts with bulldozers and evicting them without providing any options for resettlement.
Birendra BK, advisor to the Landless Squatters and Informal Settlers Struggle Committee in Rupandehi, remarked that the current prime minister, Balendra Shah – who came to power with the votes of the poor and landless squatters by promising to end corruption and maintain good governance – has made landless squatters his first target. He emphasized that being landless or a squatter is not anyone’s choice, but rather the result of flawed government policies.
Khagendra Paudel, coordinator of the struggle committee, said that they were forced to launch the agitation to strongly oppose the government's repression of landless squatters.
The struggle committee is organizing a national conference on Monday in Butwal. It is reported that the conference, which will include experts, rights activists, and representatives from various districts, will discuss the issues of landless and informal settlers and reach a concrete conclusion.
Twelve political parties in Rupandehi, including the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Nepali Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party, have expressed solidarity with the struggle committee's agitation.
