A protest was held in Biratnagar demanding the name change of Koshi province

Nepal : Clashes ensued between security personnel and protesters demonstrating against the naming of Koshi Province in Biratnagar Nepal on Sunday.

                        photo: biratnagar/tkp

Armed Police Force personnel fired four rounds of bullets in the air and lobbed around 24 shells of tear gas after the protesters from the indigenous communities breached a prohibited area to stage the protest.

The demonstration which started from Jan Andolan Chowk in Biratnagar breached the prohibited area announced by the local administration earlier and moved towards the office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

The District Administration Office, Morang had declared the Provincial Assembly, Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister's residence as prohibited areas.

The security personnel resorted to using force after the protestors started pelting stones at the security personnel by breaching the prohibited area.

Four security personnel of the Armed Police Force and Nepal Police were injured in the clash. An APF Assistant Inspector sustained injuries to his head while the other injured sustained minor injuries, according to District Police Office, Morang.

Chief District Officer of Morang Tirtharaj Bhattarai informed that the condition of the injured AFP Assistant Inspector is normal.

The police also detained four protestors following the clash. They were released in the evening.

The situation in Biratnagar became tense on Sunday and clashes between the protesters and the police were reported from several areas.

The protestors burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Hikmat Karki and chanted slogans against province assembly members who voted in favour of naming the province Koshi.

Vehicular movement along the Koshi Highway was obstructed from 2pm to 5pm as the demonstrators burnt tires on the road.

                   photo: deo narayan shah

Following the clash, the local administration had deployed additional security personnel to prevent untoward incidents.

Province 1 Re-naming Joint Struggle Committee has been organising various protest programmes across the province after a meeting of the provincial assembly on March 1 officially approved Koshi as its new name.

An overwhelming majority endorsed the name proposed by the CPN-UML. Besides the UML, assembly members from the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) voted in the proposal’s favour.

Of Nepal’s seven provinces, Koshi is the last province to get a name. The provincial assembly failed to name the province in the previous five-year term of the assembly as the parties were divided on the proposed names.

                                  photo: deo narayan shah

Following the March 1 decision, several protests broke out in various districts of the province. Various ethnic-based groups including Limbuwan, Kirant Joint Struggle Committee staged demonstrations in Biratnagar, the district headquarters, demanding that the province’s new name reflect the region’s ethnic identities.

The protests soon spilled over onto other districts such as Sunsari, Panchthar, Taplejung and Ilam

Organisations such as Renaming Province 1 with Identity Committee, Federal Kirat Rai Yaokkha, Kirat Yakthung Chumlung and Sherpa Sangh. The dissenting groups have demanded the province be renamed either Kirat Limbuwan or Limbuwan Kirat.

A man who was injured following a clash with police personnel during the protests held in Biratnagar on March 19, died while undergoing treatment on Friday.

According to Province 1 Renaming Joint Struggle Committee, an organisation protesting the name of Koshi province, informed that Padam Limbu Lajehang, who had sustained head injuries during a police baton charge during a protest held in Biratnagar died on Friday morning.

Lajehang, 42, of Bajhgara in Dharan-15, was the central co-commander of the Limbuwan Volunteer affiliated to Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch led by Kumar Lingden.

Lajehang was under treatment at home despite suffering a serious head injury.

On Wednesday night, Lajehang fell unconscious after vomiting after which he was taken to Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and admitted to the intensive care unit.

Preparations were underway to medivac Lajehang to Kathmandu when he passed away at 2.30 am on Friday morning while undergoing treatment.

The committee on Friday issued a statement and demanded that Lajehang be declared a martyr.

“The 82 province assembly members parties, Chief Minister Hikmat Karki, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the Nepal Police who conspired to name the province Koshi should be held responsible for the death,” reads the statement.

Amar Izam, the Sunsari District Chairman of the Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch, said the party has demanded the formation of a commission to probe the death of Lajehang.