Unidentified group attacks NFIN general secretary

General secretary of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN), Ram Bahadur Thapa Magar, was attacked by an unidentified group at Kalanki Chowk, Kathmandu, during the Valley bandh (general strike) called by the NFIN Thursday.

A group of about 15 men came to Thapa Magar asking why the bandh was organised and then they started assaulting him at the presence of police personnel. Thapa was leading a group of NFIN activists who were trying to enforce the bandh in Kalanki area.

"They first asked us why was the bandh organised and who was leading it. When I introduced myself as a responsible member of the federation they started punching me," Thapa Magar, who was taken to Kathmandu Model Hospital for treatment, told Nepalnews after being discharged from the hospital in the evening.

Thapa claimed that the attack was motivated. "We don't know who they were, but the way they acted leaves room for suspicion. The police personnel just looked on when I was being roughed up," he added.

The NFIN called a bandh in the Kathmandu Valley to exert pressure on the government to address the demands of indigenous communities for proportional representation in the forthcoming constituent assembly election and a federal system with ethnic and linguistic autonomy.

Businesses, educational institutions were closed down while very few vehicles plied on the road during the bandh. However, there were no major incidents of violence during the bandh. nepalnews.com mk Feb 15 07

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