'Disqualified' ex-combatants enforce bandh in mid-west

Former Maoist combatants who were discharged in February 2010 after being disqualified in the verification carried out by the then United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) have enforced bandh (shutdown strike) in mid-western region.

Bus services in the region has come to a halt while marketplaces remain closed in some places. The bandh has affected Dang more than other districts, RSS said.

The protesting former combatants have demanded the same financial packages provided to combatants who were discharged after choosing voluntary retirement, and withdrawal of the label 'disqualified'.

4008 former combatants - majority of them minors - were sent home after UNMIN concluded that they were not qualified to stay in the cantonments as 'combatants'. The government had only provided travel allowances while discharging them from the cantonments. nepalnews.com