Curfew lifted in Birgunj after all-party meeting settles dispute

Birgunj, Jan 6: An all-party and all-sides meeting here has agreed to halt the ongoing protest demonstrations taking place in Birgunj since the last some days.     

Following the consensus reached at the all-party and all-sides meeting held here today under the leadership of the District Administration Office of Parsa, the curfew imposed from Monday has also been lifted from 3:30 pm today.     

Chief District Officer of Parsa, Bhola Dahal, said that the curfew has been lifted following the commitment not to hold demonstrations or protests in Birgunj regarding incidents that occurred in other countries or places.     

“We have decided to lift the curfew as consensus reached between the two communities has improved the situation here and the state of law and order is stabilising. Now, the daily life of the people here is moving towards normalcy,” he said.     

The meeting has decided that the protesting party should submit a memorandum to the Chief District Officer with prior permission before carrying out any demonstration, and only thereafter proceed with the programme of the movement.     

He said, "It has been decided to form a Permanent Harmony Mechanism as per the schedule, comprising political parties active in the district level and leaders of various religious communities, to control future activities directed against religion, society and communal harmony, and to recommend necessary legal action."     

According to CDO Dahal, Ranjit Sah and Ranjan Singh will represent the Hindu community in the permanent harmony mechanism. Similarly, Mohammad Mahbub Ali (Sheru) and Ali Asgar Madani will represent the Muslim community.     

The all-party and all-sides meeting has arranged for representation in the permanent Harmony mechanism from other religious communities and one representative from each district-based political party as needed.     

Similarly, the same mechanism shall include the participation of the Chair of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and representatives of civil society as members.     

The meeting urged all types of media to ensure that their news content does not jeopardize religious, cultural, or social goodwill.     

Likewise, the local administration is expected to remain active in bringing those responsible for jeopardizing religious, cultural, and social goodwill under the purview of the law.     

The meeting agreed to remain committed to encouraging the respective communities to maintain discipline and patience, keeping mutual goodwill intact by acknowledging the shortcomings on all sides.     

The meeting was also unanimous in playing positive roles from their respective sides to normalize the existing situation and in not launching further protest programmes, it said.(RSS)