DAILEKH, Feb 1: In what they describe as a show of strength, opposition parties have planned a mass meet for Friday in Dullu of Dailekh, where local villagers, especially women, had revolted against the Maoists eight years ago.
Top leaders of the opposition parties, including Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala, CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, Rastriya Janamorcha Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chairman Pashupati Shumsher JBR are scheduled to address the Dullu mass meet. Youth leaders of the opposition parties, including NC´s Gagan Thapa and CPN (UML)´s Thakur Gaire are also set to address the gathering.
Many senior leaders of opposition parties have already arrived in Dailekh by Thursday evening. Opposition parties say more than 20,000 people from across Dailekh and other neighboring districts will participate in the Dullu mass meet.
“Through the Dullu Mass meet, we want to show that people always unite to tame wayward government,” said Dailekh Chairman of CPN-UML Amar Bahadur Thapa.
Opposition parties say they chose Dullu to organize the mass meet as this place saw a rare public outburst against the atrocities of the Maoists during the conflict.
As opposition parties gear up for the Dullu mass meet, police have beefed up security in Dailekh, anticipating clashes between cadres of the ruling UCPN (Maoist) and opposition parties.
As opposition party cadres disrupted the inauguration ceremony of the UCPN (Maoist)´s Dailekh district convention, which was attended by party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai a week ago, it is anticipated that Maoist cadres will also try to disrupt the opposition parties´ mass meet.
Meanwhile, speaking at a press meet organized in Dailekh on the eve of the Dullu mass meet, CPN-UML leader Nepal dubbed PM Bhattarai as the most autocratic Prime Minister ever. “He is an autocrat in the guise of an intellectual,” said Nepal. “How can someone who orders the police to shoot at the people and call the locals of Dailekh as goons be the people´s prime minister,” questioned Nepal.
Similarly, speaking at another press meet ahead of the Dullu mass meet, Rastriya Janmorcha leader KC said it would be unwise to believe whatever Maoist chairman Dahal says. “How can we believe Dahal when he talks about something one day and says he was just kidding the next day?” asked KC.
Meanwhile, the trial of nine Maoist cadres charged with abducting and murdering journalist Dekendra Thapa began on Thursday.
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