Jump to content

Occupy Baluwatar: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Yobot (talk | contribs)
m WP:CHECKWIKI errors fixed, added orphan tag using AWB (9011)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Orphan|date=April 2013}}
{{Orphan|date=April 2013}}


{{Orphan|date=April 2013}}
'''Occupy Baluwatar''' is a social movement in Nepal aimed to control impunity and violence against women.
Women human right activists have been protesting since over six weeks outside of the prime minister's official residence in Baluwatar in this campaign.


'''Occupy Baluwatar''' (also known as Baluwatar Satyagraha) is a peaceful protest movement calling on the Nepali state to better address the widespread problem of impunity and gender-based violence. Since 28 December, protesters have gathered outside the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar from 9:00 -11:00 am daily.
Occupy Baluwatar Movement, a public movement to end violence against all forms and to end gender based discriminations, has been gaining pace and has seen a huge public participation. The movement has been supported from all quarters and has gone viral in the social media.<ref name=spotlight1>[http://www.spotlightnepal.com/News/Article/news-occupy-baluwatar-nepal-women-violence The Spotlight] Occupy Baluwatar: Search For Justice</ref>


The first days of protests were loosely organized. There was some organizing online in the few days prior to the street protests.<ref name=KTMPost1>[http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/12/26/nation/activists-wake-up-to-plight/243357.html] Activists wake up to plight</ref> An organizing group, made up of active protesters, emerged following the first week of protest. The movement has been supported by a variety of groups and has gone viral in social media forums.<ref name=spotlight1>[http://www.spotlightnepal.com/News/Article/news-occupy-baluwatar-nepal-women-violence The Spotlight] Occupy Baluwatar: Search For Justice</ref>
The Occupy Baluwatar movement is comprised by a number of organisations in Nepal, that are actively engaged in peaceful human rights work.<ref name=Salemnews>[http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march272013/nepal-rights-wg.php Salem News]


The protesters created a coherent set of demands, divided into short and long term goals, which they presented to then prime minister Baburam Bhattarai. The short term demands called on the state, including the police and the judiciary, to properly investigate and prosecute the guilty in five specific cases which took place immediately prior to the movement’s start. The long term demands focused on policy reform in the arenas of migration and rape laws, among others.
Nepal: Intimidation and Police Harassment of Occupy Baluwatar movement


'''Origins'''
</ref>
The spark for the OB protests was the case of Sita Rai (name changed). On 21 November, 19-year-old Rai from the eastern Bhojpur district was returning to Nepal on a fake passport – under the name Bimala KC – after having worked as a domestic maid in Saudi Arabia for four years. Nepali law does not allow women under the age of 30 to travel alone to work as migrant labour. As a result, there is a massive trade in illegal passports as women attempt to circumvent this restriction. On her arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Rai’s fake passport was detected. She, along were 20 other women, were taken to the immigration detention center at Kalikasthan. At the center, Somnath Khanal robbed Rai of all her savings amounting to NPR 222,624. Subsequently, police constable Parsuram Basynet offered to escort Rai to the Gongobu Bus Park so she could catch a bus to her home village. On arrival, he took Rai to a nearby hotel where he repeatedly raped her. He put her on the bus the next morning, threatening her to not tell anyone about what happened. About a month later, Rai broke down and told her sister about what had happened. The family came to Kathmandu and began legal proceedings.


In late December, the Kathmandu Post daily and Nepali Times weekly broke the Sita Rai story<ref name=NepaliTimes1>[http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19895#.UV-R46JHLwM] Predator State</ref> There was little reaction to the stories from both the state organs and from women’s right activists. The Home Ministry did constitute an investigative committee, but it operated completely opaquely and its final report was made public.
The movement is continued after the change in the government. [[Baburam Bhattarai]] led government was replaced by the Interim Election Government led by Chief Justice [[Khila Raj Regmi]] but the movement is not stopped. The women activists are protesting for end of impunity and violence against women despite of threats from [[UCPN Maoists]] cadres.<ref name=myrepublica>[http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=51692 My Republica] Occupy Baluwatar activists demand security</ref>


Meanwhile, the case had been creating outrage on Twitter and Facebook. A loose group of young citizens who had expressed concern on social media began to organize. A petition to the prime minister was put up on facebook, and people were encourage online to come to Baluwatar at 9:00 am on Friday 28 December to hand the petition over to the PM.
The movement continued despite of arrests of dozens of protesters from the police<ref>[http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22132 Frontline Defenders]


'''OB Continues'''
Nepal: Intimidation and Police Harassment of Occupy Baluwatar movement
The movement continued after the change in the government, when the[[Baburam Bhattarai]] led government was replaced by the Interim Election Government led by Chief Justice [[Khila Raj Regmi]]. Activists say they will continue to protest till their demands are met. And protests have continued despite threats from [[UCPN Maoists]] cadres.<ref name=myrepublica>[http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=51692 My Republica] Occupy Baluwatar activists demand security</ref> as well as unprovoked mass arrests by police

<ref>[http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/22132 Frontline Defenders] Nepal: Intimidation and Police Harassment of Occupy Baluwatar movement </ref>
</ref> and distruption from the [[UCPN Maoist]] cadres.<ref name=THT>[http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Maoist+cadres+%26quot%3Binterfere%26quot%3B+in+Occupy+Baluwatar+protest&NewsID=369687 The Himalayan Times]
Maoist cadres "interfere" in Occupy Baluwatar protest</ref> UCPN (Maoist) cadres had reached Baluwatar before the occupy Baluwatar activists and tore and burnt the pamphlets used by the latter.<ref name=imagec>[http://imagechannels.com/news/details/25417/UCPN-Maoist-cadres-interfere-occupy-Baluwatar-movement Image Channel]

UCPN-Maoist cadres interfere occupy Baluwatar movement

</ref>
The movement is equally running through social media.
“Hang the rapist”, “Hand over the guilty to the public”, “Make rapists chemically impotent”, are among many Facebook status posts that are updated by the people demanding stringent actions against the accused.<ref name=spotlight1 />


06 April marked the 100th continuous day of Occupy Baluwatar protests.
==References==
==References==


Line 32: Line 27:


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://meroandolan.com/ MeroAndolan], the official website of the Occupy Baluwatar movement.


[[Category:Social Movement]]
[[Category:Social Movement]]


''

Revision as of 06:43, 6 April 2013

Occupy Baluwatar (also known as Baluwatar Satyagraha) is a peaceful protest movement calling on the Nepali state to better address the widespread problem of impunity and gender-based violence. Since 28 December, protesters have gathered outside the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar from 9:00 -11:00 am daily.

The first days of protests were loosely organized. There was some organizing online in the few days prior to the street protests.[1] An organizing group, made up of active protesters, emerged following the first week of protest. The movement has been supported by a variety of groups and has gone viral in social media forums.[2]

The protesters created a coherent set of demands, divided into short and long term goals, which they presented to then prime minister Baburam Bhattarai. The short term demands called on the state, including the police and the judiciary, to properly investigate and prosecute the guilty in five specific cases which took place immediately prior to the movement’s start. The long term demands focused on policy reform in the arenas of migration and rape laws, among others.

Origins The spark for the OB protests was the case of Sita Rai (name changed). On 21 November, 19-year-old Rai from the eastern Bhojpur district was returning to Nepal on a fake passport – under the name Bimala KC – after having worked as a domestic maid in Saudi Arabia for four years. Nepali law does not allow women under the age of 30 to travel alone to work as migrant labour. As a result, there is a massive trade in illegal passports as women attempt to circumvent this restriction. On her arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Rai’s fake passport was detected. She, along were 20 other women, were taken to the immigration detention center at Kalikasthan. At the center, Somnath Khanal robbed Rai of all her savings amounting to NPR 222,624. Subsequently, police constable Parsuram Basynet offered to escort Rai to the Gongobu Bus Park so she could catch a bus to her home village. On arrival, he took Rai to a nearby hotel where he repeatedly raped her. He put her on the bus the next morning, threatening her to not tell anyone about what happened. About a month later, Rai broke down and told her sister about what had happened. The family came to Kathmandu and began legal proceedings.

In late December, the Kathmandu Post daily and Nepali Times weekly broke the Sita Rai story[3] There was little reaction to the stories from both the state organs and from women’s right activists. The Home Ministry did constitute an investigative committee, but it operated completely opaquely and its final report was made public.

Meanwhile, the case had been creating outrage on Twitter and Facebook. A loose group of young citizens who had expressed concern on social media began to organize. A petition to the prime minister was put up on facebook, and people were encourage online to come to Baluwatar at 9:00 am on Friday 28 December to hand the petition over to the PM.

OB Continues The movement continued after the change in the government, when theBaburam Bhattarai led government was replaced by the Interim Election Government led by Chief Justice Khila Raj Regmi. Activists say they will continue to protest till their demands are met. And protests have continued despite threats from UCPN Maoists cadres.[4] as well as unprovoked mass arrests by police [5]

06 April marked the 100th continuous day of Occupy Baluwatar protests.

References

  1. ^ [1] Activists wake up to plight
  2. ^ The Spotlight Occupy Baluwatar: Search For Justice
  3. ^ [2] Predator State
  4. ^ My Republica Occupy Baluwatar activists demand security
  5. ^ Frontline Defenders Nepal: Intimidation and Police Harassment of Occupy Baluwatar movement
  • MeroAndolan, the official website of the Occupy Baluwatar movement.