The health of Maoist victims on hunger strikes has been worsening. Mina Tiwari, who was wounded by Maoist gunfire, has been on hunger strike since last Thursday outside the Nepali Congress central office. Doctors say she grows weaker by the day.
Chinimaya Neupane, Rudranath Lamichhane, and Kalpana Bhandari, who are on strike outside the CPN-UML office are also said to be in deteriorating health. The strikers refused medical help, saying they would rather die. Neupane had been accused of being a spy and was tortured when she went home to her village in Nuwakot to get her citizenship certificate. Now, she doesn't want to return.
"They have taken away all that I had. My husband's hands and feet were broken.Where do they expect me to go now?" she asks.
Even though the 12-point agreement signed by the seven parties and the Maoists states that all confiscated property will be returned, it remains to be implemented in practice. Rudranath Lamichhane was sent away from his village in Lalitpur for not being able to fulfil Maoists demands. He wants to go back but fears for his life and says, "My fields are empty, my house is in need of repair, all because of them. And the government is giving them helicopter rides."
In Kathmandu, there are thousands of others that have been displaced by the conflict and are unable to go back home. The attitude of Maoists in the villages has not changed, the Maoist leadership is unwilling to apologise to the displaced people and create an environment for them to return home safely.