Kathmandu, July 19
Update 15:30 NST
Activist Dr Govinda KC, who has been on hunger strike for the last 20 days, has been forcefully brought to Kathmandu. Dr KC agreed to come to Kathmandu after police entered the Karnali Institute of Health Sciences and baton-charged the people inside indiscriminately. Dr KC said he cannot stand the sight of this and agreed to come to Kathmandu.
Update 12:15 NST
Dr Govinda KC has agreed to be airlifted to Kathmandu after police used force against his supporters in Jumla, where the activist is on hunger strike.
“I cannot see students being baton-charged by police. I will go to Kathmandu,” Dr Bisad Dahal, an aide to the activist quoted Dr KC as saying. According to sources, Dr KC will be brought to Kathmandu on a Nepali Army chopper and admitted to TU Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu.
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Medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KC, who has been on hunger strike for the last 20 days, has accused the government of trying to abduct him and take him to Kathmandu.
Dr KC, whose health condition has been deteriorating, told supporters and local reporters that he will not bow down to an authoritarian government and will not call off his protest until his demands are met.
The government, on Thursday morning, sent a chopper to Jumla in western Nepal where Dr KC has gone on hunger strike. According to sources, the government is preparing to use force to airlift KC to Kathmandu as doctors in Jumla said they don’t have the resources to keep the striking doctor alive.
Dr KC has been demanding that the Medical Education Ordinance prepared in accordance with the Mathema Committee report be endorsed by Parliament and transformed into an Act. However, the government plans to amend the ordinance. KC has been demanding that a ten-year ban be placed on the establishment of new medical colleges in Kathmandu.
