By A Staff Reporter
Narayangadh, May 15
The first edition of Chitwan Literature Festival, which was titled Chittaun Kacheheri, was proved to be a forum for alternative ideas.
Held in Narayani Kala Mandir, Narayangadh, the two-day festival had presented Dilip Mahato’s father Ram Jiban Mahato and younger sister Laxmi Mahato as the speakers among others at the session titled ‘The long journey of fight for the justice’. A conservation activist, Dilip had been protesting against illegal mining of Aurahi riverbed material in Dhanusha. He was brutally killed by crusher operators and agents on 10 January, 2020.
‘The nation must listen when the speechless people begin to speak,’ Ram Jiban said.
Anita Chepang, Aitimaya Chepang, Santosh Bot and Hiradevi Chaudhari were other speakers of the same session who had suffered in the name of conservation of Chitwan National Park. Their stories of sufferings left the audience speechless.
Rupa Sunar, Bikash Biswakarma, Shivahari Gyawalia and Manoz Lohar spoke on the tyranny of caste system while Sanjaya Mahato, Gyan Bahadur Bote, Indu Tharu and Sunimaya Chepang expressed their views at the session titled ‘Where were indigenous people left in development ?’.
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