Traffic comes to a grinding halt around Singha Durbar

KATHMANDU: The traffic system has come to a grinding halt from 10:00 am onwards around Singha Durbar after various Buddhist organizations staged an hour-long sit-in demanding they should be allowed to install an idol of Lord Buddha at Kankrebihar, Surkhet.

The stakeholders including monks and others staged the sit-in today as per their second phase protest program.

Buddhist organisations had made preparation to install the idol at Kankrebihar on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti on May 25.

Representatives of different organisations including Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, All Nepal Monks Federation, Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Journalists had participated in the sit-in, said Chairman of the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities Journalists, Danda Gurung.

Objecting the incumbent government’s act of not allowing the installation of the idol when the then Finance Minister Barshaman Pun was ready to allocate the budget for the same after visiting the area, Gurung warned of launching strong agitation in the next phase if the government did not address their demands.