Government ignores

Govt ignores bedridden 50’s democracy struggle veteran

BHARATPUR, Nov 2 - Lekhmani Sedhain of Bhandara, Chitwan, a veteran of Nepal's struggle for democracy, has been bed ridden since the last 24 years due to poverty.
"I remained underground for most of my life," said Sedhain, adding, "I hid for the people in the past and now I am lost in my own problems," he lamented.
Sedhain advocated constituent assembly election in 1951 when he was chairman of Bargiya Gaun Sudhar Sangh. He entered Nepali Congress politics in 1958 after he met BP Koirala.
Sedhain was arrested 19 times, imprisoned 13 times and remained underground for 10 years.
Soon after Mahendra's royal coup in 1960, the then panchayat government seized all his wealth and property. He remembered that the government had seized 84 ropanis of land and valuables worth rupees 800,000 at that time.
After the National Reconciliation policy adopted by BP Koirala in 1976, most people got back their seized property. "But the government refused to return mine on the charge of treason," he said.
Right now, he suffers from diabetes, blood pressure, ulcer and problems in the urinary system. He can hardly afford treatment now.
"I heard that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had decided in 2000 to provide medical expense for me but I have not got it so far," he said