Money Lenders Protest in Janakpurdham, Threaten Kathmandu Sit-In

Money lenders (Sahu Mahajan) staged a massive protest rally in Janakpurdham, Dhanusha, and threatened to launch a sit-in program in Kathmandu starting on the 1st.

More than 700 money lenders from all eight districts of Madhesh Province marched through the main thoroughfares of Janakpurdham, protesting in front of the District Administration Office, District Police Office, and District Court Office of Dhanusha.

Chanting slogans such as "Scrap the 9-point agreement," "Down with the Home Minister," and "Debts taken must be repaid," they took out the demonstration in Janakpurdham.

Speaking during the protest, Vijay Yadav, Chairman of the Victim Investors Transaction Struggle Committee (Madhesh Province), warned that the upcoming protests would be even stronger. He announced that money lenders from all eight districts would head to Kathmandu on the 1st to stage an indefinite sit-in in front of Singha Durbar and Maitighar Mandala.

Chairman Yadav stated that the nine-point agreement signed recently between the Government of Nepal and the victims of usury (meter-byaj) was merely bilateral. He demanded a tripartite agreement involving the money lenders as the third party.

He added that it is unfair to label all investors as usurious meter-byaj lenders simply because of a few problematic borrowers, accusing the government of creating an environment where borrowers refuse to repay loans that were provided to them in times of need.

During the protest in front of the District Administration Office, the money lenders burned copies of the nine-point agreement.