Although the two-day talks between the government and the protesting ‘No Cable Car Group’ at Pathibhara Temple resulted in a six-point agreement on February 4, the agitating group is demanding a meeting with the high-level political group for another round of dialogue.

“The previous round of talks yielded some results,” said Prem Prasad Bhattarai, who led the government’s negotiation team in the first round. “Now they are demanding that the next round of talks be held with the political leadership, not with the bureaucracy.”

With the six-point agreement between the government and the group on February 4, the transportation strike that had been in effect since January 28 in many of the eastern districts was called off.

After intensive discussions between the government and the protesting parties’ ‘negotiation facilitation’ teams on February 3-4, both sides reached a six-point agreement, and another round of talks is scheduled for Sunday.

The agreement was reached between Bhattarai, joint secretary of the Home Ministry, and the protesters’ negotiation facilitation team member Saraswati Singak (Saru).

As per the agreement, the cable car station’s development above the chosen site would be suspended until further conversations are held to decide its future.

The agreement includes suspending construction work on the cable car upper to the station part and discussing the matter in more detail at the next meeting scheduled for Sunday. Likewise, providing free and effective medical treatment to those injured during the protests as announced by the government was also included in the February 4 agreement.

“There is a possibility that they will first sit down for talks with the government negotiation team led by me, and then they will probably take the initiative to sit down for talks with the political leadership,” Bhattarai said.

Claiming that the issue is political, the agitating group has been demanding it be settled from the political level. For agitating groups, the bureaucracy’s job is only to implement the policies and regulations finalised by the political level.

Amar Tumyahang, who led the protesting side in the previous round of talks with the government, says that his side’s negotiation team has not been formed for the talks to be held on Sunday.

“The previous talks centred on how to end the protests in some eastern districts, while the talks in the next round will focus on how to solve the overall problem,” Tumyahang said. “So we are considering forming a separate dialogue team. But to my knowledge, it has not been formed yet.”

Ram Maden, a representative of the agitating group, said they are ready to announce their dialogue team after the formation of the minister-level dialogue committee from the government side. He added that the next round of negotiation will not take place with the government officers and that if the government fails to form the dialogue team, they will go on further protest.

“We are ready to announce our dialogue team but the government should announce it first,” Maden said.

But Information and Communication Technology Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, also the government spokesperson, said the government has already formed a dialogue team in the leadership of officers from the Home Ministry.

Stating that the government is in favour of resolving the problem, Minister Gurung said that talks should be held with the earlier team.

“There is no need for another team for the dialogue,” Minister Gurung said.

Meanwhile, the protesters, in a press release on Friday, accused the government of not fully implementing the six-point agreement. They allege that the government has conditionally released three people on bail even though the agreement included the unconditional release of those who were in custody following the protest.

They also allege that the government has not complied with the previous verbal agreement to stop the construction of the cable car to Pathibhara Temple.

The latest protests started on November 8 after the foundation was laid for the cable car leading to Pathibhara Temple, a famous religious site in Taplejung district.

The protest, part of a broader movement against the cable car project in the Mukkumlung area, has escalated of late with protesters claiming that the project would harm the environment, encroach on local culture, and disrupt residents’ livelihoods.

Violence erupted in Pathibhara on January 25 when clashes broke out between the ‘No Cable Car Group’ and security personnel. Two protesters were shot and injured, and several others were hurt in the confrontation, which took place at Baludanda, about one kilometre from Kaflepati.

A 2.7 km cable car is being constructed from Kaflepati in ward 10 of Phungling to the temple. The agitating groups and individuals have been demanding that Pathibhara (Mukkumlung) should be preserved in its original state, as it is the heartland of the Limbu community.

The Mukkumlung Struggle Committee, the Cable Car Cancellation Joint Struggle Committee, the Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, and some political forces advocating for identity politics including the Rastriya Janamukti Party and the Loktantrik Rastriya Manch have been protesting against the cable car project.

They say that the Mukkumlung area is the traditional Mundhumi of the Limbu community. The agitators are against the construction of large infrastructure projects at the Mundhumi shrine.

Prem Ekten, central chair of Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, one of the organisations leading the protests in Pathibhara, said that the place where Pathibhara temple is situated is a sacred place of indigenous people and that it has been encroached by Hindu people.

“The indigenous people of the place claim that Mukkumlung (Mukkum means Power and Lung means Stone) is the hill (Pahad) of their belief,” Ekten said. “As per our religious scripture, Mundhum Yuma Sammang is our clan deity (equivalent to Kul Devata of Hindus). Since we believe that Mukkumlung is the habitat of our clan deity, we won’t let the place be encroached upon.”

Ekten added the developer can build the cable car in another part of Taplejung but not in Mukkumlung.

A case against the Pathibhara cable car project has been filed at the Supreme Court but has yet to be heard. “Though we filed the case soon after the Cabinet approved the building, the hearing was deferred,” Ekten said.

The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for Sunday. Prior to that, it was scheduled for Friday. The agitating group alleges that even though the case was filed in the Supreme Court three years ago, not a single hearing has been conducted so far.

“We filed a case against the government and the Phungling Municipality, which approved the cable car project in the sacred place,” Ekten said. He questioned why the government accorded the private company five hectares of public land.

But Amir Maden, the mayor of Phungling Municipality, where the cable car is to be built, said that indigenous people filed a case in the apex court claiming that Mukkumlung had been culturally encroached upon and its name transformed into Pathibhara. They demanded that the name Pathibhara be changed back to Mukkumlung.

When the court hearing was continuously deferred, they channelised their demand through the No Cable Car movement, said Maden, the mayor of Phungling municipality.

“Historically, the sacred place does not belong to the agitating people and their religion. The place was founded in 1837, when it used to be the place of worship of the Gurung community,” Maden further said. “After 99 years of founding the place, it was named Pathibhara, so claiming the place has been encroached by Hindus is a factual error.”

Mayor Maden also accused various ethnic groups raising their voices for the identity-based nomenclature of Koshi Province of failing to raise their voice in Jhapa and diverting their agenda to Mukkumlung.

Claiming a group of people are trying to breach cultural harmony, Maden said people of the community residing in different parts of the world have been supporting them without understanding the ground reality.

He stressed that the area has a religious potential that needs to be realised.

A Cabinet decision in 2018 approved the project, and the National Planning Commission declared it a national priority project following a recommendation from the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration in July 2018.

The IME Group is building the cable car in the place. However, the group took over the cable car development from Yeti Holdings only two years ago. The Shanghai Groups were first entrusted with the cable car development in the region.

A week ago, Minister of Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak discussed the issue with lawmakers from Taplejung, Tehrathum, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha.

But the protesters accuse the lawmakers of being motivated by monetary benefits and say they are against their protest.

“Rather than developing the place as a socio-cultural heritage, the government and the people involved in the cable car project are trying to deform it,” Ekten said.

Though the Koshi provincial government had called the agitating party for dialogue, they refused, claiming it was outside their jurisdiction and urging dialogue with the federal government.