After 51 days of continuous sit-in at Maitighar, tenant farmers associated with the Swargadwari Ashram Trust have temporarily suspended their demonstrations following an agreement with the government.

The protest, which began on February 2, was called off on Monday after the government committed to addressing their demands through legislative amendments.

The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, said in a statement that both the tenant farmers and the ministry’s negotiation team have agreed to a draft for the third amendment to the Guthi Sansthan Act, 1976.

Ministry officials also pledged to finalise the amendment bill and forward it to Parliament.

“We agreed to suspend the protest after our major demands were addressed in the draft bill to amend [third time] the Guthi Sansthan Act,” said Prabin Dahit Tharu, deputy secretary of the struggle committee. “We were assured that it would be presented in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.”

One of the primary demands of the tenant farmers is the registration of land under their names. Out of the 1,053 bighas of land under cultivation, 600 bighas have tenancy rights, and farmers insist that these plots should be formally transferred to them. They argue that land registration should be based on past laws and legal practices, recognising their long-term occupancy and cultivation.

Another key demand is that the remaining 450 bighas of land, which lack official tenancy rights but have been cultivated by farmers, should be properly managed and utilised by Swargadwari Ashram.

The farmers are also calling for the reinstatement of tenant farmers who were previously evicted from the Swargadwari Guthi lands. Over the years, many families lost access to the land they had farmed for decades due to legal disputes and government inaction. The struggle committee has emphasised that these farmers should be allowed to return and reclaim their farming rights.

In addition, they are demanding a one-time exemption on all pending land revenue payments, arrears, or dues accumulated as a result of previous evictions and legal complications.

According to Tharu, authorities have pledged to address these demands in the proposed bill, which led to the suspension of protests.

However, this is not the first time tenant farmers have protested, nor is it the first time agreements have been reached between the tenant farmers and the struggle committee.

The Swargadwari Ashram, a religious institution in Pyuthan district, owns 1,034 bighas and 17 katthas (over 700 hectares) of land in Dang, with tenant farmers cultivating 753 bighas (510 hectares) for generations. The number of tenant households has grown from 289 to 3,500, supporting over 15,000 people.

The conflict, which has sparked multiple protests, stems from Nepal’s dual land ownership system.

While farmers have farmed the land for decades, legal ownership remains with the Ashram. In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the land, belonging to a private trust, could not be divided. But, tenants argue that their long-term cultivation should grant them ownership rights.

Tenant farmers launched a similar protest in February last year, demanding government action on their longstanding issues.

The protest was halted in March after an agreement between the government and tenant farmers, which promised to regulate provisions related to Guthis, monasteries, and temples established in 2015 and to draft a new integrated Guthi law to address their concerns.

But, when the agreement was not upheld and proved to be an empty promise, tenant farmers took to the streets again this year.

Even after Monday’s deal, tenant farmers are still not confident that the agreement will be implemented this time around.

“Such agreements and commitments have been made by the government several times in the past but never implemented,” said Tharu.

“This time, we made it clear that while we are suspending protests at Maitighar, we will stay in Kathmandu until the bill is tabled in Parliament,” he added.

Tenant farmers said if the bill is not tabled as promised, they will resume the protests.