The Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) held a press conference after conducting on-site monitoring of the incident in Phalelung Rural Municipality-5, Dadangaon, Prangbung of Panchthar. The INSEC Koshi Province Office team, based in Biratnagar, carried out the monitoring on September 3 and 4 and held the press conference in Phidim on September 5, urging the state to be more responsible for the incident.
Punya Adhikari of INSEC stated that INSEC requested the state to gather information from the victims’ families, neighbors, the Chief District Officer, the District Police Chief, representatives from Phalelung Rural Municipality, health workers, police, journalists, and others regarding the incident. Adhikari said that the injured children were admitted to the Burn Hospital in Kirtipur for treatment on September 4, with coordination of the local government, hospital, and police administration. He added that although the armed conflict in Nepal began on February 13, 1996, and ended with the peace agreement between the government of Nepal and the then-rebel side on November 21, 2006, the right of citizens to live freely has still not been ensured even 18 years after the conflict’s end. As 13 years have passed since the Nepal government declared the nation landmine-free on June 14, 2011, INSEC has urged the state to address the recent incident in Panchthar, as well as previous incidents, with seriousness. Additionally, it requested the state to take responsibility for the fact that, despite signing a peace agreement, remnants of the conflict period continue to pose a danger to citizens’ lives. The loop of killing, injuring, and mutilating innocent children, who have no connection to violence, continues. The recent explosion incident in Panchthar, Phalelung Rural Municipality-5, Prangbung, Dandagaon on August 29, 2024, highlights that much work remains to be done to ensure the protection of children’s rights. In the explosion in Phalelung, an 11-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old child from the same family died. Additionally, two other children, aged seven and eleven, are currently undergoing treatment. The Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) and CWIN Nepal from Koshi Province held a press conference in Phidim on September 3 and 4, 2024, urging the state to take responsibility for the incident. INSEC has appealed to the government through the press release to ensure effective treatment for the injured, provide proper compensation and relief to the families of the deceased, and offer a clear definition of explosives to prevent further dangers. The Panchthar case could cause a serious setback to the peace process.
INSEC has demanded an immediate investigation into the incident and its prosecution in the judicial system. Additionally, INSEC has requested the Government of Nepal to conduct an awareness campaign about explosives.