Protest at Maoist toilet lock up

Thousands of local government workers in Nepal have gone on strike after a Maoist minister locked up an "errant official" in a toilet.

The official had incurred the minister's wrath for allegedly running an illegal stone mine.

Striking workers said that his incarceration inside a toilet was an "inhumane and objectionable act".

But the minister responded by saying that the official now knows what it is like to live in a "foul environment".

Reports from Nepal say that the Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, Matrika Yadav, locked up local development officer Dandu Raj Ghimire for one and a half hours on Tuesday inside a toilet room.

Mr Ghimire was accused by the recently elected Maoist minister of "violating his order for banning stone mining in the Devichaur area" of the Kathmandu valley.

The minister has accused Mr Ghimire of allowing the illegal mining operation to continue despite frequent requests to ban such activities that were upsetting the locals.

The Local Level Employees Organisation (LLEO) has now called a nationwide strike over the minister's actions.

More than 4,000 local development committees and municipalities have shut their offices.

But correspondents say their protest is unlikely to have much impact in the day-to-day administration of the country.

"It is indeed very disgraceful that a senior minister treated a government official in such an objectionable manner, he must apologise for the misconduct," a LLEO spokesman said.

Mr Yadav said he had locked Mr Ghimire in the toilet "to teach him a lesson".

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