Dr KC has been staging hunger strikes as a means to demand reform in the medical education sector in Nepal. He says he wants the expensive costs of medical education to be regulated and accused government listening to “medical education mafias” instead of looking after the needs of the people.
Before starting the 16th iteration of his hunger strike in the eastern Nepali township of Illam (famous for its tea and other produce), Dr KC said he had no other option but to launch his nonviolent campaign.
Last year in July, Dr KC ended his 15th hunger strike after the Nepali government promised it would table a bill in the federal parliament addressing all of his demands.
Instead, the ruling party which has a two-thirds majority in the federal Nepali parliament flexed its muscle and passed the bill last week without incorporating fully what Dr KC was demanding.
His supporters argue that the Parliamentary Committee which prepared the National Health Education Bill distorted the provisions incorporated in it as per the agreement between him and the government rendering Dr KC with no choice but to protest peacefully through the hunger strike - something he's synonymous within Nepal.
But, according to a former Speaker of the house, Subash Nembang, who was also a member of the talk team formed by the government during Dr KC's 15th hunger strike, 95 per cent of the humanitarian doctor's demands have been met by the government.
He says, "We have fulfilled our promise as 95 per cent of his demands have been incorporated in this Bill."
Jeevan Chhetri, a doctor himself, who has been supporting Dr KC's movement for reform in the Nepali health education sector disagrees.
"This government had agreed to meet the demands of Dr KC, and we have the written agreement. The Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli himself had said Dr KC would not have to stage another hunger strike. But the government has also breached that agreement," he said.
Another supporter of Dr KC's cause, Dr Abhishek Singh adds, "This provision of Nepali universities not providing affiliation to more than five medical colleges has been distorted in the bill."
Furthermore, the government had previously agreed to scrap programs below intermediate level run by the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT ) within five years. This expectation has also not been met says, Dr Singh.
The federal parliamentarians of the ruling party in Nepal say Dr KC's current hunger strike is useless. One of those is Yogesh Bhattarai, and on the day the National Medical Health Bill passed in the Nepali lower house, he said, "Dr KC, please call off your hunger strike, go and celebrate your victory."
A few hours later Dr KC called a press conference and told the media that he would not end his strike until the government fulfilled its promise.
Former Nepali Chief Justice, Kalyan Shrestha, has urged the government led by the Communist Party of Nepal, to solve the current impasse through dialogue with Dr KC.
"The state of no dialogue could push the country into a new round of conflict," said former Chief Justice Shrestha.
However, none of the governments in Nepal - both past and present - that had reached an agreement with Dr KC have ever fulfilled their promise.
The doctor is known for his extensive travelling to remote parts of the Himalayan nation. Carrying his medical kit on a rucksack, he travelled to areas where people do not have proper medical facilities or treatment.
His style of living and many peaceful hunger strikes has often been likened to that the Mahatma Gandhi, who used to stage hunger strikes during the freedom movement in British India.
He is also known for going out of his way to help people in need. Two years ago, he called off his hunger strike due to a significant flood affecting many parts of Nepal.
"I can't sit here and do nothing when people are dying and are desperate need of help," he said at the time. Soon after he called off his hunger strike, Dr KC was seen examining the flood-affected people.
The doctors attending him say his health is deteriorating and quickly want to shift him to an intensive care unit (ICU) but in a media statement released on Thursday said, “Dr KC is refusing admission to ICU or take any electrolyte replacements.”
Meanwhile, many doctors supporting Dr KC, have been staging a relay hunger strike in solidarity, since January 28.
On the other hand, the Nepali government has not yet shown any signs of holding talks with KC.
