One Nepalese Doctor’s Hunger Strike Wins Action From Officials · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

After an assurance that Dr. Prakash Sayami would be reinstated as the dean of Institute of Medicine following Dr. Shashi Sharma's dismissal, senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Govinda KC is ending his third hunger strike in Kathmandu. Image by Narayan Maharjan. Copyright Demotix (24/1/2014)
Dr. Govinda KC, a senior orthopedic surgeon of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Nepal who has earned the nickname Crusader KC, ended his fourth fast-unto-death [ne] on 15 February 2014. Dr. KC, who was fighting to end political interference in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in Nepal, has once again proven that victory can be won without resorting to violence.
The doctor had only ended his third hunger strike for the same reasons on 25 January after officials had assured him they would meet his demands, but he resumed the strike in early February, accusing them of dragging their feet.
He had been demanding to appoint a new dean at the Institute of Medicine (IoM) on the basis of seniority, stop granting affiliation to medical colleges in urban areas, autonomy for IoM and action against Tribhuvan University (TU) vice-chancellor, rector and registrar, who according to him were corrupt and influenced by “medical mafia”.
Medical students taking care of Dr KC during the fast offered juice to him to end the latest eight-day strike, online portal Onlinekhabar reports. An agreement was signed among Dr. KC, the education secretary and the newly appointed Dean of the Institute of Medicine (IoM) Dr. Rakesh Prasad Srivastav, according to The Himalayan Times.
Dr. Sudhamshu KC, a liver specialist, researcher and traveler from Kathmandu, tweeted:
डा केसीले अनसन तोड्नु भयो निकै खुशी लाग्यो । तर टि यूको किरा अझै मार्न बाँकी छ रे । नयाँ मन्त्री परिषदले गतिलो किटनासक प्रयोग गरोस् ।
— Sudhamshu K.C. (@Drsudhamshu) February 15, 2014
Very happy to know that Dr. KC ended the fast. But the pest of TU [Tribhuvan University] is still to be killed. May the new council of ministers use effective pesticide.
Dr. KC enjoyed widespread support from the public during all of his four fasts-unto-death in 2010, August 2012, January 2014 and February 2014.
One of his fans, Manohar, a graduate of life science and biotechnology, tweeted:
Found it somewhere! #DrGovindaKC #Save pic.twitter.com/lTBzlritgt
— जिजीविषा (@manohar_pb) January 19, 2014
Hey,
Those who say you will eat when it falls,
Those who say you will eat when it dies,
KC won’t feel tired
KC won’t retire
Your palace of black property will surely burn down
KC’s dreams will never burn down.
Popular Nepali blog Mysansar [ne] wrote about the doctor's heroics quoting an earlier write-up on him by journalist Surendra Paudel of Nagarik Daily, who has covered the KC extensively:
It’s been 17 years, he packs his bags with medicines and sets off for the remote villages in Nepal, at least twice a year. He has been to the mountains, hills and terai, to serve his countrymen, free of charge. He has served the needy of 72 districts out of the 75 districts in Nepal. And his journey is continuing.
He has not only served Nepalis but has been a helping hand to the survivors of major catastrophes in recent times. He was in Bangladesh after the devastating cyclone in 1993, in India’s Gujarat after the major earthquake, in Pakistan after the earthquake in 2005, in Myanmar in 2008 after the cyclone, and in Haiti after the disastrous earthquake in 2010. He spent several weeks in these countries treating the survivors.
While he treats, distributes medicines, he doesn’t charge anything. He does not accept donation from organisations. It’s his own hard-earned money that he spends in cure of the needy.
Screenshot from the Facebook page “Save IOM, Save Dr. Govinda K C”
Dipak Bhattarai discussed on his blog an anecdote shared on his Facebook by Paudel:
Just after resigning from the premiership, the Maoist supremo Prachanda aka Pushpa Kamal Dahal had invited Dr KC for his health check-up. Dr KC rejected the request and said that he has never gone to anybody’s residence for the check-up due to his busy schedule treating the poor and needy at the hospital. The messenger had to give in to Dr KC’s principles. He also had to abide by the rules. Prachanda had to come to the hospital and wait in queue for the check-up. And he had to do away with his entourage of bodyguards, as suggested by Dr KC only three of them came to the hospital.
While many Nepalese were supportive of his strike, some were irritated by his fourth fast.
Jigyasu Mahesh tweeted:
kaam garna nadine #DrKc ko prabriti le rajniti jhana badauxa.. System collapse banaudaixan #DrKc..
— Jigyasu Mahesh (@sarba_sadharan) February 10, 2014
Dr KC’s ways of not letting work amplifies the politics. [They are] collapsing the system.
Ramen Adhikari wrote.
@Sabdachittra I didn't see the support from some intellects in #DrKc campaign.Couldn't see Dr Upendra Devkota in his path?Where is he now?
— Ramen Adhikari (@AdkRamen) February 15, 2014
To which Milan Bagale replied:
@AdkRamen माफियाले हारुन रमेन सर । ह्रदयदेखिको कामना । जय होस् ।
— शब्दचित्र (@Sabdachittra)  February 15, 2014
Hope the mafia loses the battle. From the deepest of my heart. Victory be with us.
With Dr KC’s ending of the fast, the medical fraternity hopes that this will mark the end of the rule of medical mafia and political interference at the IoM in Nepal.