The government has decided to declare Padam Limbu alias Lajehang, who died during the agitation against the naming of Koshi province, as a martyr.
A cabinet meeting held on Friday decided to declare Limbu a martyr.
Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Sudan Kiranti informed that it was decided to declare Limbu a martyr.
"I would like to inform you that the Cabinet has decided to support the family of Padam Limbu, who supported the movement against the naming of Koshi Province, as a martyr," Minister Kiranti said.
He was the central co-commander of the Limbuwan Volunteers affiliated to the Federal Democratic National Forum.
The 42-year-old Limbu was active in the Limbuwan movement since 2052.
Lajehang who sustained critical injuries during the demonstration staged calling for the scrapping 'Koshi' as the name of Province 1 in Biratnagar on March 19.
Critically injured Limbu who was undergoing treatment at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences breathed his last in course of treatment on March 24.
Limbu of Tehrathum, Sabla, who was currently staying at Dharan Sub Metropolitan City, sustained injuries to his forehead when security personnel fired a teargas shell to quell the demonstration, according to Khagenra Makhim, a member of Janata Samajbadi Party Limbuwan Rastriya Samiti.
The Province 1 Renaming Joint Struggle Committee had not received the body of Limbu until he was declared a martyr and due compensation was provided to the family of the deceased.
The body was kept at the mortuary of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan.
Various pro-identity ethnic groups including Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, Kirat Rai Yayokkha, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, Kirat Dharma Tatha Sahitya Utthan Sangh, Sherpa Association of Nepal have been staging protests after Province 1 adopted 'Koshi' as its name.
A provincial assembly meeting of Province 1 adopted 'Koshi' as its official name for the province on March 1. In the 93-member province assembly, 82 lawmakers voted for the motion, four aginst while the remaining lawmakers abstained from voting.
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