Shutdown to go ahead, after all

KATHMANDU, NOV 11 -

Ignoring calls from various quarters to call off a 10-day banda that is scheduled to begin on Monday, the CPN-Maoist -led 33-party alliance on Sunday said it would go ahead with its plans, albeit with some ‘revisions.’

The party said it has shortened the scheduled 10-day general strike to a single day (Monday), but added that a transport strike would remain in place for all the 10 days.

The parties said that from Tuesday onwards, they will not force offices and businesses to close down. They said all vehicles, including school buses, will be barred from plying the roads.

Some leaders in the CPN-Maoist said they could scale down the strike, depending on the public reaction on the first day.

A section in the party, including CPN-M Chairman Mohan Baidya and Vice-chairman CP Gajurel, are in favour of shortening the banda. However, hardliners in the poll-opposing alliance led byCPN-Maoist secretary Netra Bikram Chand are against modifications to the scheduled banda regardless of the public pressure.

The ‘revision’ in the original plan followed a meeting of the alliance held at the CPN-Maoist ’s headquarters in Buddhanagar on Sunday.

CPN-M Secretary Dev Gurung said the alliance felt the need to “modify its banda, considering the hardship the common people would face.”

“We didn’t change the planned protest because the government threatened us, but we did so to keep people away from hardships,” he said, adding, “The government is seeking a non-political solution to a political issue. It is not something that can be addressed by deploying security personnel.”

Other leaders in the alliance, however, said they were forced to “scale down” the banda following widespread public criticism. Various stakeholders, including the government, political parties, professional organisations, civil society and the business community, have called on the poll-opposing parties to call off the banda.