The guardians

Rupak D Sharma in Bangkok
Asia News Network
Publication Date : 24-05-2010

Residents of Kathmandu set an example on May 7 by peacefully compelling the opposition party to call off the nationwide general strike

Recently, one of my friends from Nepal updated his Facebook status with an emotional note: “I live by a simple code—honour your gods and love your women. Nepal is our mother. Fight for her.”

This was right on the day Nepal’s opposition Maoist party had launched an indefinite general strike calling on the prime minister to step down.

Five days later, another Facebook friend pitched her voice: “Painting the city red, blue and white tomorrow @ 9am. Calling k town. C u all there!”

She was referring to a peace rally that the civil society was planning to hold the next day in Kathmandu to protest against the nationwide shutdown which had forced closure of all firms, schools and marketplaces, and crippled public and private transport system.

Soon comments gushed.

One said: “Yeap let’s do it.” Another joined in: “C ya there.” And another rapped: “Be there to support the cause.”

Clearly, these voices were coated with veneer of frustration. They were so tired of being taken for granted they were now willing to stand against the party, which is known for its notorious behaviour of threatening more privileged ones to donate money or breaking people’s legs and arms when disappointed.

But the more remarkable thing was these voices were coming from the people of middle and upper-middle classes of urban Kathmandu.

This is a group of people who are more concerned about their careers or businesses and often share their political views or dissatisfaction with friends or family members in living rooms, or in bars over bottles of beer or glasses of whiskey or wine. Rambling on the streets shouting slogans is a big no-no for them.

But the indefinite general strike was so agonising it worked as a spark to the prairie of discontent that had built up over the years. Next day, on May 7, the fire started. Thousands of residents of Kathmandu poured onto the streets and asked the opposition party to call off its strikes and give the people some respite.

This was the first time the Kathmanduites mustered up the courage to express their solidarity against an irrational practice that has crippled the country for years. And it worked. Within hours the Maoist party cancelled their plans to prolong the shutdown and allowed vehicles to ply on the streets; and schools, shops and offices to reopen.

Then another friend updated his Facebook status: “General strike halted. I guess a moral victory for the peace-loving people. It is a battle won but not the war. Viva Nepal!!!”

Like he said the residents of Kathmandu had only won a single battle. In order to win the war the civil society must exert even greater pressure on all political parties to put an end to the trend of shutting down the country to serve their petty interests.

Over the years, Nepalis have seen countless of these shutdowns. During these strikes vehicles are not allowed to move on the streets. If they are seen they will either be smashed or set on fire. It’s the same with marketplaces and schools. Shops selling goods or schools conducting classes during these times will most likely see a huge downpour of stones and bricks on them. It’s the tourists who face the worst nightmare during these times, as they have to remain confined to their hotel rooms. Because of this many even wrap up their visits hastily giving a blow to the country’s tourism industry.

Rough estimates say that one day of closure costs around 3 billion rupees (US$40 million) to the country’s economy. That’s a huge amount of money considering the Nepalis’ per capita income of less than $500.

Its impacts are even harsher on daily wage earners who end up earning nothing on days when these general strikes are called. And even if they find work they might have to face the wrath of protesters like in the recent case when members of Maoist party assaulted more than two dozens labourers caught working in sand mines.

Then there are vegetable and dairy farmers whose products have to be thrown away due to unavailability of transport services. And while these farmers dump their products to waste, prices of edibles go through the roof in other places, affecting low-income groups. This is exactly what happened during the six-day countrywide general strike called by the opposition Maoist party, when a curfew-like shutdown was clamped allowing general stores to open for only two hours a day in the evening.

Despite knowing its impacts, Nepal’s political parties continue to resort to this fanatical way of voicing their displeasure. Recognising its effectiveness in creating pressure on the concerned body, even smaller groups are now calling these strikes for minor reasons like death of a person in a road accident or to show displeasure over a certain government policy. It is now said that even if a group of five or 10 people utter the word “shutdown” the entire country will grind to a standstill.

The example set by the residents of Kathmandu on May 7 is the only way to deal with this problem for now. If Kathmanduites can prevent the Maoist party from prolonging the strike they can do so when another party announces similar shutdown. And many people, I presume, are ready for this.

This was what another of my Facebook friends had to say regarding standing up against the shutdowns: “(We can do it) again and again and againnnnnnnnnnnnnn………………….” As a Nepali, I think this is a fight worth fighting for to teach reckless and irresponsible political parties some lessons.Published in AsiaNews