Kathmandu – Normal life was paralysed in various parts of the country due to strikes called by the UCPN (Maoist), its allies and other factions on Sunday.
Normal life was interrupted in Eastern Nepal due to a strike called by the UCPN-Maoist led 30-party alliance.
According to Kheseham Khajun of Federal Limbuwan Party, a member of the alliance, the strike was called to exert pressure on the NC and the UML to write the new constitution through consensus by 22 January.
The alliance has demanded that Nepal be divided into 10 autonomous federal provinces based on ethnic identity while the NC and the UML support division of provinces based on geographical identity.
The cadres of the UCPN (Maoist) and its alliance members have started disrupting everyday life by obstructing traffic and closing down schools and shops east of Saptakoshi River. The strike has brought all vehicles, travelling both long and short routes, to a halt. However, rickshaws, motorcycles and ambulances are not affected by the strike.
In Dharan, the UCPN (Maoist) cadres ransacked the office of Nepal Plastic Pvt. Ltd. because they did not agree with the demands of the strike.
According to District Police Office of Jhapa, no other problematic incidents were reported. Local businessmen and entrepreneurs have urged the agitating parties to find alternative methods to strikes to get their message across. Last Friday, the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of the UCPN (Maoist), had also called on a general strike in the Eastern region of Nepal.
Meanwhile, the strike called by the Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist in Western Nepal left hundreds of people stranded in Salli Bazaar of Salyan on Sunday.
Passengers heading towards Kathmandu and Nepalgunj from Dolpa district were forced to stay in hotels due to the strike because there was no mode of transportation.
"We haven’t been able to get to our destination on time; we are using all our money to pay for the hotels. It does not matter which party calls for a strike, it’s the common people like us whose lives are disrupted," said Hari Nanda Karki, a resident of Majhfal VDC-6 of Dolpa.
While political parties like the NC, the CPN-UML and the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have vowed not to declare strikes on their election manifestos, others are still depending on strikes to prove their point.