Kathmandu -- Local people have started to defy strikes called by the UCPN (Maoist)-led 30-party alliance in several parts of the country.
In Dadeldhura district, the local traders took to the streets after the UCPN (Maoist) cadres forcibly shut their shops on Monday. The traders staged demonstrations and shouted slogans against the strike enforcers.
After retaliation by the local traders, the strike enforcers, mostly the UCPN (Maoist) cadres, fled and all shops were reopened in Dadeldhura.
The local traders chased away the strike enforcers in Chandragadhi bazaar of Jhapa district as well on Monday.
A strike enforcer sustained a minor injury to his head while being chased away by the agitated traders of Chandragadhi. The injured has been identified by police as Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Jhapa chapter president of Youth Association affiliated to Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) Nepal.
The strike was defied in Surunga bazaar of Jhapa as well. On 11 January, a meeting of the local traders of Jhapa had unanimously decided to strikes called by any political party.
Shops, factories and educational institutes forcibly shut by the strike enforcers reopened after retaliation by the local traders in Chandragadhi and Surunga bazaar.
However, the strike enforcers successfully shut down several cities and towns across the Terai region on Monday. In Janakpur, a strike enforcer died after he fell into a pothole while forcibly shutting down local shops. The dead has been identified by police as Rajaram Jha, a 25-year-old resident of Janapur-4.
According to SP Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, Jha lost consciousness immediately after falling into the pothole and died while being rushed to Janakpur Zonal Hospital.
As January 22 – a deadline set by major political parties to write the new constitution – approaches, the UCPN (Maoist)-led alliance has started to call strikes in several parts of the country.
The UCPN (Maoist)-led alliance has been at loggerheads with the ruling NC and the UML over basis of federalism, restructuring of the state, form of governance and models of judiciary and electoral system. As the major political parties polarised between the government and the opposition camps fail to hammer out their differences over these key issues, promulgation of the new constitution by January 22 looks uncertain.
Currently, the CA's Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCCC) has been conducting a series of parleys to reach a consensus on the disputed issues of the new constitution.
Chhatra Saud from Dadeldhura and Gopal Gadtaula from Jhapa have contributed to this reporting.