“Strike was a flop”

A nationwide general strike enforced by the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) has failed to make an impact in the capital, Janajati leaders admitted on Sunday.

The umbrella body of various associations of indigenous peoples had announced a two-day general strike beginning Sunday to press its demand for identity-based federal provinces in the new constitution.

However, the shutdown failed to make an impact on Kathmandu Valley as most people fed up with strikes defied it. Public vehicles are plying on the streets in significantly high numbers. Shops are open in most places, and no incidents of arson and vandalism have been reported.

However, the situation elsewhere is different. The Tarai has been suffering more than a week of shut-downs by various group, including the Tharus, Madhesi activists and others.

Janajati leaders have concluded that their shutdown has not worked, and they are now preparing to review their strategy. They are likely to call off the second day of the strike in the capital for Monday.

NEFIN's Vice President Himal Dandu Sherpa told Nepali Times: "The state has repressed us by deploying huge numbers of police personnel, and even soldiers in the capital today. People would have otherwise not dared to defy our strike."

Sherpa said police arrested 100 of his supporters in the Valley, including Janajati leaders Pasang Sherpa, Bhisan Rai, Resham Gurung and GS Gurung. They had not yet been freed till late afternoon.

Although Janajati pressure groups say the government foiled their strike by beefing up security, the failure is also believed to be a result of internal struggle within NEFIN.

NEFIN is registered as an NGO that runs projects with funding from donor agencies, and was not ready to call a strike at all. Even in the past, NEFIN had lost funding when it tried to enforce shutdowns.

This time, the NC and the UML had cleverly weakened NEFIN's political strength by nominating President Nagendra Kumal and General Secretary Pemba Bhote as members of the Constituent Assembly (CA). Kumal and Bhote did not want to call a strike against their own parties but faced allegations within the NEFIN that they had stabbed their own communities in the back. They relented in the end.

The strike has affected eastern Nepal more severely. The Madhesi Front and the Tharuhat Struggle Committee have already been enforcing separate indefinite strikes in the eastern, central and western plains.

NEFIN has rejected the seven-province federalism model, saying that it will divide ethnic clusters of the Magar and Tharu peoples. "If ethnic clusters are divided, ethnic leaders will not win elections from their constituencies," said Sherpa. "It is a clever move to stop us from rising in national politics."

NEFIN has also demanded formation of Janajati Commission, proportional representation of indigenous people in all state organs and implementation of the ILO convention-169 that guarantees their prior rights over local natural resources.