Normal life in the capital has been affected due to the banda called by the Khas Chhetri Ekata Samaj on Sunday.
Samaj cadres staged demonstration at various places and obstructed vehicular movement in the capital from early morning. Academic institutions and market places have also remained closed due to the band.
Students taking the grade XII exams of Higher Secondary Education Board have been particularly affected. They were forced to walk to their exams venue.
Police have rounded up protestors who were trying to obstruct movement at Maharajgunj, Gangabu, Kalanki, Koteshwor and Chabahil, among others places.
Chhetri Samaj General Secretary Kumar Khadka claimed about 27 Samaj cadres have hospitalised and about 3,000 cadres have been arrested. However, the police said they have detained about 200 protestors from different parts of the capital.
“We are not daunted by the use of force. We might have to come up with even stronger protest program if this continues,” he told nepalitimes.com.
Khadka said Samaj was compelled to organise banda as the government turned deaf to their demands.
Chhetri Samaj called the bandh demanding indigenous identity to Chhetris, reservation based on class instead of caste, referendum to decide on the issues having national importance and against the ethnic based federal state.
The Samaj has imposed banda in the West, Mid-West and Far West zones in the past after it had announced a series of protests on 9 May.
Meanwhile, Alliance for Tourism took out a bike rally defying the banda. People from all walks of life participated the rally that began from Thamel passing through major thoroughfares of the capital.
“We have had enough of banda. We all want constitution on time. Everyone has right to protest but banda organisers should know calling banda and disrupting economic activities costs a country dearly and we should protest such banda,” said Arjun Prasad Sharma, president of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agent.
