Organisers of the Peace Rally scheduled for Friday have received threats of bodily harm, one of the organisers said on the condition of anonymity because of fear of further harm.
The banda-opposing rally, due to be held in Basantapur Darbar Square, was organised jointly by the Federation of National Chamber of Commerce, Professionals’ Alliance for Peace and Democracy and a host of others human rights and civil society organisations.
The organisers are currently holding a meeting in Kathmandu to decide whether to postpone the rally after one of the FNCCI members' commercial property was vandalised by suspected Maoists.
Earlier on Thursday, YCL leader Kul Bahadur Sonam said his party would retaliate against anyone who dared to oppose the strike. "We will send YCL members to the place on incident, take the opponents in control, and make their names public," he said.
His statement followed reports of locals up in arms against the banda in various parts of the country.
Update: The peace rally will go ahead as planned, it has been confirmed.