Maoists, conflict, strikes and protests…A blog for my politically minded geeckish friends….

This week in Nepal there has been a spate of complicated strikes and conflict involving the Government and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN-Maoists). It is hard to explain the cause and effect of the recent conflict. Firstly, because conflict of this sort is so entrenched and has a long history here. And secondly because you tend to have to put the picture together from word of mouth about what is happening in the country at any given time.

(PS: Mom, just for your sanity: most of the photos in this blog are from the local media, I wasn't at or anywhere even remotly close the conflict- breath easy!)
A basic and rough history of the interaction between Maoist rebels and the Government goes a little like this: 

 The civil war, coined the “People's War” (by the Maoists) erupted between the Maoist rebels and government forces. The majority of the conflict took place between 1996 and 2006. It commenced when the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) attempted to overthrow the Nepalese monarchy to establish the "People's Republic of Nepal." It ended with a Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in 2006 which is now monitored by United Nations Mission in Nepal. During this period an estimated 13000 people were killed and 100,000-150,000 people were displaced, but of coarse actual numbers are always estimates and are different depending on what you read.

The 2006 peace agreement signed by the major political parties had spread cautious optimism about future peace in Nepal. The 2008 Constituent Assembly elections reinforced this confidence for peace. However there has been recent sporadic conflicts including an incident that took place last Friday the 4^th December in the West of Nepal.

 “Reports” (and I say this with hesitation as details are still sketchy) recount that there was police action against some Maoist aligned squatters in the Kailali-based Dudhejhadi forest. Between three and five people were shot dead in the conflict which has been described by UCPN officials as heavy handed and as Government officials as necessary action for driving out the landless squatters.

 The Unted National People’s Movement of the UCPN-Maoist called an unscheduled Banda (closure/strike) that took place on Sunday in protest of the event on Friday, along with many street marches. There are also scheduled Bandas (over the next few weeks- in regards to the political process and talks in general). The impact this has on everyday life for people in the bigger cities like here in Pokhara or in the capital Kathmandu relates to the effect of total closures of transport.

(Also for your sanity Mom!)

A banda (essentially a strike that forces closure) involves the shutting down of all public and private transportation, local shops, businesses and schools. This in turn stops people from being able to get to work or school as local and tourist buses, taxis etc do not run. Therefore economic exchange, tourism, industry etc comes to a grinding stop very quickly. Fuel does not turn up to petrol stations, food does not get delivered to villages, children go without the limited education they have already. Pokhara was like a ghost town on Sunday. There was some action though that brought a smile to my face. The children running around (stoked as they have the day off school…again) were kicking soccer balls and playing hacky sack all over the roads because there are no cars or the throngs of motorbikes that are normally fanging around. There are not many flat concreted areas for the kids to play so they were out in force! The Pokhara children’s world cup soccer festival….And I’m sure I’ll see it again when they are not aloud at school next week.

It is hard to explain how or why the Maoists have the ability to do what they do . It is sometimes a reaction (or consequence they are enforcing) to unmet demands they may be making during discussions with the Government. Or protests to what they see as unfair treatment toward their followers (who are generally uneducated, uninformed rural people). But it seems like Maoist initiated Banda, car bombs, violent protests or civilian murders and the like are all attempts to assert their self perceived level of power over the country. This kind of intimidation and interruption to the nation is having devastating effects for unnecessary reasons, and with no result or positive political reform. The future of the Nepali political climate is uncertain as no party is even close to abandoning partisan politics, even on issues of critical national importance. 

 I think I’ll just stick to playing soccer with the future world cup Pokhara soccer stars during the next strike...