Business community announces indefinite shutdown against Maoist "intimidation"

Kantipur Report


KATHMANDU, March 19 - The business community on Sunday declared an indefinite closure of all industries, factories, import-export, education institutions, transport, and business from 3pm today, protesting against Maoist attacks on entrepreneurs.
The agitating Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) today announced its indefinite strike, stating that the government had not appeared "serious" regarding their problems.

A team led by the FNCCI -- which had arrived at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Baluwatar residence to hand over a memorandum stating their demands– publicized their plan of agitating during a press meet organized in front of the no. 3 gate of the PM residence.

Angered by the PM's refusal to meet them, the representatives of the business community had announced their strike there and then.

According to sources, the irate entrepreneurs had headed towards Durbar Marg following the announcement. The protesters then took out a rally in the streets of the capital.

President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Binod Chaudhary said that although there had been repeated instances of Maoist intimidations, threatening, taking over of factories, yesterday's brutal thrashing of an hotelier was the last straw.

"It is pointless to continue with the business and industries when people are being taken from a central place like Durbar Marg and beaten up in such brutal manner," Chaudhary said.

He further added that Nepal's economy would suffer heavily if the activities to bring down the morale of business community continue as present and the government and the eight parties do not get serious and guarantee security to businesspersons.

Chaudhary said that business community's repeated requests for security should not be mistaken as a sign of weakness, adding that taking to the streets was a compulsion, not a choice.

The CNI chairman warned of continuing with the agitation and shut down until eight party leaders are able to "convince the private sector" and until an appropriate arrangement is made to address the demands of the agitating business community.

Following their announcement, all the business ventures including banks were shut down after 3pm today. Likewise, the Internet Service Provider Association of Nepal (ISPAN) today expressed solidarity with the protest, shutting down internet services for an hour from 4pm to 5pm all over the nation.

Earlier, the Maoists had forcefully seized Harilal Shrestha, the owner of the Hotel Woodland at Durbarmarg, Kathmandu yesterday and beat him up severely, on the charge of supporting the king.

Country is heading towards nowhere zone lead by mob rules...People are not experiencing any existence of Govt.Govt has got enough time to maintain peace but failed because of lack of will to do that.They just want to stick in a power no matter what haapens to the people and country.Seems to me,thay have not learnt anything from past.

When PM of country and political leaders are busy in bargaining Ministerial Portfolio instead of solving any problem country is currently facing How can we expect anything positive to happen. I support Business Community in this regard of Bandha because the government has left no choice to them. They have been asking Maoist to stop extortion for last 10 months but the government nor Maoist did anything positive in this time.

Jai Nepal.

If you watch the movie "Blood Diamonds" starring Leo Caprio, you will see how the civil war in Sierra Leone in Africa was played out by warlords who used gun-toting child soldiers to kill their enemies.

Shift the scene to Nepal.

Imagine, now, a bunch of private 'soldiers' who are in their teens, wielding sticks, knives and khukuris, kidnapping business people
with all sorts of excuses and then beating them senseless in the
name of the revolution.

Meantime, Prachanda looks on with his deranged smile, like some crazy uncle. Tomorrow, he will come up with a nice excuse and lie shamelessly again -- folling the media, and seducing the rest.

And the entire pantheons of Nepali Civil Society simply do NOT have the balls to take on the Maoists' atrocitries, preferring, as they
do, the easy target . . . of further kicking a defeated, defanged
and demoralized king, when the rate of returns of doing so is very low at this point.

oohi
ashu

It'd be interesting to see how Dahal squirms his way out of this tomorrow in a press conference or through his statements.

*****

Here is an amateur psy profile of Dahal



Our own spin-doctor
Dahal may have the gift of gab but does he have substance?


From Issue #322 (10 November 06 - 16 November 06) |

In Rolpa, February 1996, Pushpa Kamal Dahal officially started the ‘People’s War’, which has since claimed close to 15,000 Nepalis.

That war stood on the cusp of being metamorphosed into an open political force in the wee hours of Wednesday. Historians will someday flesh out how Dahal led his underground guerillas to the globally televised press conference at Yak & Yeti, where he announced the beginning of the formation of a new Nepal. But if his recent behaviour gives any indication, what tactics does Dahal use to get what he wants?

Remain above the fray: Dahal is a master at giving the impression that he is above the rough and tumble of usual politics. It wasn’t him, for instance, who went around asking Kathmandu Valley residents to provide food and shelter to comrades who were going to show up from all over Nepal for the Friday’s million man rally. It was Kathmandu’s residents who—abetted by reactionaries—misunderstood the comrades’ polite requests for voluntary help. In his magnanimity, Dahal has cancelled the event. The Valley residents can now thank him for taking their worries into account. Besides, how can you not admire the man’s selfless credentials? Unlike power-hungry politicians, he says that he is not even joining the interim government.

Answer questions with questions: Rewind and watch his interviews. A pattern emerges. He takes the question, flinches a little, but turns it around and throws it back in the form of a different question. Is violence justified? Didn’t Nepali Congress too take up arms in the late 1940s to overthrow the Ranas? Are you sorry that so many people died for your cause? Why not ask the government first?

Blame others; take credit: Dahal’s answers, when not in the form of questions, have two parts: blaming others for things that went wrong and taking credit for things that went right. The Jana Andolan II was a success only because the Maoists played a major role. The recent peace process almost got derailed because of other political parties’ shortsightedness. Dahal even managed to take credit for having publicly apologized to the victims of the Madi bus massacre. Never mind that he did not even allow the press corps to be present in Madi. Nor did he mention that Madi residents appeared far less satisfied with his politically calculated PR stunt. In his book, it’s the act alone—not the verifiable truth—which plays to the gallery.

Play to your audience: Under different circumstances, Dahal would have made an excellent PR executive. He’s for free markets when meeting with businessmen, for women’s rights when talking with women’s groups, for providing compensations when with Maoist victims, for press freedom when having coffee with journalists and so forth. He’s a man for all seasons who has painstakingly cultivated an image of physical likeability, speaking plainly, using stirring quotes from poets such as Gopal Prasad Rimal, and knowing when to smile for the cameras. Faced with someone who reminds you of an avuncular ad guy, which journalist is going to keep on daring to ask Dahal about his cadres’ extorting small businesses, kidnapping people and murdering indiscriminately?

In the press conference (in Nov 2006), Dahal talked of forming a new Nepal. What remains to be seen is whether in that process Nepalis will also get to see the formation of a new Dahal.

Ashu,

Looks like he will simply deny it.

http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2007/mar/mar19/news12.php

Blame someone else, a regressive force, for everything that goes wrong.
__________________________________________________

Maoists deny hand in manhandling of businessman

The Maoists have claimed that the manhandling of a businessman in Kathmandu last night has nothing to do with their party.

Talking to Nepalnews, Maoist leader Dev Gurung said his party had no policy to abduct or take action against anybody and claimed that the attack on Hari Shrestha, owner of Hotel Woodland at Durbar Marg, on Sunday night could be the result of dispute between the employers and the workers.

He, however, said the party would investigate into the incident and initiate action if any party cadre was found involved. He said the party was ready to help solve the problem through dialogue.

Gurung, who is the deputy leader of the Maoists in the parliament, said as his party had not yet joined the government it had nothing much to do to end the shutdown strike called by the businessmen in protest against 'Maoist intimidation'.

Saying that the business community was only targeting the Maoist party, he said the strike of the businessmen smacked of "involvement of reactionaries".
The owner of Hotel Woodlands, Hari Lal Shrestha, talking to journalists outside the PM's residence in Baluwatar after he was allegedly beaten by the Maoists on Sunday night. He said he was attacked for refusing to provide 'donations' as demanded by them, Monday, Mar 19 07. nepalnews.com/ANA

Meanwhile, the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union has also denied involvement in the attack on the owner of Hotel Woodland. A press release issued by the Union today stated that the incident was all about a dispute between former workers who were suspended from jobs and the hotel management.

A group of 'Maoist cadres' had abducted Shrestha from the hotel and severely beat him up. Shrestha has said the Maoists tortured him as he refused to pay Rs 2 million donation to them. nepalnews.com mk/pb Mar 19 07

I don't know about ya'll but I already see it coming...prachanda will once again shamelessly lable the whole episode as another royal conspiracy and that he has soild evidence to prove it. if asked when will he make the evidence public, he will reply his party is gathering more evidences LOL

honestly, with all due respect to the people of bihar, prachanda is getting away with the kind of crap even bihari politicians wouldn't have with their people. and the so called civil society is a prime example of it.

ops just as i was typing mine..the news is already out.

thanks vacc

Here's a typical email I receive from Nepali business friends.

This is quite true.

No business growth = no jobs

You cannot EAT ideologies and slogans.

oohi
ashu

*****************

"We are seriously considering the shifting our manufacturing base from here to some place where we are likely to survive. Infact, many of the true blue garment exporters from Nepal have started shifting their manufacturing base to much more greener pastures in northern India and in some cases even to Vietnam where the government and the frame conditions are far more favorable.

The reason being the current approach of the Maoist towards the enterprises and their perception being the entrepreneurial community being nothing but class oppressors. Most of exporters are saying “We really do not mind having an open dialogue with Maoist Trade Unions and come up with initiative on improve the conditions of the workers and it could be by the means of increasing the remuneration or other perks.

Fair enough, our margins may suffer and may go down to the level of 2/3%, however we need to be assured that we can fulfill our orders from our hard earned customers. Let’s say if we get 3000 sq meters of order from a customer and we need to finish the fabrication by March 15, 2007 I am in no position to confirm that I can finish the order. Every other day, the Maoist activists barge into the factory and take the workers to some meetings or conventions with no consideration for work schedule”. As per most of the entrepreneurs, this is the most critical issue i.e losing face in front of their buyers.

They say they are willing with take loss but being not able to confirm orders and painfully watching those orders slipping away to either Benaras or China is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to the economy here. This also means that the importers will have to think twice before they trust the Nepali exporters for long time to come

Whenever, the maoist leaders are quizzed on this they simply say that this is a transitional phase and some section of the society will suffer and they coolly add we suffered for over 12 years in the Jungle. I wish there was somebody who would drill it to them that this attitude of theirs would render hundred of thousand of workers soon enough…

The PM's residence might have been a logical starting point, but I wonder if Prachanda's residence is where they should go next. Don't be surprised, it just might happen. If not the businessman, someone or the other is bound to bang on his doors soon. And who knows that might be more effective than SPA and civil society baby-talking to him.

Just a thought.

This is an awful news. Maoists have now crossed the limit. I support indefinite closure of business until this issue is resolved. It’s about time to kick the Maoists out of Kathmandu and Nepal. Enough is enough!

One positive outcome of this unfortunate event will be now uprising of the “sleeping giants” against Maoists. This is a spark that will now light the fire for the mainstream revolution. So far the giants have not been as affected as the average Nepali population. Giants = upper middle class and the wealthy segment.

I think general people have a wrong picture of Nepal’s economic system, business community and its leaders. So far the Maoists uprising is based on how the poor has been forced to be part of socio-economic system that has obstacles for people in lower social or economic class to progress. It might have been true during Pachayat Kal. But my friends if anybody were to stipulate the data on economic growth after 90s democratic revolution, the number should speak volume. I don’t have any authentic data to support my argument but based on what I have personally witnessed, the number of middleclass and upper middle class sky-rocketed during post 90s democratic revolution. Most of the millionaires of our country are self-made. Kathmandu is a land of opportunity where dreams do come true. Maoists are exploiting people who didn’t dream as the people who came to Kathmandu to persue their dreams…remember Marwaris, Manages, Tibetans???? Its time that the people stand against these Maoists whose only strategy is to instill fears. Its time we declare war against the Maoists!

This news is two years old.
But this has been a pattern.

************


RICHES TO RAGS ? A TALE OF DISPLACEMENT


"We have been uprooted. There?s nobody to help us"

BY SURENDRA PHUYAL IN NEW DELHI
Kantipur online

Until Baishakh 1, 2062 (April 14, 2005), Amar Bahadur Thapa, 55, of Rolpa?s Badachaur village was a proud owner of a well-stocked convenience store at Sulichaur, located 35 kilometeres away from Rolpa?s district headquarter ? Liwang. He possessed assets and properties worth over 20 million Nepali rupees (NRs) and often used to donate money for local projects. His social reputation had also earned him the presidency of a local road construction project under the 2001 Integrated Social Development Program (ISDP).

Five months later, his life has been turned upside down. His happy family has disintegrated as a result of the Maoists? brutal ways. His family members have been forced to flee their village and relocate to relatively safer areas in Nepalgunj, Butwal and neighbouring towns in India. Amar, the family?s breadwinner, has reached Rikangpio in the Kinnor district of India?s Himanchal Pradesh. His wife and ageing parents are currently in Nepalgunj; two of his sons are job-hunting in north Indian cities.

?They (the Maoists) asked me to send my children ? five sons and two daughters, all between 15 to 30 years of age ? to join their militia," said Amar. "I couldn?t do that. So, in retribution, they attacked our shops and houses and looted all our property ? in two separate raids in April and August.?

No different is the tale narrated by Hukum Bahadur Thapa, 52, a former chief of Amar?s village. Reportedly, the rebels looted Hukum?s property worth NRs 80 million; they also captured his 32-year-old son Govinda?s shop and house at Runibang village. ?We are fine here, but we are extremely worried about our spouses, ageing parents and little children in Nepal,? said Hukum. ?We have been uprooted. There?s nobody to help us.?

Bir Bahadur Bista, also originally from mid-western Nepal, has been trying to help the displaced Thapas. The social worker, currently based at Rampur in Himanchal Pradesh, said: ?They are (were) all hardworking entrepreneurs back home. This war has made them beggars. We are raising some funds to help them. We are also trying to find them decent jobs.? He demanded an investigation into the matter by all local human rights organizations, including the National Human Rights Commission, and the government. Echoing the Thapas? grievances, he asserted: ?Grave injustice has been meted out against them; you should help us ensure justice for them and compensate them adequately.?

Now that Dashain is around the corner and the rebels have declared a three-month-long unilateral ceasefire, would the Thapas be willing to return to their remote villages? ?No I don?t want to go back to my village,? said Amar. ?If I do, or try to take the help of the security forces, they will kill me; they will kill us all. It?s better to do menial jobs here in India than get slaughtered.?

I think the business community made a bad move by declaring an indefinite closure of all industries, and factories among others as if the shut down of all businesses by different protest groups was not enough!! These very same entrepreneurs and businesses will be the ones who will have to take the hit from these closures.

I do not expect government to take any "actions" against these perpetators except, may be, a consolation from Girija that he will ask Prachanda to control his cadres. I wish media was more critical of the Maoists, scrutanizing even their misdemeanors.

couldn't they come up with a better option to protest (display their rage over "mao-atrocities") than shutting down the business for an "indefinite" period?

LooTe

In this age of Bandh (which affects Business community of Kathmandu the most), what else do you think is the way protest?

The other day, bunch of Maoist were at a Clothing Store in Indrachowk to demand 5000 rupees (apparently daily rate) "donation." The shopowner was telling the Maobadi that he had not even done any sale that day and was refusing to pay. Of course, after bargaining they took away 1000 rupees. From one store (1000 rs daily) they are making 240000 rupees a month. Its easy money for them and everyone is scared. Shanti julush would not help much, would it?

Mr. LooTeKuKur and Guest4...what do you want Business owners and Entreprenuer to do...keep a shot gun in their counter and shoot those MOFOs (i am using this word for the first time in public blog just to show my anger at them)...Give me a better option to deal with this situation...you go to PMO and PM decideds to decline the memorandum and refuses to meet the group...now what other choice to they have???? Just give me a better alternate to deal...when the Judicial systems is non-existence...there is no law in the country...police and army are reluctant to act out of fear of being punished by so call creator of New Nepal....where are MOFOs civil society now...where is SOB Krishna Pahadi, Padma Ratna Tuladhar and others....

what do you want Business owners and Entreprenuer to do

to be really honest, i wouldn't know the answer. "Indefinite bandh" has been our tradition to display dissatisfaction since post 1990-- be it for a greater cause or for a minor protest. we haven't understood that something like "bandh" should be used only as a last resort. i am not supporting the loot, extortion, beating up and other maoists atrocities, but a closure of all business activities for an indefinite period is not the way to go...

i do understand the desperation in the business personnels' part to pressurize the government for an immediate action, but wouldn't an indefinite closure, be like sacrificing their own limbs to help them crawl?

LooTe

One example we are showing to the younger generation is “Ghandhism was a wrong philosophy.” Gone are the days where resolution through peaceful negotiation was the status quo. In land of 33 koti devtas and birth place of Buddha, Ghandhi philosophy is outdated. So whatever goes wrong, Bandh/violence is the only option.

Our leaders have proved that unless you beat the crap out of civil society they will not talk to you. Unless you kill 13000 people they will not address poverty. They understand you are poor, don’t have citizenships and have no presence in government. But unless you shut down the country and kill 100+ people, they think your right is just one big bull crap. So my friend it is the only strategy that will work in getting something done.

So ongoing strategy should be the followings:

Want peace = Create violence
Want basic human rights = Destroy basic human rights
Want wealth = Destroy existing wealth
You want to solve poverty = Create poverty
&
finally….
Want democracy = Bring Communist leaders

I believe this will be the formula the current leaders is teaching me that I will be obliged to transfer to my siblings.

I think in Nepal’s current equation. What’s not adding is the value provided by the leadership.

Now imagine a scenario, if the PM had met the leaders yesterday, promising to review the situation and take actions, and Prachanda taking the responsibility for the wrong doing and punishing the Maoists involved. How would the situation have changed?

Instead following Nepal-Style diplomacies take place:

PM closes the door and tells the business leader. I am too tired from watching the Ghode Jatra, I need to rest. You wait outside my door while I take a nice nap.

Some idiot from Maoist party, denounce their involvement. I am surprised they have not blamed the Crown Prince Paras for beating the crap out of “Chotta Hari Sau.”

And by the evening our role model, the Supreme Allah Prachanda takes responsibility and promises to take actions. I am sure he is looking for another CD to supply with further evidences of their mis-conduct. If you ask him “khai CD”…..he will say “kholaleeeeee…… bagayo”

I guess this is the capacity of our leaders. This is the art of diplomacy Nepal has to show to the rest of the world.

I am so inspired by this new found approach that I am about to launch my own bandh campaign! From tomorrow I will stop going to work coz they aren’t payment me enough for busting my balls 9-9.

J Nepal!

Mr. LooTeKukur...if businessman and Enterpreneurs can close down their business, their only source of living, and country's only source of Revenue (how low or high it may be) other than foreign dollars, for 19 days just to support these irresponsible, insensitive political morons get the power and money they have and close down their source of breath for months out of fear of other irresponsible morons like JTMM and others in terai I think they have done something good for their own safety and security. These political leaders have become so intoxicated of money and power that they have decided to kill the golden goose without worring about tomorrow.

Just few days ago, the Maoists and their leaders were paying tribute to historical genocidal maniacs like Mao, Stalin, and Lenin. Prachanda and Baburam should be one hell of stupid lunatics to follow their idealogies.
Like the saying goes, smart people learn from other peoples’ mistakes, mediocre ones from their own, but stupid ones from none, these maoists leaders need to read the history books again to find out the true nature of their gurus.