Daily Times Pakistan:: Maoists call two-day strike in Nepal

KATHMANDU NEPAL: Maoist rebels fighting to overthrow Nepal’s monarchy on Monday called a two-day strike next week during one of the most popular festivals in the tourism-dependent Himalayan kingdom.

A rebel statement demanded that all shops and schools close and traffic stay off the roads on September 27 and 28 in most of Nepal including the capital Kathmandu. The statement said the strike would not affect celebrations of the five-day Kumari festival, which marks the start of the harvest. But the strike’s first day is a public holiday for the opening of the festival when the Kumari, a young girl worshipped as a goddess, is paraded by chariot through Kathmandu to a crowd of thousands including King Gyanendra and foreign tourists.

The king traditionally goes again to the goddess’s temple to seek her blessings on the festival’s final day. “The Kumari festival is one of the most important events in Kathmandu and the strike during the festival will hurt the hotel and tourism industries,” said Narendra Bajracharya, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal. Tourism supports 1.25 million jobs in the cash-strapped country of Mount Everest.

The kingdom has already seen a tumultuous month, with riots on September 1 after the murder of 12 Nepalese workers by Islamic militants in Iraq which came on the heels of a week long Maoist blockade against traffic entering or leaving Kathmandu. The Maoists last week ended a one-month shutdown of 47 industries after the government released two top rebels and the companies opened talks on improving conditions for their workers. afp Sphere: Related Content