Nepal Maoists declare indefinite school closure

Posted on 12 April 2005

(IANS News) Kathmandu, : Nepal's communist insurgents have announced an indefinite closure of all schools across the country from Thursday when the kingdom celebrates the start of the Nepalese new year.

The call has been given by the student wing of the underground guerrillas who sent emails to school authorities and educational associations, warning that they would bomb classrooms if their call was not heeded.

The disruption would affect about 8,500 schools with nearly 1.5 million students.

The banned student wing of the Maoist guerrillas have called the closure of schools "forever" without giving any reason, said Umesh Shrestha of the Private and Boarding Schools' Association Nepal (PABSON).

"Since they have given no option, we regard it as an attempt to create terror in schools for political reasons," Shrestha told IANS.

PABSON and other associations of guardians, teachers and human rights organisations have appealed to the rebels to withdraw the announcement.

They also held a meeting with Education and Sports Minister Radhakrishna Mainali Monday.

Though the government has urged the schools to defy the closure call and promised security, parents and school authorities are not assured.

"Kathmandu valley is not likely to be affected by the closure call due to the concentration of security forces here, but it will be a different matter in the outer districts," Shrestha said.

"It is not possible for anyone to provide all-round security to the 8,500 schools scattered all over the country."

According to PABSON, the rebel students had been circulating the disruption notice from nearly two months ago.

Recently, they have started targeting schools to intimidate school authorities.

Two weeks ago, the rebels reportedly set off a bomb at a school in Butwal district in southern Nepal. Blasts in or near schools have also been reported in Dang, a Maoist stronghold in central Nepal and districts in far western Nepal.

The announced school strike comes in the wake of an 11-day countrywide shutdown announced by Maoists from April 2, ostensibly to protest against King Gyanendra's coup on Feb 1 when he sacked the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Closure of schools has been a frequently used ploy of Maoists during their nine years of escalating insurgency.

"In the last academic year, many school in trouble-prone areas could have only 120 days of class out of 220 class days," Shrestha said. "It is causing incalculable damage to future generations."

Despite repeated calls by international organisations like the Unicef and UN to respect schools as zones of peace, Maoists have been recruiting minors who are asked to carry weapons and explosives.

They are also reported to be abducting students from classrooms for indoctrination programmes and fighting security forces on school premises.

The armed uprising, inspired by Chinese leader Mao Zedong, seeks to overthrow monarchy and establish a communist republic. It has killed over 11,000 people, displaced tens of thousands and destroyed infrastructure worth billions. (World News) Sphere: Related Content