Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) has called for an all-out protest starting 2 May, if the government does not rewrite the constitution and bring to an end the peace process through the incorporation of its fighters into the regular army. The party’s student association has gone on strike shutting down private schools until their recent fee hike is not rescinded.
“We shall begin our demonstrations peacefully on 1 May,” UCPN-M chief Prachanda said. “If nothing happens, we shall start an unlimited strike on 2 May. This will be the third ‘people’s movement’ and will bring down the government.”
With the country’s centuries-old monarchy replaced in 2006 by a Republic after decades of civil war, the provisional government in cooperation with the United Nations began a peace process designed to disarm Maoist militias and incorporate them into the regular armed forces. In 2008, Maoists led by Prachanda won parliamentary elections. However, President Ram Baran Yadav rejected plans to incorporate the former rebels into the armed forces fearful of Maoist power. As a result of the impasse, Prachanda quit as prime minister on 4 May 2009 and is now leading anti-government protests.
More than 100,000 party officials and youth members are being organised for expected clashes with security forces. Training includes using sticks and knives during demonstrations.
The government has reacted to the challenge by criticising the Maoists and putting the police on a heightened state of alert. More than 10,000 law enforcement officers and agents are preparing for the Maoist demonstration.
Home Affairs Minister Bhim Rawal has accused the Maoists of violating the comprehensive peace agreement, which does not allow weapons.
Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchadar has called on the Maoists to cancel their demonstration.
Instead, thousands of Maoists are pouring into the capital, finding accommodation in Kathmandu schools and hotels. About 400,000 people are expected for the 1 May rally.
At the same time, the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) has gone on strike. The Maoist-dominated organisation has decided to shut down all private schools to get them to rescind fee hikes they implemented recently. In some cases, fees rose by 30 per cent.
“We locked up schools that penalised students with arbitrary fee hikes. There is no reason for the increase. Such a decision deprives most students of an education since they cannot afford higher costs. Education should be accessible to all,” ANNISU-R president Lekhnath Nyaupane told AsiaNews.
As for schools run by missionaries or foreign charities, he said, “We view them positively because they are not moved by the profit motive and can help educate young Nepalis. With can sit and talk with them.”
Only schools that rescinded fee hikes or demand affordable fees have been allowed to re-open. Still, more than 100,000 students are affected by the forced closure of private schools. They include all Catholic schools.
The chairman of the private school association, Umesh Shrestha, slammed the Maoist strike. “Higher fees are necessary to maintain high quality education. How can we maintain the school infrastructure, hire good teachers, have good laboratories, etc without increasing our fees? What the Maoists are doing is to deny students an education. There should be no politics in education; otherwise, the future of our schools and students will be ruined.”
Nyaupane disagrees. “We will not stop our strike,” he insisted. In fact, “we are going to intensify it if schools don't withdraw the fee hike immediately,” but “we are ready for dialogue to fix the fee on the basis of negotiations.”
