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BUSINESS SHUTDOWN |
Under Stress Riots and shutdown throw
businesses out of gear By A CORRESPONDENT Billions of rupees worth of properties of
private individuals and business companies were destroyed on September 1 riot. The
manpower companies alone have claimed losses in the excess of one billion rupees thanks to
the targeted vandalism. All this has come at a time when the
Maoists had imposed shut down of 12 major industries in the country. The industries have
remained out of business for the last three weeks. And there is no immediate sign that
they would reopen soon.
Instead, the Maoists have threatened
to close down other 35 industries if their demands are not met by September 10. The efforts by rights activists and civil
society to reopen the closed industries have not borne any fruit yet. Four human rights
activists Daman Nath Dhungana, Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Malla K.Sundar and Sudip Pathak have
issued a joint statement terming the closure of the 12 industries as inappropriate. The
statement has said that the closure has not only directly affected the livelihood of
thousands of workers but also indirectly affected hundreds of thousands of others. They
urged to end the impasse through dialogue. Even the labor unions of the 12 industries
that have remained closed for the last 21 days due to Maoist threat have said they will
organize agitation if the industries are not opened soon. They have criticized the
government for not taking enough initiatives to open the industries. They have also
criticized the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) for putting the
livelihood of thousands of workers at risk in the name of pressuring the government. The pro-Maoist ANTUF has demanded, among
others, that the government make the whereabouts of their arrested leaders public. On the other hand, the whole business and
industry sector of the country remain shaken after the mob attacks against business
interests. Particularly worrisome is the attack against manpower agencies. According to
Nirmal Gurung, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA),
around 315 offices of manpower agents were vandalized by the mob. The manpower agencies have already stated
that it would take them at least one month to be able to be back in their normal
operation. The government has assured the manpower agencies that it would issue passports
for free in lieu of those destroyed during the attack. Likewise, thousands of Nepalese
youths who had completed their process for working overseas are living in uncertainty as
all their documents and passports were burnt during the attack. The businessmen and
entrepreneurs have complained that the mob attack and the subsequent impotency of the
government to control it could severely affect the business environment and investment
climate in the country. The president of the FNCCI Binod Bahadur
Shrestha has said that the governments assurances to provide adequate security to
the business enterprises in the wake of Maoist-threat have turned out to be a hollow
promise. Students In A Fix Over 700,000 students of around 3000
private and 2000 public schools in Kaski, Chitawan and many other districts of the western
region have been denied the right to education following the Maoist imposed indefinite
closure of educational institution in the Gandak region. Hundreds of students, teachers and parents
took to the streets in Pokhara on Monday (September 6) to pressure the Maoists to open the
schools and to urge the government to take necessary steps to ensure the same. The
pro-Maoist All Nepal National Free Students Union Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R) has
called for the shutdown in the protest of the arrest of its leaders by the security
forces. The closure has affected schools and
colleges of Kaski, Chitawan, Parbat, Arghakhanchi, Rupandehi, Syangja, Palpa, Nawalparasi,
Lamjung, Gorkha and Tanahun districts. The Maoists had imposed the closure
demanding the whereabouts of their two leaders arrested by security forces. Meanwhile, the
chief district officer of Kaski has made the whereabouts of the two Maoist workers public
on Monday (September 6) evening after discussions with the human rights activists, parents
and school organizations. According to the spokesperson of the
Education Ministry Laba Prasad Tripathy, the demands put forth by the ANNFSU-R do not only
concern the ministry. Their demands are also political, which needs to be handled by
the government in a wholesome manner. Amid the uncertainty, the parents have
called for help from human rights activists to open their schools. Open the schools
and stop the closure. That is all we want, said a frustrated parent. |
|| Cover
Story || Deuba's India Visit || Communal Harmony || Business
Shutdwn || Riot
Effects || Kathmandu
Riot || Economy
|| |
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