Thousands of poeple in Nepal protest Maoists' crippling strike

In the largest protest against the Maoists imposed indefinite strike, tens of thousands of apolitical protesters today poured onto the streets of the Nepalese capital, handing out a 48-hour ultimate to the former rebels to end what they called a virtual siege in the country.

Protesters ranging from business and professional communities rallied in the heart of the capital today to show their disgust at the Maoists' strike that has paralysed the country since May 2 as they felt the pinch in the form of shortage of essential items.

Thousands of people, including civil society members, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, engineers, professors, journalists, artists and intellectuals asked the Maoists to withdraw their long and painful strike within 48 hours.

They also called on all political parties to forge a consensus and find a way out of the standoff by peaceful means and dialogue.

Shouting and carrying banners "enough is enough", the rallyists said people want no more strikes, shutdown and agitations.

In a sharp dig at the Maoists, the speakers at the rally said the Maoists through their strike were keeping "28 million Nepalese people hostage".

Today's outpour, followed smaller clashes and confrontations in the capital and outlying districts over the last two days as the Maoists called indefinite strike entered its sixth day paralysing life and movement in the country. 

The strike has led to essential supplies including foodstuffs and medicines running low and left thousands of tourists stranded in the absence of movement of public transport.

Nepalese political leaders are struggling to meet a May 28 deadline to finish the drafting of a new constitution as stipulated by the peace process that brought the civil war to an end in 2006.

The Maoists, who have around 35% of the seats in parliament, want the government disbanded, followed by the formation of a new coalition government led by them to rescue the peace process and draft a new constitution. 

Chanting "we want peace and constitution" the anti-Maoist protestors said political parties should come to the negotiating table to break the political impasse.

Addressing the peaceful rally, President of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kush Kumar Joshi said "we don't want strike and shut downs, what we need is peace and consensus".

He underlined the need for the political parties and the government to come to a negotiating table within two days to resolve the crisis through dialogue.

"We want peace and constitution, therefore, the government and political parties should forge consensus and cooperation at the earliest to find a way out", he said. 

The peace rally was organised with massive public participation despite Maoists' threat. The Maoist cadres have obstructed people at different places to prevent them from participating in the rally. Similar rallies were also held in different parts of the country to promote peace and harmony and to call for the end of the strike.

Clashes broke out between the Maoists and the youth wing of the ruling communist party, the Youth Force. Security forces had to fire teargas shells and resort to baton charge to control the situation. About a dozen people, including the Maoists and policemen, were injured when the protesters clashed with Maoists in different parts of the capital while they were dispersing.

Meanwhile, leaders of the three major political parties -- the CPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the prime minister's Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) -- met but failed to reach an agreement to end the standoff.

The government today asked the Maoists to withdraw the six-day old agitation and come forward for dialogue to resolve the deadlock through constitutional means. 

"The government is making efforts to resolve the issue through dialogue and consensus and believes that the problem will be resolved through democratic procedures," the government said after un emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.

It underlined the government's effort to provide relief to the people suffering due to scarcity of daily goods. It said the efforts made by the government to protect the rights of the people to do their business, to run factories and free movement will show its results soon.

The US has asked the formal rebels to end their strike and appealed to political parties in the country to resolve the issue through political dialogue. 

"We call on the Maoists to end or suspend their strike and ease the hardship people are facing due to the strike," US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Robert O Blake said.

The standoff has raised fears of renewed violence in Nepal, where the Maoists ended their decade-old insurgency and joined a peace process in 2006.