Nepal paralyzed by general strike

Monday, April 21, 2003 at 07:00 JST

KATHMANDU — A one-day nationwide general strike by Nepalese student unions to protest the death of a student leader and a hike in prices of petroleum products brought cities across Nepal to a standstill Sunday.

No incidents of violence have been reported so far, but protesters pelted nearly a dozen cars and motorcycles with stones in the capital Kathmandu, police said.

Much of Nepal shut by strike over higher oil price
20 Apr 2003 05:10:37 GMT

KATHMANDU, April 20 (Reuters) - Businesses, transport, schools and factories across Nepal were shut on Sunday because of a general strike called by student groups to protest against rising fuel prices, residents said.

Sunday is a working day in the Hindu Himalayan kingdom, except for in the Kathmandu Valley where the capital is located.

"It is a total shut down, streets are deserted," resident Ram Prasad Pokharel told Reuters by telephone from Nepalgunj, a commercial city in west Nepal near the Indian border.

Residents in the tourist town of Pokhara, and Biratnagar in the east, said businesses were closed and buses off the roads following the strike call by student unions.

In Kathmandu, riot police and soldiers stood guard at main government buildings.

The students are protesting against a sharp rise in fuel prices in March - up to a 65 percent increase for kerosene, which is used by the poor for cooking and heating, 34 percent for diesel, and eight percent for petrol and cooking gas.

The government says the increases were imposed to cut losses by the state Nepal Oil Corp monopoly, and in response to global oil price rises because of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Nepal is among the world's poorest countries.

The government is due to open a fresh round of peace talks with Maoist rebels on Monday. The rebels have been fighting since 1996 to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and impose one-party communist rule.

One of the student groups behind the Sunday strike is a pro-Maoist organisation.

In Kathmandu, the government banned torch-lit processions, which are often used by students to frighten residents off the streets and enforce the strike call.

One student was killed two weeks ago in west Nepal in protests against the fuel price rise.

Nepal bans planned torchlight protest rallies by students
Sun Apr 20, 1:23 AM ET

KATHMANDU (AFP) - The Nepalese government banned three torchlight protest rallies planned by students in the capital Kathmandu and nearby cities of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, the home ministry said.

However, the students vowed to defy the ban, setting the scene for a violent showdown.

"In view of the student unions' ongoing demonstration and protest the government has decided to ban flaming torch demonstrations in the Kathmandu valley for an indefinite period to avoid any untoward incidents," the home ministry said Saturday.

Bhakta Gurung, vice chairman of the All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU), said students would not be deterred.

"We are going to stage flaming torch demonstrations despite the government's ban order," he said.

Seven students unions, including the ANNFSU, had planned to stage the rallies after sunset to protest the cancellation of student union elections, a double digit price hike of petroleum products and the killing of a student leader last week.

At least 15 students were injured, two seriously, in violent clashes with police during protests across Nepal Friday.

Last month fuel prices were raised by between seven and 64 percent. During protests against the rises last week, student leader Devi Lal Paudel was shot dead when police opened fire on demonstrators.

The government Saturday announced a grant of 500,000 rupees (6,460 dollars) to the parents of the slain leader. The family had demanded 1.5 million rupees.

The Tribhuvan University on the outskirts of Kathmandu, meanwhile, had scheduled student union elections for April 23 but university authorities postponed the polls indefinitely on Thursday "to avoid the possibility of violence and untoward incidents."

Protests have erupted since then, with clashes between students and police reported at several colleges in Kathmandu and other areas of Nepal.

The United States has warned its citizens in Nepal that more violence could be brewing and advised Americans to be on the look out for trouble in the next few days.

A general strike, or "bandh", called by student groups for Sunday and another on Wednesday could turn violent, the US embassy here cautioned Friday. It had also warned that the now-cancelled torchlight rallies could end in violence.

"Given escalating levels of violence over the past week, American citizens are urged to exercise extra caution both during the lead-up to the proposed bandhs and on bandh dates," it added.