May Day rallies pass peacefully in Nepal

by Tom McGregor

Fri, Apr 30, 2010, 04:09 PM

Thousands of Maoists are gathering on the streets of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, ahead of a scheduled May Day rally on Saturday. The BBC News reports that, "members of the Maoist youth wing as well as ordinary supporters are camping in hundreds of private schools that they shut down last week." Maoist leaders claim that the demonstration on Saturday will be non-violent although against the government. Nonetheless, tension is increasing in the capital where the security forces have been placed on high-alert. Maoist leader Prachanda on Monday demanded the public endorse the nationwide street protest intending to topple the present-day government. He announced that Saturday's protest would be followed by a general strike to demonstrate a massive but peaceful show of popular will. According to the BBC, "Prachanda said the Maoists had 'no alternative,' but to exert pressure on the government which he said had no intentions of moving the peace process forward or writing the constitution before the deadline of 28 May." The Maoists lay claim to the largest number of seats in the parliament and seek to lead a national government. Rabindra Mishra, editor of the BBC Nepali service, believes that political stalemates have been averted frequently before in Nepal, usually at the last minute. He says that there is still time for this to occur before the scheduled demonstrations coming this weekend. Nevertheless, the intensity of the current crisis and the fact that neither side appears willing to stand down hints that the Maoists and the government is planning a showdown, as disclosed by the BBC correspondent. (For more detail: Visit BBC)

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Kind Regards;
VK Pandey