Posted by Mike E on September 2, 2011
One of many blockades throughout the country. photo credit: Eric Ribellarsi
UPDATE FROM NEPAL:
We have just learned that the Prachanda and Bhattarai factions of the Maoist party in Nepal have announced that they will not step back from their moves to disarm the Peoples Liberation Army. Not only will they order then hanging over of keys to weapons storage containers, but they will also begin moving the containers themselves out of three of the cantonments. (Cantonment is the name for the treaty-supervised bases where the PLA forces are concentrated.)Kiran, Dev Gurung, and Biplab boycotted the meeting.
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Eric is writing his eyewitness reports from Kathmandu itself, the capital of Nepal. He and co-workers are scrambling to understand and describe events that are breaking around them. Their reports often appear first on their team’s blog Winter Has Its End.
By Eric Ribellarsi
Today, the Kiran faction of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has launched a major protest program against the disarming of the People’s Liberation Army being led by Nepal’s new Prime Minister, Baburam Bhattarai. The Maoist rebels are demanding the immediate reversal of the decision to disarm People’s Liberation Army, a process which has already begun.
So far, this program has included:
- A nation-wide one hour blockade of major roads and intersection throughout the country. We have heard this took place at roughly 50 locations in Kathmandu, including Kalanki, the main road used for entrance into Kathmandu.
- A boycott of major party meetings, including today’s Standing Committee meeting.
- Torchlight marches throughout Kathmandu and in other cities throughout the entire country, beginning tonight at 6:00 PM.
