By IANS,
Kathmandu : Despite fears of violence, the first day of the new protest movement started by Nepal’s former Maoist guerrillas against the coalition government passed off peacefully Sunday with no untoward incidents reported.
Hundreds of men and women bearing flaming torches marched through capital city Kathmandu amidst tightened security in anticipation of violence and vandalisation.
Maoist chief and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda inaugurated the torch rally that marks a series of new protests which will climax in a blockade of the republic’s sole international airport on Nov 10.
Prachanda warned the communist-led government that the protests, though scheduled to be peaceful, would turn into a full-scale revolt if the authorities tried to suppress them by force.
A showdown is feared Monday when the former insurgents have announced they will picket all village and municipal administration offices throughout the republic’s 75 districts.
The government, urging the Maoists to call off their protests and open dialogue for a constitutional solution, has counter-warned that it would not allow violence and vandalisation in the name of protests.
On Thursday and Friday, the protests will grow with the picketing of all district administration offices.
The agitation will be followed by the declaration of the restructuring of the republic Nov 9, when the Maoists plan to unveil 13 autonomous states, a move the ruling parties condemned as going against the peace pact especially at a time the major parties are engaged in drafting a new constitution.
On Nov 10, the former rebels, who during their 10-year civil war in the past had repeatedly blockaded Kathmandu Valley, will repeat the feat, cutting off all the highways to and from the three districts in the valley.
Along with that, they will also encircle the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu to prevent all flights and have urged all airlines to suspend flights that day.
The last protest is scheduled Nov 12-13, when the formerly underground party has called a blockade of Singh Durbar, the heart of the government where the Prime Minister’s Office and other major ministries are located.
The renewed protests, it is feared, will hit tourism, one of the mainstays of the economy, at a time it is bouncing back with visitors’ arrival in October registering a growth of 10 percent over the previous year.
The Maoists have also kept up a blockade of parliament virtually since May, when their eight-month-old government fell.
It has created a financial crisis with the government unable to pass the budget and salaries for civil servants for last month not disbursed.
The protests are intended to pressure President Ram Baran Yadav into issuing a public apology for reinstating the army chief, whom the Maoists had tried to sack and consequently lost the support of their allies.
Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who is leading the protests, has said that the protests will be called off if the government agrees to hold a debate in parliament on the constitutionality of the presidential move or pass a resolution condemning it.