| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Mar-04 11:07 PM
As published in the Mahanagar evening daily news paper, the CPN Maoist has published
a statement of a month long activities in March and April 2004:
Activities:
§ 18- 26 March 2004 : people's mobilisation
§ 27-28 March 2004: zonal Bandh (Gandaki, Dhaulagiri and Lumbini Zones)
§ 29 March - 5 April 2004: targetting economic institutions of Rana and Shah families
§ 6-7-8 April 2004 : nation wide Nepal bandh
Previous update and assessment :
Regarding the 15 days blockade (8-23 March 2004) called by the CPN Maoists,
the information so far is as follows:
§ The East-West Highway has been blocked in the area of Dang - traffic can
move to the West of Dang, but not to the East. The eastern sector is ok, Bhadrapur to Janakpur
§ Traffic is blocked on and off at Mugling, disrupting movement to and from
Pokhara.
§ Traffic is blocked on and off at Narayangadh (Chitwan district), disrupting
traffic west towards Butwal, east towards Hetauda and north towards Mugling.
§ The road from Butwal to Pokhara (Siddarth highway) is intermittently
blocked in Syangja and Palpa.
§ The Tribhuwan Raj Path road between Kathmandu and Hetuda appears to be open but we have heard that a linking bridge has been destroyed
Overall, road movement around Nepal is difficult - roads are blocked intermittently in different places. If you do travel, you should:
a. Phone ahead to check the route is clear.
b. Take food and water, torch, first aid kit in case you become stranded.
c. Stop early to ensure you are not stranded at night.
d. Ensure you have some way of communicating e.g. mobile phone. Keep your
programme aware of your progress.
e. Be very wary of taking part in efforts to unblock roads - this could
lead to unacceptable risk. If the road is blocked, either wait or turn
back.
Foot blockades: Movement on foot is being disrupted in the mid West (Rukum,
Rolpa, Salyan, Pyuthan) and the West (Syangja, Gulmi, Myagdi, Baglung).
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Mar-04 11:24 PM
The online Maoist newspaper, Janadesh, has given the following information regarding a planned three-day bandh in April :
A three-day Nepal bandh is scheduled for 6 - 8 April. This is being organised jointly by the Maoist's Joint Revolutionary People's Council and the People's Liberation Army. It will affect all business, including transport, education etc countrywide.
A statement by Prachanda posted on the same web site also said that the Maoists have planned to target those economic institutions that have a "personal or joint investment of the Shah and Rana families". They did not specify which institutions would be targeted but the attacks would be carried out before the start of the above bandhs. Some of the large Kathmandu hotels could be targeted.
In addition to these indicated targets experience has shown that there has been a general increase in bombings and other acts of violence in the lead up to a bandh, to intimidate and coerce compliance. Given the unpredictability of these disturbances, [British citizens] are advised to exercise extra caution both during the run up to and on the dates of the bandh.
The road blockades in western regions of Nepal continues. There are numerous reports of vehicles being burnt and travellers being delayed. There are some food shortage also being reported. If at all possible you should delay any planned travel to the affected districts.
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