The unpolluted air comes at a high price. Strikes make it impossible for the sick to get to hospital. Businesses close, wage earners lose their bread and butter, students miss their classes, and people cannot buy daily supplies, such as milk for their children. Everyone suffers.
During the latest strike called by the 33 parties, I went for a walk. I could see both the joy and pain in the faces of the people on the street. In a momentary relief from traffic and pollution, people were happily walking in the middle of the road and children were enjoying football and cricket. But those who ventured out on motorbikes were facing a visible nightmare.
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In one incident, I spotted two motorbikes at a distance. A group of eight to ten protestors was marching near a crossroads. As soon as the protesters saw the motorbikes defying their call of strike, they ran to threaten the motorbike riders. Although the police personnel at the scene outnumbered the protestors, they simply chose to watch on as spectators. They did not try to protect the bike riders. Nor did they prevent the protestors from shutting down shops, vandalizing those that refused to, or take any action against those stopping traffic and torching vehicles that defied the strike.
Further down, I met three senior lawyers who were on their way to a meeting. We talked about recurring strikes and their negative effect on people, public services and the economy as a whole. I asked whether the forceful imposition of nationwide strikes should be considered a violation of human rights. All three agreed it was and were of the view that the government should take action against the few protestors in order to protect the human rights of the majority.
Human rights include not only the freedom of expression and belief but also freedom of travel without harassment and threat and freedom from fear and want. The use of force to close shops, ban vehicles from the roads, and harass people who defy banda is also a violation of basic human rights.
Strikes and protests have become a common phenomenon in Nepali politics. Even as few as 10 to 15 persons can create havoc in a neighborhood and greatly inconvenience the people, while 50 to 70 police personnel at the scene look on, not doing anything to stop the senseless disruption in people’s lives and destruction of people’s property. Why were the police deployed if they were not supposed to protect shops, vehicles and people and drive away hooligans who were taking the law into their own hands?
In a democracy, people enjoy freedom of speech and assembly, but not at the cost of other’s rights and freedoms. While trying to safeguard one’s rights the protesters shouldn’t encroach into other’s rights and freedoms. According to the Home Ministry, two buses, two trucks, three jeeps and five motorbikes were vandalized during the banda I discussed above. None of the hooligans has been brought to justice for this.
If the state does not do anything to prevent wanton strikes, disruption of people’s lives and trampling of human rights, then citizens need to take action. When the Maoists had called for an indefinite strike on May Day in 2010 and paralyzed the country, civil society and ordinary people had spontaneously come out on the street opposing Maoist excesses, something the Maoist leaders had never expected. This had forced Maoist chairman Prachanda to withdraw the nationwide strike, though he had warned that the opposition to the Maoist strike was a war by the ‘clean’ against the ‘dirty’ and that the dirty would retaliate against the ‘clean’ when the time comes.
Hardships for people apart, the economy loses billions of rupees every day of a strike. For example, the nationwide strike called by trade unions in India in February 2013 in response to the violence in Noida (New Delhi’s suburb) is estimated to have cost India nearly Rs. 26 billion in two days. Similarly, in July 2010, Bharat Banda called by the opposition against a hike in fuel price cost the economy around Rs. 130 billion.
In Nepal, a single day of nationwide banda costs the economy almost Rs.2 billion, of which the industrial sector alone loses nearly Rs.346 million. A poor country like Nepal cannot afford such colossal losses every few days. In view of this, political parties should abandon bandas as a means of protest. They can have peaceful rallies and protests in which people voluntarily participate, but closing shops, stopping vehicles and vandalizing property of those who do not agree with their protest should be a definite no-no.
If the political parties fail to act responsibly, it is up to the government to protect people and their property and preserve their basic human rights. If we closely watch these political protests, one can see that the majority of participants are unemployed youths not associated with any political party. Some of them are even available for hire. Thus one of the solutions to the problem of wanton bandas could be creating more employment opportunities for the youth. If they had jobs, they would not hit the street at the call of every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Why are the police deployed if they cannot protect people and drive away hooligans taking law into their own hands?
As we know, the Arab Spring that brought down powerful and entrenched governments in several countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, was sparked by the slapping of an unemployed youth in Tunis by a policewoman. Although the Arab Revolt brought down autocratic governments in those countries, continuing protests cripple them even today. Likewise, in Nepal, the People’s Movement in 2006 abolished the monarchy, but continuing protests continue to plague the country.
Wanton bandas are only one part of the story, however. Some political parties and their sister organizations routinely engage in extortion from individuals, business houses, banks, schools and hospitals. They threaten with dire consequences if their demands are not met. If someone refuses to pay, they meet with dire consequences. They are beaten up; their property is vandalized; their land confiscated by these parties and sister organizations. Such activities, together with frequent labor unrests and recurring strikes have discouraged local and foreign investors and slowed growth. Investors want profit, not political charity, and such a discouraging investment environment will only hold the country back. If we want our country to progress we must be able to end such extortions, labor unrests and recurring strikes.
In Western democracies, protestors give prior information to local government about their planned protests and local government assigns a certain place and provides security. This arrangement protects the right of protestors to protest and the right of other people not to be disturbed. The participation in protests is entirely voluntary, not imposed using threat or violence. Those who violate others’ rights to exercise their own rights are brought to justice. Something similar is essential in Nepal in order to protect the rights of common people and to boost investment and economic progress.
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