Fri, 27 Dec, 2024

Nepal Banda: A Necessity or a Liability?

By Abhusan Gautam

Photo Courtsey: Abhusan Gautam

The Communist Party, led by Netra Bikram Chand, declared a national level strike (Nepal Banda) last Friday, 25th July.  The disagreement on the conditions of the constitution and the issue of Lipulekh were the main causes of the strike. Lipulekh falls under the territory of Nepal. Lipulekh lies at the upper part of Darchula district. On a three day tour of China, the Prime Minister of India, Narendar Modi, had a 41-point agreement with the Government of China. In that agreement, point number 28 was an agreement to make Lipulekh an International Business Center. This agreement between India and China without the consent of Nepal fueled the strike. According to the Nepalese Communist Party, the only way to get your opinion heard in the Government is by declaring a strike. The lives of people were hampered, the economy of the country disturbed. Nepal lost an estimated 2 Arab rupees throughout the course of the strike-day. The students were happy to have a day-off, but they had mixed feelings about the strike. To know their opinion, the DWIT News conducted a survey and the following results were received:

[caption id="attachment_7718" align="aligncenter" width="637"]Opinion of DWIT on Nepal Banda Opinion of DWIT on Nepal Banda[/caption]

62 % of the total students who filled the questionnaire felt that the strike wasn’t the best solution, and other alternatives would have benefitted the country more. A sampling of opinions provided by students:

Strike is not the only solution. It affects millions of lives in a bad way. If we go on and continue this kind of activities then it merely becomes our culture.”

This is totally unacceptable, one party cannot decide what we can do or cannot do.”

“The government should do something about this kind of activities. As a responsible citizen of Nepal, I find this an obstruction towards our progress and development.”

Students expressed their rage towards Banda too.

“Please focus on the real problems that are present in the country instead of affecting lives of those who are already in trouble. Have some humanity and logical thinking,” said one of the students.

The minority of people who believed that the strike was necessary weren’t able to provide any suitable reasoning to it.