Nepal has been in the news this week due to the tragic
events on Mount Everest last weekend. However, the news that hasn’t been
reported is the on-going political situation and its impact on the people of
Nepal.
Sunday 27 May is the deadline for the new constitution to be
written. Those of you who read our blog regularly will know this is not the
first deadline. There have been several extensions since the original deadline at
the end of May two years ago and it’s still quite uncertain if a constitution
will arrive this weekend. This month has been full of Bandhs.
“Bandh, … a Nepali
word meaning 'closed', is a form of protest. [This] often means the closing
down of markets of a city for the day, but there have been [many] instances of
entire nation coming to a standstill.” – from www.nepalbandh.com
The Bandhs have been on-going in various parts of Nepal for
many days. The Terai (southern flat part on the border with India) has been
pretty much permanently “closed” for most of the month as various groups have enforced
bandhs, some for a dozen or so days. The far-west and far-east have also been
subject to strict bandhs as various different political parties and interest
groups try to make themselves heard, and their interests accommodated in the
constitution.
Since Sunday the entire nation has been “closed”. One
particular interest group has been enforcing a very strict bandh which is
impacting everyone. Shops and schools are closed. There is no traffic on the
streets. Many people’s livelihoods are affected.
How does this affect normal Nepali’s? Well many can’t work.
If their livelihood depends on the income from their shop, or their market
stall or being able to catch a bus to their place of work they are stuck. As
night falls the bandh is lifted and the streets come to life as everyone rushes
out to stock up on the necessities. As dawn starts to come in the morning
(4.30/5am) people again try to get to the shops or travel to where they need to
be for the day. But of course little produce is able to get into the valley
because of the bandh and so shops are starting to run low on supplies.
How does this affect us? Well we too are subject to the
daily dash for supplies. Thankfully, we are able to be well stocked with food
and money (cash machines can’t be replenished), but this isn’t an option for
poor Nepali’s. School has been closed today. I have spent half my day making
contingency plans for IGCSE and A level exams if this continues. Becky and the
kids are stuck with nowhere to go and little to do.
This week sees the culmination of 40 days of prayer forNepal, timed to coincide with the constitution deadline. If you pray, please do pray for Nepal, the political leaders and agitating parties this week. Pray for peace in this country and political stability.
STOP PRESS: As we were about to publish this blog we heard that the Constitutional Assembly, the body charged with writing the constitution have agreed another 3 month extension.
2 comments:
STOP PRESS 2; Late yesterday evening the government and the group enforcing the nationwide bandh came to an agreement and the bandh has now been called off, for now.
As far as we are aware the bandhs in other parts of the country continue though.
I love that you are updating your blog more, it's good to read about what's going on there. we miss you guys!
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