The practice of resorting to every conceivable tool to drive home a political point is something that must immediately end in Nepal. Take for example what’s happening at Balaju Industrial Area. Giriraj Bhandari, outgoing chief of Industrial Area Management Ltd, was beaten black and blue by Maoist labor union workers in the midst of a press conference on Sunday and the police naturally arrested the assailants but from the next day the union completely paralyzed operations inside the industrial area. To step up the pressure, the union also closed down all factories inside the Patan Industrial Area on Friday. They have also threatened to close down all industrial areas across the country if their demand is not met immediately.
It is evident that the Maoists are using this incident as yet another opportunity to frustrate the current administration, which is again a part of their bigger plans to topple the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government. This is completely wrong. Neither should the political parties be using their sister wings to fulfill their political agenda nor should industries be made a political battleground.
The Maoists, who love to call themselves the champion of people’s welfare, should realize that such actions will only undermine their image in the eyes of the common citizenry. Strikes in industrial areas are not only a huge loss to the country in general; it also keeps hundreds and thousands of common people out of work, directly impacting their livelihood, the effects of which affect many facets of daily life. The manufacturing sector happens to be one of the largest employment-generating sectors of the country. Such strikes will further diminish the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP, which has already declined from 10 percent in 2000 to about seven percent now.
In addition, continued disturbances in the industrial sector have badly hit the confidence of multi-national companies. Some of the leading players such as Dabur have repeatedly alerted the government about the trying work conditions while another big company – Colgate Palmolive – has already exited from the country. The continuous loss of foreign direct investments (FDI) can be devastating in the long run.
The Maoists’ policy of turning a blind eye to the activities of their cadres has given birth to a lot of ills and this has to come to an end. The law must be allowed to take course and apt action against Bhandari’s assailants – Khadga Bahadur Tamang of Bara and Bikash Rai of Solukhumbu – must be taken
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