JHAPA, June 10: Life in all four districts of Mechi zone --Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung--has been affected by a banda called by the Maoist-affiliated Limbuwan Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (LRMM) on Wednesday.
Vehicles haven´t plied in any of the four districts. Banda callers vandalized some shops in Ilam and a pickup van (Me 1 Cha 622) in Panchthar. In Taplejung, daily administrative work was affected, as Maoist workers obstructed work in all government offices except the District Administration Office. The offices resumed work only after 3 p.m. All government offices were closed in Ilam too, but they remained open in Panchthar and Jhapa. Because of the banda, shipments of tea leaves could not reach the industries, as tea factories also remained closed on Wednesday.
The LRMM called the one-day banda, demanding that Ilam, Panchthar, Taplejung, Dhankuta and Tehrathum districts be declared parts of the Limbuwan state, and Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts as parts of the Kochila state. Though the LRMM said that it was not a "Kochila banda," the banda has affected the three districts that have been proposed for the state. The LRMM has also demanded that the president´s decision on the army general´s case be withdrawn.