Pan, who owns four Chinese restaurants in Thamel, and the others were lashes with batons and hit with stones. The assailants also thrashed some guests and Pan´s aunt. The hotel property, including a vehicle (number plate No 11039) parked at the hotel´s parking lot, was vandalized.
"The car belongs to a friend from Chinese embassy. It has been lying here since six months," Pan, who is bruised in the head and legs, told myrepublica.
Worse still, the owners and the staff were put behind the bars at Hanumandhoka on Monday and released only on Tuesday after the intervention from the Chinese embassy.
"The embassy has told us to peacefully resolve the issue on our own. But we are getting death threats," Pan said, adding, "Even the police have not been giving security to us."
The victims have accused GFONT leader Girendra Sandel and an ex-staff of the hotel Bhopal Karki of instigating the former employees. GFONT, on the other hand, denied that its members thrashed the hotel owners and vandalized the hotel property.
GFONT has claimed that two of its members -- Sandel and Suresh Rai -- were attacked with khukuris by the hotel staff. "The two are seriously injured. That is why the police took the owners and others into custody," Bishnu Lamsal, general secretary of GFONT, said.
Lamsal accused the owners of exerting political pressure and dragging the Chinese embassy into the mater. Pan agreed that a consular from the embassy -- Cao Hua Zhan -- had intervened on Monday. "Zhan wanted us to reconcile. The embassy did not take any action otherwise," Pan said.
Lamsal said the owners must enforce labor laws. "We will continue protests till the demands are met and all sacked employees are hired back," Lamsal added. GFONT has also accused the Chinese nationals of operating illegally although the owners presented legal documents of restaurant registration.
The whole standoff began a month ago when a hotel staff (Suresh Rai) all of a sudden disappeared from the hotel. According to the manager of the hotel, Ishwar Kumar Ban, Rai was a "careless fellow" and "the owner wanted him to leave."
"Rai came back a month later and started threatening us. He got GFONT involved and then the issue went out of hand."
Some 35 employees from all four restaurants rallied behind GFONT and sought registration of a new labor union at the Labor Ministry. "I refused this as I will not allow any trade union activities in my restaurants," Pan said. The employees then quit their jobs and embarked on agitation. Things went out of hand on Sunday when the ex-staff along with GFONT members thrashed the hoteliers.
The owners, who have invested RMB 25,000,00/- in restaurant business in Kathmandu, now plan to pack bags as they feel insecure. "I will not take the employees back as they have turned violent. We are consulting lawyers on taking the matter to court," Pan said, adding, "Although I have run this business for over three years, I don´t want to stay in Kathmandu any more as I feel totally insecure."
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