But Thapa, accompanied by her frail mother and little sisters, was stranded in Bhanu Chowk of Dharan for about five hours due to a strike called by the CPN-Maoist. "I did not know they (the CPN-Maoist) had called a strike," said Thapa. "I learnt about it only after arriving here."[break]
Thapa, when Republica caught up with her at around 11 a.m., had already spent four hours searching for a bus to go to Dhankuta. "I do not know if I will be able to reach Dhankuta today," said she. "If I cannot make it to my uncle´s home by this evening, my visit will be meaningless. We have planned for a prayer in Pathibhara temple early tomorrow morning; and I need to reach there by this evening."
On Thursday, the CPN-Maoist, which leads an alliance of 33 fringe parties opposing the November 19 Constituent Assembly (CA) election, had called a strike along the Koshi highway in an attempt to prevent UCPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal from visiting Dharan and Terhathum.
However, Dahal, accompanied by UCPN (Maoist) leader Barshaman Pun and son Prakash Dahal, managed to navigate the Koshi highway without much trouble. Although CPN-Maoist cadres hurled stones over Dahal´s vehicle in Dhankuta, he was unhurt. He was escorted by police vehicles all along the highway.
In Dhankuta, the police arrested two CPN-Maoist cadres for hurling the stones and waving black flags at Dahal.
Although Dahal´s Koshi visit was largely unaffected by the CPN-Maoist´s strike, hundreds of common people, like Thapa, were caught off-guard. They vented ire at the CPN-Maoist for causing unnecessary trouble to common people.
"They called the strike to stop political leaders," said Thapa. "But, political leaders move around with heavy police security. They cannot be stopped by such strikes. At the end of the day, common people like me have to bear the brunt."
Kumar Khajum, 28, who was accompanying his nephew and niece to Dhankuta, was also stranded in Dharan Thursday morning. A resident of Sanischare VDC-4 of Morang, Khajum said he had not been informed about the strike beforehand.
"Had we learnt about it in advance, we would not have left home today," said Khajum. "As they call strikes without prior notices, we have to suffer like this."
After the UCPN-Maoist announced that Dahal would address mass gatherings in Dharan and Dhankuta on October 24, the CPN-Maoist called a strike to foil his Koshi visit. But, a majority of common people were blissfully unaware of the strike.
On Wednesday night, CPN-Maoist cadres had blocked the Koshi highway by felling trees in several places of Dhankuta and Terhathum. But the highway was completely cleared by Thursday morning, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Yadav Raj Khanal, chief of Koshi Zonal Police Office.
Although the police cleared the highway in no time, transport entrepreneurs did not let their buses ply along the Koshi highway until Thursday afternoon, fearing attacks by CPN-Maoist cadres. The situation returned to normal, but common people like Thapa and Khajum had already borne the brunt of the strike.
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