DANG, Sept 3: Normal life crippled in Deukhuri on Wednesday as the band called by the United Tharuwan/Tharuhat Struggle Committee entered 22nd day.
Even though the struggle committee had launched protests in major towns of the district, life in areas like Tulsipur and Ghorahi have gradually returned to normal since August 25 after the local administration declared both areas as 'riot hit' areas. Shops, schools and transportation services have resumed there since Tuesday.
Banda cripples life in mid-western region
Due to the prolonged strike, Deukhuri, a Tharu dominated town, has been facing shortage of daily consumables. The strike has been in place since August 12. With the shops, transportation, businesses, offices and schools closed, locals have been forced to face hardships. "Condition of this town is like that as if we are going through a period of insurgency," a local said in an attempt to describe the severity of the band.
Concerns among the locals have worsened due to unverified reports that claim that the struggle committee is extending the banda till September 17 instead of calling it off on September 2, as announced earlier. "Deukuri residents want the strike to end, but the protestors are resolute on prolonging it unless their demands are addressed," said Shobhakar Ghimire, chief of Deukhuri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Due to this nearly one-month clamp down, locals who depend on daily wages and businesses are now finding it hard to make their ends meet. "Citizens are finding hard to manage meals for their families," Ghimire said while adding questioning, "what kind of democracy is this where people are forced not to work and die of hunger?"
Farmers have been hit the hardest by the prolonged strike. Along with wages, farmers are worried for this years harvest as the strike has severely affected supply of fertilizers to the district. "Around this time of the year we used to be in the fields applying fertilizers to crops," said Rambahadur Chaudhari of Deupur, Lamahi-10. "But since there are no fertilizers available, we are sitting in our homes worrying about the fate of this year's harvest."
The strike has forced the vegetable farmers in the area to bear massive loss. They have been not able to sell their produces in lack of transportation and market to trade.
Similarly, traders have also been seriously affected by the strike. Most of the traders, who have been trading in rented spaces, are now forced to pay monthly rent without doing any trade for nearly a month. With the month coming to an end they are worried about managing resources to pay rent of their shop. "Traders with rented shops are facing difficulty. They haven't made any income in the last 22 days but they will have to pay shop rent," informed Ghimire.
Shortage of daily commodities is becoming acute in the area as stored supplies have gradually consumed and exhausted. "Shops are closed and in a day or two our home supplies will also finish," said Niru Gurung, a housewife from Lamahi. "Vehicles can't be found even for emergency situation. It's becoming difficult to live here" she added.
Dekhuri's majority population comprises of Tharus. During the 2008 protest for a Tharu state, two protestors were killed in this area. The effect of those deaths has also affected the ongoing protests in the area. Contrary to past protests culture, this time around protestors have not been visible in the area to enforce the band. The struggle committee's cadres have been organizing protests in their respective villages after the administration declared areas around the East-West Highway as riot-hit area.
Traders who try to open businesses are threatened over phones. Though protests in Ghorahi and Tulsipur have eased off, protestors have concentrated all their might in enforcing the band in Deukhuri. "Until and unless our demands are fulfilled, strike in Deukhuri is not going to end," said Hiralal Chaudhary, a cadre of the struggle committee, coordinating the banda in Deukhuri.
Banda enforcers have turned down repeated pleas from locals and business community members to ease off the strike. "When requested the ease the banda in the area, the banda enforcers instead asked us for not making such requests. We are left with no option but to remain mute spectators of our own sufferings," Ghimire said.
