In this country, most people who shut down their businesses or avoid driving their vehicles during a banda don’t do so to support the call. In fact, people hate bandas. But they know that any defiance will bring great harm to them, thus the submission.
The success of a banda, often equated with the severity of its impact, depends on the number of enforcers and the ruthlessness of their hooliganism. Bandas that agonizingly bring normal life to a complete standstill, barring even patients or doctors from reaching the hospital, are rated as ‘great’ by the strikers. To achieve this ‘greatness’, enforcers burn discarded tires on the streets the first thing in the morning. This scares the commuters and brings vehicular traffic to a halt. If a few brave to carry on, the enforcers pelt stones or arson attack their vehicles or even thrash them. Similarly, in a symbolic gesture, enforcers whistle around busy market places with display of sticks or torches. Terrified people understand the message and hastily shut down their businesses. Those who don’t meet the fate of the challenging commuters.
Bandas with the above modus operandi started with the restoration of democracy in 1990 and kept flourishing all along. While communists, ethnic and other disgruntled groups excessively made use of bandas to achieve their objective, Nepali Congress – which has been in government most of the time – proved unable to counter them with political and administrative measures. Along with the Maoist rebellion, bandas increasingly became violent. So, naturally people had great hopes when Maoists joined the peace process three-and-a-half years back. But in the name of political transition, inept, short-sighted and mendacious politicians have only worsened the situation. Especially, since the Tarai uprising that took place over two years back, bandas and chakkajams (transport strikes) have increased both in scale and severity.
These days, bandas are not only called by bigger groups such as political parties, ethnic groups, transporters syndicate, workers union or students. Any damn group is capable of calling a strike. Strikes are too commonplace to become news these days. One or the other part of the country or one or the other segment of society is always affected by a banda. Everyday this, that and the other road is closed as a result of chakkajam. Consequently, thousands of travelers are stranded and tons of perishable supplies are destroyed in the middle of highways. Sometimes, this situation lasts for several days, yet the enforcers do not display empathy to anyone be it children, elderly, disabled or sick.
Demand for a separate state, exchange of lucrative personal benefits for people living around development projects or landfill sites, bargain for an exorbitant compensation to a road accident victim—any cause will merit bandas and chakkajams. Lately, bandas have been staged to settle disputes that arise between individuals or families too.
Sometimes, bandas are executed by opposing groups to force mutually exclusive, thus impossible demands. For example, rival ethnic factions call a banda with claims and counterclaims of a separate homeland over the same territory.
Poor common people endure bandas because they have no choice. Demoralized law and order authorities ignore the violent behavior or intimidation of the enforcers because they enjoy political patronage and, as such, are too powerful to be punished.
Bandas have devastating effects on the livelihood of people, especially the poor. They have severely damaged every sector, from education to employment to economy and business. They have terribly weakened everything from social order to people’s self-esteem to the nation’s pride. The culture of anarchy and lawlessness politicians harvested in the form of bandas has taken a huge toll on the life of the people.
People are sick and tired of strikes; they want the madness to stop right away, once and for all. This cancer of our democracy must be removed for good or else it will kill Nepal’s juvenile democracy. Disappointment and frustration that has been taking roots among the populace will pave way either for a dictatorship or foreign intervention or a total collapse.
Unfortunately, our leaders don’t offer much room for hope; we have repeatedly witnessed their double-standards. The same leaders who promise to ban bandas when they are in the government enforce harsher bandas as soon as they are out of power. Our politicians are simply too selfish, partisan and incapable of working together in the larger interests of the nation.
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