In the latest episode, the threat of physical action issued by incumbent union chief Salikram Jammakattel has created a sense of terror among the union leaders close to Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai. On Wednesday, the unionists close to Bhattarai held a press conference alleging Jammakattel of resorting to threats and physical assaults to bring them to knees. [break]
"The goons hired by Jammakattel have threatened to take physical action if we don´t abide by what he orders. He has also threatened to get us sacked from our jobs," said union leader Home Subedi, who is close to Bhattarai.
The recent disputes sparked after Jammakattel announced that he has sacked the elected union leaders from the Bhattarai faction for creating a parallel committee.
The Bhatttarai faction has stated that the Jammakattel group has barred the union´s chief at Hotel Annapurna, Nara Bahadur Lamichhane, from entering the hotel premises. "Those blocking my way are not the employees of the hotel. The hired goons have threatened to ´annihilate´ me," said Lamichhane.
Similarly, Jammakattel´s men seized the key of the union´s office at Hotel Hyatt Regency from its chief Mukti Dahal before letting him out of the hotel premises on Wednesday.
In yet another incident, Jammakattel´s men allegedly abducted union leader Narayan Prasad Kharel from Lainchaur and took him hostage for three hours. "They threatened to take physical action if I don´t join their faction," said Kharel at the press meet.
The growing factionalism in the party has percolated in the party´s trade union that has split vertically into three factions with each forming a parallel committee.
The incumbent chief Jammakattel is close to Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Badri Bajgain leads the faction close to Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, and Lal Dhwaj Nembang is the chief of the Bhattarai faction. Jammakattel enjoys monopoly in the capital´s casinos, while the Bhattarai faction has a major sway in the hotels and restaurants.
"We strongly demand that the government form a panel to investigate the threats against our lives, jobs and rights to political freedom, and take action against the guilty," reads a statement signed by the union chiefs of Kathmandu´s major five star hotels.
The Maoist trade union is in disarray, but the party seems helpless in the face of the growing factionalism.
The party standing committee had decided to dissolve the parallel committees formed by Bajgain, downsize the current central committee (CC) to 93 members and mandate it to elect a new leadership through a national convention. But while Jammakattel refused to downsize the CC, Bajgain and Nembang declined to accept Jammkattel as chief of the committee that would hold a national convention.
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