In Dang district, Young Communist League (YCL) has begun lathi and khukuri training to youths in the districts and expedited donation collection drive which the Maoist youth wing said is for a people´s revolt. [break]
Youths from all 39 VDCs and two municipalities of Dang have been taking part in the training. YCL said that it has planned to train around 10,000 youths in the district alone. The participants are trained to use lathis (sticks) and khukuris. But the Maoists have termed the training as a sport training.
They have prepared dummy wooden khukuris for the disposal of the participants.
"They called us for sport training," said Srijana Chaudhary of Gairagaun in Ghorahi, adding, "But they have been teaching us to use lathis."
YCL has established several camps for the week-long training. But YCL said the training can last longer. The training begins at 6 am every day and runs for 10 hours a day.
YCL has collected donations to accommodate the trainees. Locals said Maoist cadres have been collecting rice and other foods from the villagers. Job holders have been asked to provide cash donations. Maoists have termed the donation as "seasonal donation".
"People have voluntarily donated for the event," said YCL Dang in-charge Muldhan Rokka.
Local landlords have been forced to give donations worth Rs 5,000 to Rs 100,000. But the Maoists have denied the charge and said the people have been asked to donate voluntarily.
"We have also got information that people have been forced to donate. We will remind our friends not to collect donations forcefully," said Maoist Baglung District in-charge Nirmal Acharya, adding that this might have happened due to misunderstanding among his comrades.
Maoists call two-day banda
Meanwhile, Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Students Union (ANNISU-Revolutionary) has called a two-day general strike in Pokhara starting Friday asking the government to withdraw charges against five of its leaders.
The leaders were arrested on the charge of attacking UML-affiliated students at Prithvi Narayan campus in Pokhara a few days ago. Two UML affiliated students were injured in the clash.
One of those arrested has been released by Kaski district court on Thursday. “It is not a matter of one student. Cases against all five students have to be withdrawn,” said Ramji Baral, “Otherwise, our general strike will go ahead as scheduled.”
UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, and leaders KP Oli and Bamdev Gautam were scheduled to attend a function in Pokhara on Saturday.
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