Peace rally to go on despite Maoist threat

KATHMANDU, May 6:  Despite Maoist threats and objections, a meeting of various professional organizations including Professionals´ Alliance for Peace and Democracy (PAPAD), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and artistes on Thursday decided to hold a peace rally at Basantapur at 9 am on Friday.



At a press meet organized on Thursday evening, the professional organizations said they decided to hold the peace rally to create pressure for peace, constitution and national consensus government. They said the rally will be apolitical. [break]



"The peace meeting would be purely professional,” said Nepal Bar Association Chairman Prem Bahadur Khadka, adding, "We humbly request journalists to disseminate information that the rally wouldn´t be the tool of any political party."



FNCCI President Kush Kumar Joshi said that no speech would be made at the rally.



"We are not going to organize the peace rally to defy or protest the Maoist movement," said Joshi, adding, "We want to send a message through the peace meeting that all agitations should be peaceful and there should be a national consensus among political parties."



According to him, artistes Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya would perform at the rally. "The rally wouldn´t be long and no one would be allowed to make any political speech," Joshi said at the press conference.



PAPAD members informed journalists that they held day-long meeting on Thursday to dispel rumors regarding their Friday´s rally.



Earlier, rumors were spread through SMS and emails that the professionals were planning to hold a defiance rally against the Maoist movement. PAPAD and FNCCI representatives at the press conference clarified that theirs is just a peace rally.



Said Khadka, "We decided to organize the rally hoping it would help build national consensus among major political parties and to request them to make their protests peaceful."



"We had met Maoist leaders before the start of the Maoist general strike and had drawn their attention toward possible violence, said artiste/comedian Madan Krishna Shrestha, adding, "They had assured us that their movement would be peaceful. But now we see the protests are heading toward violence.



So we decided to hold peace rally to spread the message that violence must be stopped and national consensus must be forged among the political parties."



According to sources, the Maoist warned PAPAD and FNCCI representatives not to organize peace meeting Friday.



Though PAPAD and FNCCI representatives are tightlipped about the threats they received from the Maoists, sources however said representatives of FNCCI, Nepal Bar Association and others received threats from Maoist leaders on Thursday afternoon.



According to sources, Maoist leaders and cadres had warned the professionals to defer their peace meeting for two days. "We are under a difficult situation. Please don´t organize any rally.



If you must, then please defer it for two days," Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had told Joshi, according to a PAPAD member.



According to sources, Joshi, media entrepreneur Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar and human rights activist Sudeep Pathak had met Dahal on Thursday afternoon.



Maoist vandalize Club Himalaya



Meanwhile, Maoist cadres vandalized Club Himalaya Resort at Nagarkot on Thursday evening.



According to a source, a group of Maoist cadres came to the resort and started vandalizing resort for not paying donations. Resort officials refused to speak to the media.

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