Kathmandu is hit-hard by the protest against petro price hike. There is no vehicular movement as protesters are burning tyres on streets. However, the nature of protest and some of the incidents that I experienced looked ill motivated.
Nepal Government has directed NOC to revoke the price-hike decision immediately, according to breaking news on radio and, hopefully it will all end by this evening.
INCIDENTS
Early morning I was in office. I joined a few of my colleagues to stroll around. We went up to Baneshwor. There was a small rally that disappeared among crowd before it reached Baneshwor. At Min Bhawan, there was a tyre burning on the road with a few people around it.
Near Baneshwor, we women journalist wearing Press jacket pushing her motorcycle. We naturally went there and knew it was Maina Dhital, a female journalist with Kantipur daily. The protesters were behind her wooing her.
We mixed ourselves into the crowd and said its okay for journalists to go. She tried to get away, but a few of the protesters started shouting at her and kicking her bike. In a few minutes, despite protests from us and a few others in the crowd, the front of her bike was all broken.
We, with help from a few others, could push the bike out of the crowd telling her she could leave the bike and go.
In a few minutes, there was Dewan Rai of The Himalayan Times. He too was stopped, his key was taken away and a protester pulled off his Press ID card and showed it to the others for wooing.
On return, we meet Anant Raj Luitel of The Himalayan Times who said his bike was also thrashed at Koteshwor. “I could hardly save my bike from being burnt,” he said. He had left the bike at Police Station. A few other journalists with Kantipur have also told similar cases.
WHAT IS WRONG?
The petro-price hike on Monday has already fuelled for two days of closure. But on Wednesday, the protesters looked more like mob than protesters. There was no control. The police looked helpless. And, that’s a danger.
When Maina was being wooed, (it is possibly because she was a female), her bike was being kicked again and again the police stationed 10m away were just mere onlookers. It was like there is no presence of the state on the streets.
The students unions or the associations behind the protest should think about the possible infiltrations. And, such uncontrolled protests do not help in the time when the country is going through difficult time in political front. The associations and student unions should learn to act more responsible and hold, if necessary, such protests on a controlled manner.
The worst is any protest in Nepal seems to be closing down the city – which is sadly troubling the people more.
