Political parties and their leaders are interested in mass protests, but the people, including the participants of such demonstrations, say they are not.
On Wednesday, when Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced that one million of his party’s supporters would encircle Singha Durbar during the next round of protests, Sanumaya Thapa, was walking home with her two-year-old daughter from Nidan Hospital, Pulchwok, where her husband is undergoing renal dialysis.
“I had to walk in the morning as well to bring my husband food,” said Thapa, 37. “I don’t have my own vehicle and due to this protest, I couldn’t find a public vehicle to take me to the hospital,” said Thapa as she made her way from Kupondole to her room in Koteshwor.
Like on any other protest day, Wednesday saw hundreds of people in Kathmandu Valley forced to walk as thousands descended on the streets of Kathmandu to participate in the rally organised by the Dahal-Nepal faction of the Nepal Communist Party against the dissolution of the House of Representatives by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on December 20.
“What’s the use of this mass gathering? Why can’t I go to the hospital to see my ailing husband?” Thapa asked.
Wednesday’s demonstration was the third of its kind organised by the faction against caretaker Prime Minister Oli in Kathmandu. Earlier, the faction had organised a mass gathering at the same venue—Pradarshani Marg—on Jan 22 paralysing public mobility in the city.
But Wednesday’s demonstration was a bit different from the previous two—the leadership decided to swap the sofa on the podium with chairs after it was criticised on social media as protesters were forced to sit on the road while leaders enjoyed the view on their cozy sofa.
But that didn’t matter much to ordinary citizens attending the demonstration. “I do not see any difference between Oli, Dahal and Nepal,” said Sitaram Giri, 58, a retired teacher, who came from Lokanthali to Pardarshaini Marg.
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