Maoists call off five-day Kathmandu blockade

Maoist insurgents today called off their five-day blockade of Kathmandu after failing to bring the seat of political power to its knees.The ...

Maoist insurgents today called off their five-day blockade of Kathmandu after failing to bring the seat of political power to its knees.

The end of the blockade was announced suddenly, without assigning any reason. However, the withdrawal could have been caused by the growing alienation among people and widespread condemnation of the blockade as an ‘‘anti-people act’ by the general public as well as human rights groups here.

This is the second time in four months that the Maoist insurgents have attempted to cut off the capital after an earlier blockade in August.

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Maoists have, however, threatened that they would resume the blockade if the government failed to comply to their demand for making public the whereabouts of their ‘‘disappeared comrades’’.

So far, the government has been silent on their demand while escorting hundreds of trucks and good carriers with essential supplies to the capital during the recent blockade.

The Maoist rebels, meanwhile, are yet to respond to the Nepal government’s dialogue deadline of January 13.

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