Day 3: More local people, women, UML members join strike

Report by Mukti N. Kattel.  This report covers the development until 1 pm eastern time (USA/Canada) (11:30 am Nepal time).

Very significant spontaneous rise is reported in the participation by the local people/nursing mothers in the capital city and some other cities outside. In the capital city, the indigenous people (the newars ) have poured in with flyers and speeches in their own language and the founding member of CPN, Mr. Narabahadur Karmacharya, has also come to the front today.

In some areas, a big mass of UML people are joining the Maoist party today, considering the UML a regressive party. In many places, protesters were welcomed by the locals with AbirJaatraa (a red powder that has a great cultural significance) and were supplying clean drinking water to the protesters.  However, the government has now started playing tricks (has employed vigilante to stone the police, has employed its youth wing people to loot stores, damage vehicles even during the permitted hours, to attack some journalists; the communication minister himself has been reported as intimidating independent journalists and has even ordered  them to blackout the news about the movement. Some of the vigilantes have been caught by the protesters and submitted to the police and others have been chased away or are being looked for. In some cases, the police are slow to look for the vigilantes. In general, there is harmony between the police and the protesters).

In the bordering areas to India such as Birganj, groups of suspicious people in half pants have entered Nepal from India and have tried to infiltrate into the protesters.

The reasons behind the increase in the participation of the locals and women are the involvement of the protesters in cleaning (removing and disposing the garbages) and sweeping the city, the hard work of the protesters (staying whole day on the reinforced cement concrete roads in the hot day sun, etc.), the increasing support of independent intellectuals (for example the civil society leaders, etc.) and the reactionary behaviour of the government.

Today the protesters are surrounding the city by lining up on the 27 kilometre-long RingRoad that circles the capital city. Other features are similar to what were reported yesterday.
Update at noon: Youth Force (youth wing of UML) have stoned the protesters at Kalanki and the police have been reported as being inactive in trying to take hold of them, yet situation is under control.