70,000 varsity workers to go on warpath in Nepal

University workers clashed with security forces here Monday and warned the Nepal government that 70,000 of them would stop work from Tuesday if it did not make immediate arrangements to fill top administrative posts lying vacant for nearly nine months.

Policemen beat up protesters with batons and kicked them savagely to bring the situation under control as university staff defied a ban and marched near Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's office.

Monday's violence was the latest chapter in an agitation that has been going on for weeks. It was started by a student organisation close to the second-largest party in Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's coalition government, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist.

Students began demonstrating on the streets last month, obstructing traffic and padlocking colleges, demanding that the government appoint vice chancellors and other senior officials in at least three universities, including the Tribhuvan University, named after King Gyanendra's grandfather.

The posts have been lying vacant since King Gyanendra was forced to quit as head of government in April and all royal appointees resigned.

The Koirala government faces an uphill task over the appointments since the Maoist guerrillas have warned it not to take decisions on important issues without consulting them. Last month, when the government tried to appoint 14 envoys, the Maoists enforced a Kathmandu closure and threatened a 48-hour general strike from Dec 31.

Shambhu Bhattarai, leader of the Tribhuvan University staff union, told Nepal's official media that varsity workers would stop work from Tuesday if the government failed to address their demand. There are about 70,000 people working in various campuses under the university, Nepal Television said.

The new pressure comes as the government is trying to stop the Maoists from getting the upper hand in all state decisions.

Koirala Monday said the rebels would be responsible if a key election, to be held by June, cannot be held in time.

"To hold the election, police posts would have to be re-established to give people a sense of security," the premier had said last week. "Government officials should also be allowed to return to rural areas and resume work."

Despite the prime minister's contention that he had reached an agreement with Maoist supremo Prachanda, the rebels are not allowing police posts to reopen. Their spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said his party would allow security posts only in sensitive areas. In all other places, such a step would have to be discussed with the party leaders.

The rebels have been thwarting the measures in a bid to put counter-pressure on the government to promulgate the new constitution finalised last month and form a new government with their participation.

Koirala, however, is blocking the new constitution, saying the Maoists can't be inducted in the government till they give up arms.

This is the demand of many of Nepal's foreign donors, including the US. US ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty, who returned from Washington Sunday, said his government was not yet ready to lift the terrorist tag on the Maoists.

If an armed group join the government, US officials have said Washington would be forced to stop all assistance to Nepal.

(IANS)

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