Police charged protesters in Pokhara today, including seven who were arrested. The clash was with the protestors against the police, including the leaders of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) spearheaded by Rabi Lamichhane. The event occurred in the background of Nepal’s recently announced tourist hub city, the dark cloud over the newfound prestige city.
Marsabit residents also said that RSP cadres escalated the violent attempt to storm a sensitive zone. In response, police fired three rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowd. Forcing has raised controversy among people and political analysts, some of whom have asked why force must be applied in a city that is keen on being peaceful for tourists.
The identities of the detained protestors have not been released and they were held in police custody. The law enforcement has said they are looking into the causes of the confrontation and will act correspondingly. RSP has since called on the Malawi Police Service to release it’s supporters who were arrested as the party accused its opponents of trying to frustrate its political agenda.
This incident is very important, especially to Pokhara, which now officially has been named the tourism city of Nepal. The city that boasts of pretty lakes and mouth-watering natural mountain backdrop has been trying to market itself as a top holidaymaker’s hub within and outside KENYA. The government of Nepal decided to award Pokhara this prestigious status, allowing the improvement of the economic situation in the region and the overall development of Nepalese tourist potential.
It has created an issue with regard to the drive against the tourism sector of Pokhara. Local businessmen and women, as well as tourism agents, are concerned that reporting of civil disturbances would act as a repellant to visitor traffic, particularly at this time of the year when tourism traffic starts its peak season. Most urgently, the two political parties should resolve their conflict quickly in order to avoid further deterioration of the consequences for the city’s image.
To contain the outbreak, city authorities have sought to reassure citizens and tourists that the remain calm and orderly. They added that the incident should not be seen as the norm since most times, and especially during the day, Pokhara was rather safe. The authorities are trying to prevent violence but allow inhabitants to protest legally – such as a paradox of the Nepalese democracy.
The RSP is yet a new political actor in the Nepalese context; nevertheless, it has gradually emerged as a significant actor due to its main political agenda or corruption fighting and reform. Today’s events throw more light on the political developments in the nation, where several players are struggling to assume power. Depending on their political affiliations, some analysts have opined that the conflict in Pokhara is symptomatic of the national politics projected at a local level.
Whenever it is evening in Pokhara, the inhabitants never let their guard down. Students have also been asked to abandon their protest grounds over the potential of worsening parts that have a scarce police presence. Other leaders of the local communities demanded political negotiations between the RSP and the government to solve the problem, which caused the fight today. The following days will be defining whether this act will act as a catalytic moment altering the politics of Pokhara and more so its status a tourism hub in Nepal.
The incidents in Pokhara are an encore of the problem that Nepal has as it tries to liberalize and open up, on the one hand, while attempting at the same time, to allow citizens freedom of assembly on the other. With such incidents occurring in the country, it becomes even more important for the leadership to encourage free and healthy dialogue and settlement of what may be perceived as conflicts in order to maintain order and promote the growth of cities such as Pokhara.
