E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, MAY 22 -

With the ongoing banda called by various ethnic groups posing threat to communal harmony, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FNCCI ), in association with other business and professional organisations, is organising a mass gathering—National Harmony Gathering—in Basantapur, Kathmandu, at 5:00 pm on Wednesday.

The participants of the meeting will wear white shirt, carry a national flag and candle. Slogans for the assembly are ‘let’s renounce bandas’, ‘give us constitution in time’, ‘let’s maintain peace, harmony and prosperity and national unity’, according to FNCCI .

The meeting will be joined by various civil society organisations, including the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, all associate and commodity associations of FNCCI , Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Nepal, Higher Secondary School’s Association Nepal, Private and Boarding School’s Organization, Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Media Society, Television Broadcasters’ Nepal,  Hotel Association of Nepal,  Management Association of Nepal.

This is not the first time that FNCCI has stepped up to discourage bandas. In 2010, FNCCI organised a ‘peace rally’ against the general strike called by the Maoists against the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government. The gathering of the people from all walks of life had forced Maoists to call off the strike.

“The FNCCI is worried about the recent bandas that have resulted caused billions of rupees of losses to the national economy and disturbed the normal life,” said Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnilar, acting president of FNCCI . He said the gathering will help strengthen the age-long social harmony in the Nepali society.

Meanwhile, several business and professional organisations have expressed serious concerns about the continuous banda and assault against the media by banda enforcers.

The Confederation of Nepalese Industries, in a press statement, said it is unfair to call bandas prompting the closure of industries and hurting the national economy, as there are several other options to get the demands fulfilled.

The Nepal Association of

Tour Operators (NATO), in a separate statement, said the series of bandas has hurt the economic sector, especially the tourism industry, and urged organisers to call off strikers and seek solution to their problems through peaceful means.

Posted on: 2012-05-22 08:44

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