Nepal

As police tightened security ahead of Tuesday’s Nepal Banda (general shutdown) called by the Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand, people across Nepal have been cautiously going about their daily business.

Fearing vandalism and violence as in past Nepal Bandas, many office-goers checked news updates before leaving for work.

But in a rare show of public backlash, transport workers in the town of Banepa, located east of Kathmandu, chased and caught two Banda enforcers who pelted stones at their bus.

The two, identified by police and Pramod Giri and Pal Raut, were beaten up by angry transport workers and passers-by before police intervened.

The video of them getting beaten up has gone viral on social media.

Their condition is said to be stable and are "not too badly hurt".

In Kathmandu valley and elsewhere, police have arrested several Banda enforcers attempting to stop vehicular movements.

Meanwhile, concerns seem to be growing over political parties’ tendency to call nationwide shutdown to press for their demands.

'Children as Zones of Peace'

Meanwhile, Children as Zones of Peace Campaign (CZPC) has criticised CPN’s move to call for a general shutdown, saying the move  “has curtailed the rights of millions of children” preparing to go to school.

A CZPC press release said the move “neglected the established understanding that children are zones of peace” and urged political parties to “withdraw such programmes" and resolve political issues through peaceful activities.

CPN - a breakaway faction of CPN Maoist-Centre - called the general shutdown demanding withdrawal of cases against its leaders in line with an agreement that it reached with the KP Sharma Oli-led government one-and-a-half-year ago. CPN’s Nepal Banda idea was backed by three other obscure communist parties.

See photos captured in Kathmandu valley, where the Banda had little or no effect: