Strike!

Facing mounting losses and the inability to get more fuel from Indian Oil Corporation due to their not paying for fuel, the Nepal Oil Corporation raised their prices for the third time in the last few months to raise the money to pay for more fuel.

The government run company is guilty of being associated with a remarkably corrupt government (last weeks granting of $15,000 to each member of the interim parliment is a good example), so the people do not trust them. They must be corrupt since the rest of the government is.

What do you do? Strike! In this case, student unions (who are perpetually on strike) put boulders in the road, set fires and announced schools and businesses will be closed from yesterday afternoon. The thousands of people who work and go to school in Kathmandu were stranded. One girl we know of walked the 10 miles back home.

Will the strike work...not likely. From what I see, there is a day off of work and school. Some business closed out of fear of the union most played the game of closing a door or two and staying open.

The police are inaffectual at best (and corrupt and disliked most of the time). These strikes happen every couple of weeks and people seem to accept it. With no real rule of law, they probably have few choices.

Update

Once again proving I know nothing, the government relented and reduced prices after the second day of increasingly violent protests.