What is Strike Culture?

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Nation-wide strikes, popularly known as Nepal Bandh (literally meaning ”closed Nepal”) have become a norm in Nepal. Whenever any group wants to get wide-spread attention and have their demands fulfilled, they immediately call a nation-wide strike. From major political parties to student unions, from laborers to businessmen: anyone who is dissatisfied with an issue from their work, the government or any other banal issue can easily organize a strike in Nepal.

Strike is becoming a culture in Nepal. In Nepal, reasons for strikes range from personal vendettas to minority rights, price hikes to low income, influence of Hindi cinema to pension plans: to summarize, a strike can be called for ANY reason and since organizing a strike usually results in fulfillment of demands, more and more groups are adopting this culture.

No matter what is the cause of the strike, one thing is very clear: the strike culture is crippling the economy in Nepal. Each time a strike is called, thousands of people who depend on their daily wages for their livelihood suffer the most. As the whole transportation system comes to a halt during a Nepal bandh, it creates rippling effects into many different aspects of the normal lives of the people. During the strikes, offices and schools are forced to remain closed. Major markets are closed. The busy streets of Kathmandu are filled with children playing football in the middle of the street. However, government and business offices remain open and employees are seen walking anywhere from an hour to four hours to get to work.

The most worrisome aspect of this strike culture is that the Nepali people have started accepting bandhs as part of their lives. For someone like me who grew up with this culture, Nepal bandh  is as normal as an ordinary school day. Due to this, people have stopped standing up against these unwarranted protests and protesters. People simply give in and go on about their daily lives. This has created a vicious cycle of strike culture in Nepal.

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