Schools in the Valley were closed on Monday due to a letter sent to educational institutions in the name of an unknown party's student organization. The educational institutions closed their schools after receiving a letter sent in the name of the Jana Parti Student Union, Nepal, calling for a Valley-wide academic strike.

‘It is an organized rebellion of the right pro-people forces against the anti-people education system, commercialization, inequality and irresponsibility of the state,’ the letter says, ‘It is inevitable for freedom to rebel against bondage, pro-people democracy against bourgeois autocracy, and the proletariat to rebel against imperialist capitalism.’

Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Ishwar Karki, the chief of the Valley Police, said that he learned about the closure of schools based on a letter sent by this previously unheard-of group. ‘Today, the police are focused on the protests announced by Miraj Dhungana and the Microfinance Group. There was a security environment that allowed all schools to open,’ he told Kantipur. ‘However, after the closure, work is underway to understand it.’

An official of the Private and Residential Schools Association, Nepal, claimed that some people came to ask for donations but went on strike when they were not given. ‘We have requested the police administration to help create an environment where schools can open by maintaining peace and security,’ he said, ‘there has been a sporadic impact today.’

Kathmandu Police Spokesperson Pawan Kumar Bhattarai said he was not aware of what information the schools sent and why they closed. ‘We are not aware of what the schools did, but there is no lack of security arrangements,’ he said.

Who called for the shutdown?

A letter was sent to schools in the name of Sunita Budhathoki, President of the Jana Parti Students Union, Nepal. The same Budhathoki, while talking to Kantipur, said that they are striking to ensure that Nepali students, workers and citizens living abroad can vote from this election onwards.

‘This strike is also to pressure for free education up to the secondary level as mentioned in the constitution,’ she said, ‘Our strike program today has also been successful.’ What kind of organization is the Jana Parti Students Union? When asked, she said that this is the student organization of the NCP Jana Parti Party. This party does not seem to have been registered with the Election Commission yet. According to her, the party chairman is Mahendra Malla. He is a former Maoist.