Lamjung, May 16:

The Maoists have been asking local businessmen and industrialists to provide donation to the party.

Recently, district-based Maoists cadres, including district chairperson of the ANNISU (R), Shiva Adhikari, and secretary of the district secretariat, Pratap, urged the entrepreneurs to support the party financially. “As we have to feed our army, we have been asking the traders to support us financially,” Partap said.

As two governments have been functioning in the country, imposition of taxes from both the governments is quite natural, Pratap said.

Chairperson of the Commerce and Industry Association (Lamjung), Ramesh Kumar Piya, said local businessmen had been hit hard due to the increase in the number of tourists visiting the Annapurna region, owing to the people’s war. He blamed both the government and the Maoists for the decrease in the number of trekkers in the region.

Former chairperson of the Commerce and Industry Association (Lamjung), Dhan Raj Shrestha, said though traders had provided financial support to the Maoists in the past, they were no more in a position to support the Maoists further due to the critical situation in the country.