Kathmandu, March 21:

The All Nepal National Independent Students Union -Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) today announced that it would force the closure of educational institutions across the country tomorrow and on Friday to protest the act of vandalism at its central office and torching of a flashboard at Maitighar by the participants of a rally organised by businessmen yesterday.

“All the educational institutions across the country will be closed down on March 22 and 23 to protest the attack on ANNISU-R by the regressive forces,” said Lekhnath Neupane, president of the ANNISU-R, at a press conference here. He said this was only a symbolic protest and the union would go for an indefinite educational strike if the businessmen did not apologise for their mistakes and provide due compensation for the damages caused to the ANNISU-R.

He further said that the flashboard with the pictures of ‘martyrs’ were set ablaze by the participants of the rally organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) yesterday and they had also vandalised the central office of the ANNISU-R situated at Bagbazar.

Neupane also said the union was seriously concerned about the involvement of various private educational institutions, including the Private and Boarding Schools Organisation Nepal (PABSON), in the vandalism and the closure of schools. He also demanded that all the private and boarding schools be nationalised immediately to bring in uniformity in educational opportunities throughout the nation.

He added that on March 25 the union would file a case in a court against the organisers of the rally that vandalised the flashboard and the union’s office, and a gherao programme would be organised at the office of FNCCI on March 26.