Amid government claims that the Maoists had been losing their strength and were unable to mount any major assault, they have increased their activities visibly in recent weeks, one of them being the recent attack on the headquarters of the Bhojpur district. Apart from their frequent bandhs, the Maoists have started a blockade of 13 district headquarters, the first time they have covered so many places all at the same time. The two-week-long blockade starting day before yesterday includes districts in the central, western and mid-western regions. As a result, on the first day, for example, hundreds of buses and trucks were stranded on the Mugling stretch of the Prithvi Highway.

The restrictions have been imposed by three "people’s regional governments" in order to affect the security forces and government offices, according to the organisers, at the same time seeking to force nominees to the various municipalities and district development committees to resign. This action aims at stopping the flow of people to the offices in the district headquarters and the movement of food and other essentials, and disrupt transport, communication, power and water supply. The organisers will try to force government employees and "pro-government" organisations to leave the "liberated areas," require any government representative to obtain a permit from them before entering those areas, and seize all land, equipment and infrastructure owned by it.

Naturally, the government is expected to take measures to minimise the impact of the blockade. However, the general fear psychosis, the Maoists’ hold on the villages, and terror tactics are likely to affect normal life in the 13 districts considerably and to make travel of people and vehicles less than smooth through those areas. The blockade, however, provides symptoms of the present state of affairs. It is hard to conceive that without some local support the Maoists could have organised such a thing and the government’s presence, on the other hand, seems to be limited to district headquarters. The Maoists now appear to be concentrating their efforts on urban areas, too. But the government in the capital faces some problems. One of them is that it is not even recognised by the major political parties and has, as of now, little popular base. Dependence on the security forces and foreign support alone will hardly resolve the pressing problems facing the nation. There is no denying that the insurgency is likely to go on for long, if no genuine effort at a speedy political settlement is made. Unfortunately, however, there is no sign as yet from either side that the talks may take place anytime soon. The tragedy is that the general people are, therefore, likely to remain hostage to this internal war indefinitely.