Industrialists and the business community have been organising rallies and issuing press releases urging Maoist rebels and the government to create an environment that allows them to open businesses.

Their main argument is that politics and the economy shouldn't be mixed up. "It does not work that way," says Binod Bahadur Shrestha, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

"The political issues should be solved politically and the economy should be allowed to follow it own course."
The business community has been concerned following the closure of a dozen business houses under Maoist pressure, including some of Nepal's most prestigious firms like Soaltee Crowne Plaza and Surya Nepal. Many FNCCI board members said it was not just about the ones presently forced to close. "Today it is 12 of us, tomorrow it could be all," they argue.

There appears to be an arbitrariness in the Maoist threats. They have told American businesses to stay away, but also forced the closure of the Middle-Marsyangdi hydropower project in Lamjung which is funded with German official development assistance. "A thread running through all these closed companies is that they defied Maoist extortion threats, and that goes for the Marsyangdi contractor as well," explained one business source.The rebels suspended the blockade after a week and the student wing of the Maoists have formed a team to hold talks with the government on education issues. But the trade union arm of the rebels that has pressured the business houses to close down, has not made any move. In fact, their stance has hardened after the arrest of two of their comrades in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

The Maoist-affiliated trade union has been arguing that business houses exploit workers. "The workers are being exploited even during normal times, we are fighting for their liberation," said federation chairman Shalikgram Jamarkatel. But trade unionists affiliated to political parties dismiss these allegations, saying the strike is actually anti-worker. "It takes away their jobs and they can't feed their faimilies," says Binod Shrestha, general secretary of the UML-affiliated trade General Federation of Nepal Trade Union. FNCCI's Shrestha believes dialogue is the only answer. "We have been discussing problems the (Maoist) trade unionists have raised, and we believe it can be resolved through dialogue."