National political forces haven't been able to stand up to the UCPN-M's injustice to the people by this prolonged paralysis of the country. The so-called friends of Nepal in the international community, civil society and individuals are only chanting the mantra of 'consensus'. They have not been able to speak out against an illegal shutdown of the country at a time when the venue for settling power-sharing disagreements should be the elected constituent assembly. The Maoists swear by the people, and yet they are punishing the same people with this shutdown. There is no alternative to the Maoists being a stakeholder in government, but the path is through parliament. The party is undermining itself by prolonging this strike. How long do they want to hold the people hostage? Why should the other parties even sit down with them? More outrageous is that the political parties can't tell the Maoists that they won't sit down for any more negotiations until the strike is lifted.