From correspondents in Kathmandu, Nepal, 10:01 PM IST

Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas have withdrawn their trade and transport strike scheduled Wednesday -- traditionally an auspicious day for marriages -- after party leaders were flooded with calls from families of brides and grooms, saying the protests would throw the weddings out of gear.

The All Nepal Trade Union Federation-Revolutionary, the powerful trade union affiliated to the Maoists, had called the strike Wednesday as part of the series of disruptive protests called by the parent party to force the government into agreeing to censure the President Ram Baran Yadav.

The trade union was also readying to lock horns with Nepal's media organisations, announcing that Wednesday's strike would also close down newspapers and television stations and radio stations.

The declaration was greeted with protests and consternation by the republic's vibrant media that condemned it as an attack on the basic right of citizens to knowledge.

Hundreds of weddings are scheduled to take place Wednesday, an auspicious date according to astrologers.

Prerana Marasini, the correspondent of the Hindu daily in Nepal, expressed her outrage at the strike on her Facebook page, saying that the rebels were not even allowing people to marry.

Marasini herself, to be married Wednesday, had to reshuffle the programme, holding the reception Monday, ahead of the actual wedding, so that the guests would be able to attend.

'We have to hold the wedding on two days now,' her father said.

'It's such a waste of time, energy and money.'

However, after complaints by dozens of concerned families, the chief of the Maoist trade union, Shalik Ram Jamerkattel, issued a press statement, saying the protest programme Wednesday was being called off due to the exigencies of the wedding season.

Jamerkattel also said an ongoing programme by the National Human Rights Commission, which would also have been disrupted by the transport strike, also made his union decide to postpone the protest.

During the run-up to Christmas, the Maoists have called another three-day general strike.

Their protests are intended to make the government censure President Yadav, whom they accuse of causing the fall of their eight-month government in May.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)