Nepal Should Restore Civil Rights, U.S. Envoy Tells Government
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Nepal should restore democratic rights and release political leaders detained under a state of emergency imposed three days ago in the Himalayan kingdom, a U.S. envoy told the new government installed by King Gyanendra.

U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty met Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey yesterday in the capital, Kathmandu, to express U.S. concern at the king dismissing the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday in Washington.

``He made the point that we believe Nepal's government needs to restore and protect civil and human rights,'' Ereli said, according to an e-mailed transcript. The U.S. is ``continuing to consult with neighboring countries about conditions in Nepal.''

King Gyanendra said he will head a new government after dismissing Deuba's administration Feb. 1 for failing to ensure security in the face of an insurgency by rebels fighting to create a communist republic. The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people since 1996 in the country of 27 million, where 80 percent of the population rely on agriculture for a livelihood. Farming accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product.

Nepal, lodged between India and China, attracts tourists and climbers coming to see Mount Everest and eight other of the world's 14 peaks higher than 8,000 meters (26,248 feet).

Soldiers and police remain on the streets of Kathmandu and other cities and towns, the Nepalese media is under censorship and telephone and Internet links are still cut, the British Broadcasting Corp. said.

Soldiers have been sent into television stations, the BBC reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

Student Protest

Nepal's human rights commission says the army raided a student hostel after demonstrations in the central town of Pokhara on Feb. 1, the BBC reported. As many as 250 students were arrested, it said.

About 100 political activists have been detained and leaders of the main political parties placed under house arrest, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday from Kathmandu, citing an unidentified member of Deuba's Nepali Congress Democratic Party.

The U.S. will continue to ``press for the kinds of actions that respect the rights of the people and mark a return to democratic practices'' in Nepal, Ereli said, according to the State Department transcript.

Rebels last month ignored a government deadline to start peace talks that broke down in August 2003. They are demanding an assembly be created to change the constitution.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the rebel leader known as Prachanda, has called for a three-day nationwide strike to protest the state of emergency. Nepal's new Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi yesterday told the rebels to return to negotiations or the government ``may have to think of alternative steps,'' AFP said.

India's Concern

India also expressed concern at events in its neighboring country. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this week withdrew from a Feb. 6-7 summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, due to be attended by King Gyanendra. The meeting was subsequently canceled.

Political parties accused the king of acting unconstitutionally in October 2002 when he fired the government, then headed by Deuba, and dismissed parliament. The monarchy held power until 1990 when the constitution was changed to create a multiparty democracy. The king reappointed Deuba as prime minister in June last year.

Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world with 42 percent of its population living below the poverty line. Its GDP was estimated at $1,400 for each citizen in 2004, according to U.S. government data. The international community funds 62 percent of Nepal's development.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aunSfuReUu7g&refer=asia

Nepal's king tightened controls on his critics Thursday, with more politicians placed under house arrest and student leaders arrested.

The Asian Human Rights Commission, quoting sources in Katmandu, reported upper and mid-level members of political parties had been confined to their homes and student leaders had been taken into custody at the Armed Police Force Headquarters.

The group expressed concern the arrests could extend to journalists, academics, lawyers and others critical of King Gyanendra's dismissal of the government and assumption of total control over the country Tuesday.

Both the Nepal Bar Association and the Federation of Nepalese Journalists issued statements criticizing the king's action, which the journalists' group called a coup against democracy and peoples' rights.

Soldiers had been positioned outside media offices and were reportedly checking all who entered or left the premises. The government Thursday issued a six-month ban on news reports critical of the government, the BBC reported, citing a notice in the main daily newspaper. FM radio stations had reportedly been ordered to play only music.

The military ordered Katmandu shop owners to open their shops to give the appearance of normalcy in the capital, the Asian Human Rights Commission said.

With their leaders in detention and their rights removed, Nepal's political parties have been left powerless after the king seized control of the country, while the long-suffering people of Kathmandu go about their business with apparent indifference.
The state of emergency declared on Tuesday when King Gyanendra seized power, the suspension of basic rights, notably that of assembly, and the isolation imposed on the Himalayan country; none of this is immediately apparent in the capital.

Soldiers patrol the streets, telephone lines have been cut, political activists are in detention or under house arrest. But the rhythm of life in the city does not seem to have been disrupted.

Shops are open and schools are in class. Taxi drivers are stuck in traffic jams, women shop in markets and tourists browse the boutiques.

Since the king's dramatic sacking of the government for failing to hold elections or end an increasingly deadly Maoist revolt, there has not been one protest march or riot.

At the "democracy wall", the usual site of demonstrations in Kathmandu, all is calm.

The main parties in the sacked government -- the Nepali Congress Democratic Party and its main ally the Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist -- say they have not been able to organise a response because their hands have been tied by the king's decrees.

"Because there is a gap of communication, no (telephone) landline, no mobile line, nothing has been organised yet," said a member of ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress Democratic Party.

About 100 political activists were arrested while their leaders were put under house arrest, which bars them from any outside contact, he said.

"We are waiting the orders of the senior leaders but they are under house arrest," he said.

Political parties are further stymied by the ban on public assembly. "Even four or five cannot gather because it has been banned," said Batshraj Pokharel, a member of the communist party.

At the heavily guarded university campuses, normally a hotbed of agitation and protest, there is simply confusion. In the absence of orders from above the usually militant student unions are floundering.

At the Padmakanya campus an activist of the Free Student's Union -- close to the ousted prime minister Deuba -- acknowledges, "We are all confused about what to do."

At the Shankardeb campus, students have symbolically stopped the holding of exams while waiting to be called to action.

However, the mobilisation of a response seems only to concern activists.

It is not a concern for the man on the street occupied by daily life in the destitute country that has been gripped by a brutal Maoist insurrection since 1996.

here is the website, which is helpful and changes quite frequently

http://www.nepalnews.net/

So here goes. This is corncerned only to gushya politicians not to commoners. That means it was the right step since this move closed the loopholes for khaobadis. Well Done..King G. Long Live King, desh and janta.

long live our king,he is doing somthing that should have been done by king birendra. its already tooo late but he is still trying to make it better for the people. our king loves our country and our people. i am pretty sure once our county is peaceful all our daju vai and dd bahini will go back to our mother nepal to develop............
jai nepal

What is the source of all these latest happenings in Nepal? I remember Barkha Dutta a reporter from India was trying to have some adventure while Nepal was burning. Was she really trying to depict what Nepalese were going through at that time? Why did India withdraw from SAARC meeting ? I am sure it was a great shock for India as King did not ask for India?s consent, why should he? Listen to BBC and hear our chappal chaap netas complaing and whining in hindi about kings takeover. I am not a blind supporter of King but yes I am a nationalist. I don?t hate India and I know I cannot generalize people but I love my country as much as any Indians love their India.

Nepali television started broadcasting again last night. But all it offered were newsreaders reciting the official propaganda line from King Gyanendra. Soldiers had been posted in every newsroom to ensure all broadcasts were suitably loyal. A country that had a lively free press just three days ago has now been reduced to Soviet-style television.

Kathmandu's streets are lined with soldiers armed with tear gas and assault rifles. Staff in newspaper offices are on edge. Conversations stop at the sight of an unfamiliar face. The reporters are suspicious of everyone. "We cannot speak freely," one journalist said. "We have to live here. We can't write about politics now. What are we going to put in the newspaper? Love stories."

A tape recording is circulating, apparently of the leader of Nepal's biggest political party, Congress, calling for street protests against the King's coup. The Congress leader, G P Koirala, is under house arrest and it was not possible to confirm if it was his voice.

Suddenly, information has become a limited commodity in Nepal. For three days, Kathmandu has been almost completely cut off, not only from the outside world, but from the rest of the country. No phone lines, no internet, no news reports.

It is causing growing discontent. "The political parties never did any good," said one student. "We are not worried about them. But this is the 21st century. We have a right to communication. He cannot take it away." And this is in a country in the grip of a Maoist insurgency that has cost more than 10,000 lives, where the daily news bulletins usually carry reports of the latest violence. For three days there has been no word from the rest of Nepal. No news from the rural areas controlled by the Maoists, or the towns still under government control.

"It's as if the Maoists had stopped the violence and stopped killing people," said Sushil Pyakurel of the National Human Rights Commission. "I don't think the Maoists stopped. I don't think either force stopped operations. Maybe the next time we meet I will be in prison. I fought for democracy before and I will fight for it again."

Nepalis contacted by phone when lines were briefly open last night in the government-held town of Dharan Bazaar said many government troops had been deployed in the town.

A general strike called by the Maoists was being observed in rural areas under their control. But it was largely ignored in Kathmandu. Usually shops close and life halts when the Maoists call a strike; everyone fears being singled out as an example. That Kathmandu ignored the strike calls may have been a sign that the policy of blocking information and communications had worked.

"The right to communication has been withdrawn," Mr Pyakurel said. "The right to information has been withdrawn. Compare the newspapers on 1 February with the night before. There was a complete change."

Despite the apparent call for protests yesterday from Mr Koirala the only demonstration was a rally in support of the King. Still, even there, students openly denounced his seizure of power in front of his supporters, and the watching soldiers.

"I think it is not right what the King has done," said Dipendra Distan, 20, a student. "It is against the Nepali people. Nepal is going to end up like Cambodia, Romania or Somalia." A crowd gathered around him, many nodding at what he said. With the Maoists watching events from afar, it is the comparison with Cambodia that will have most resonance in Kathmandu.

On the campus of Tribhuvan University, Nepal's main university, overlooked by the Himalayas, discontent is simmering and the students are on strike. But they say it has nothing to do with the Maoists' call for a strike. They are holding their own protest against the King's actions. Many student leaders have gone underground to avoid arrest. Unusually for Nepal, there is no welcome when you arrive at the university campus. There are no smiles, the students are grim-faced. These are angry people.

"All the students are against the King," Amrit Kumar Shresta, a 28-year-old postgraduate and student leader said. "We need democracy and we will fight for democracy. The situation is critical. We are prepared to die for democracy. We don't believe the King wants peace with the Maoists. And even if he does, it will be a dead peace, without freedoms."

It is a considerable headache for the West. Two months ago, Britain, the US and India warned King Gyanendra not to sack the government and take absolute power. Now he has called their bluff, trying to present himself as the only bulwark against the Maoists. That leaves the West with a dilemma: back Gyanendra, and his assault on human rights, or let Nepal fall into the hands of the Maoists, whom the West has condemned as "terrorists". For the West, either choice is unacceptable.
3 February 2005 19:58



Wheels bro source is
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=607554

Nobody cries for parties or their leaders. They have failed us already many times. But one thing we had before king took over; press and media freedom. Thouhg there was rubbish only in party politics, our press, media and civil society were maturing. Now king has taken this step towrds middle ages and the biggest fear is that DARBARIYAS and old PANCHES will think that their days have come and they will do whatever they can to crush any voice of dissent. Without a press to report, violations and crimes will go unreported. And press ban has been extended to six months.
If peace comes soon........ ( But lets hope it comes at all !!!!!)

Following the development of political tensions in Nepal, protest programmes are being planned hastily in the US and Canada.

Here are some of planned protest programmes in the US and Canada this weekend:


City: Chicago (Ill)
Date: Feb. 6, 2005
Venue: 554 State St.(just north of W. Harrison St.)
Time: 3:00 PM (Central Time)
Programme: Anti-Monarch protest and TIRE burning event (at intersection of Harrison St. and State St.)
For more info. call: 1-800-PRO-TEST

City: New York (NY)
Date: Feb 7, 2005
Venue: Prospect Park (at intersection of Prospect Park W. and Union St.)
Time: 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)
Programme: Anti-monarch parade and PUTLAA jalaunee (at Prospect Park)
For more info call: 1-800-PRO-TEST

City: Salt Lake (UT)
Date: Feb 6, 2005
Venue: Indiana Ave. (at north-west corner of 9th South Park)
Time: 4:00 PM (Mountain Time)
Programme: Anti-monarch march in 9th South Park and KALOO JHANDA display
Foir more info. call: 1-800-PRO-TEST

City: Toronto (ON, Canada)
Date: Feb 7, 2005
Venue: Nathan Philips Square (Bay st. and Queen St. intersection)
Time: 5:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Programme: Anti-monarchy speech and CHAKKA JAAM for 3 hours on Queen street between Younge St. and Spadina St.
For more info call: 1-900-NOM-KING