The worst news of the day is yet to be fully confirmed. The BBC Radio reported that the security personnel entered the hostel of the Prithivi Narayan Multiple Campus in Pokhara on Tuesday night after the students initiated a protest rally and sounds of shooting were heard. Although the BBC said it was not clear what types of bullets were used, it said that more than 250 were injured and arrested.
Later, I heard a report that at least 15 have been shot dead. And, all the newspapers and FM stations outside the Valley have been forced to close down. It appears that the King wants no media at all.
More information isolation followed today as all the Indian news channels plus Nepal 1 TV was taken out of all the cables. And I heard that foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey today called all the foreign reporters and threatened them not to report negatively on Nepal’s issues which he called illegal. (the dieing bulb glows more).
Japan and EU condemned the move today in strong words.
An interesting thing happened this evening. The Indian newspapers except Times of India were in the marker. I bought two – The Asian Age and The Hindustan Times. The HT has the banner on yesterday saying Royal Coup in Nepal and a lot of more in-depth news in inner page but I am yet to read them.
Yesterday, after I finished writing, the phone rang and there was the phone line. I tried to connect to the internet but in vain. I didn’t try to call anyone.
Special note on this entry:Radio Free Nepal was a blog that ran during ex-King Gyanendra’s direct rule of Nepal defying the tight censorship and was instrumental in getting out information out of Nepal. The blog was at freenepal.blogspot.com which has now been closed.
The banner reads: King Gyandendra of Nepal has issued a ban on independent news broadcasts and has threatened to punish newspapers for reports that run counter to the official monarchist line. Given that any person in Nepal publishing reports critical of “the spirit of the royal proclamation” is subject to punishment and/or imprisonment, contributors to this blog will publish their reports from Nepal anonymously.
