On March 3, about a dozen of protesters were forced into police van,then taken away, cracking down their attempt to peacefully protest against the King’s move. Dozens more students faced the same when they attempted to organize programs demanding restoration of democracy.
Same day, the King’s men extended for two months the house arrest of two former prime ministers and four other top political leaders. They are being kept under house arrest to weaken any protest program. They are being held under the Public Security Act.
Those detained included Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal’s first prime minister elected in 1991 and head of the centrist Nepali Congress Party, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, whom Gyanendra sacked as prime minister, former finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, sacked home minister Puna Bahadur Khadka, Madhav Kumar Nepal – general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML), and Amik Sherchan.
Same day, security forces entered Tri-Chardra College in Kathmandu and tried to arrest a group of lecturers who had gathered to celebrate the release of lecturer Shoubhagyajan Karki, who was released after two weeks in prison.
On March 4, same thing happened. The security forces – a lot of them roaming in plain clothes – quickly ended a protest rally arresting a few of them. Large protests have not yet emerged – primarily because the top leaders are not available to guide and people fear the ‘disappearances’. The number of those arrested is unknown – neither there is given explanation on the arrest not their whereabouts.
Five main political parties have agreed to jointly protest the King’s move and demand democracy and they are meeting at different levels to formulate programs.
Meanwhile, a few reports about those who were either in house-arrest or in prison talking about their experiences. Most of them say they were treated well but kept in information vacuum – without any newspaper or radio or television.
Similarly, the authority has decided to cut down the facilities that it avails to different newspapers to the five weeklies that printed blank pages in protest of media censorship. More newspaper editors are being called for ‘explanation’. They are following a simple theory – ‘if you protest the King or the King’s move, then be ready for hassles.’
Mobile phones are still cut, as well as private landlines. Though UTL, the company that provides Wave wireless phones started collecting re-registration which has to be approved by authority, it looks like there are still a few days before it resumes.
And all these, in the name of DEMOCRACY.
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.
