Nepal: journalists and demonstrators arrested and beaten by police
They were demonstrating against the first anniversary of King Gyanendra's coup d'etat. February 1st the day in which the king dismissed the democratically elected parliament and took absolute power, defined as "a black day".
KATHMANDU (AsiaNews) - Today hundreds of journalists, political workers and human rights activists bore the brunt of police caning, water canons and arrest throughout Nepal while staging rallies to observe February 1 as 'a black day' in commemoration of the Nepalese Hindu King Gyanendra's power grab the same day a year ago sacking the democratically elected government, imprisoning veteran national leaders and slapping curbs on media freedom.
Anil Gupta, a photojournalist, told AsiaNews that February 01 was the blackest day in their history. "We have monarchy for centuries. But no king had behaved so brutally like King Gyanendra. Actually, he is writing the death warrant against monarchy by unleashing army against unarmed journalists and human rights activists."
The photojournalist said they were never against constitutional monarchy. Their only concern was freedom of press "is never put in shackles."
He confessed that people could have "swallowed" his February 1 power grab as bitter pills to contain Maoist violence if he had not have imposed curbs on media. But his brutal crippling of press freedom obviously smacked of his ulterior motive to entrench himself in power."
Once people discerned his motive they began "spontaneously spilling into the streets to oppose his autocratic rule despite the army power. It is better he reads the writings on the walls and relinquish power otherwise he and his family would have to live in exile for ever," said Gupta.
On the contrary, King Gyanendra appears oblivious to the writings on the walls. He does not exude any whiff of willingness to hand over power to political parties in near future.
Addressing the nation on the first anniversary of his direct rule today the Nepalese monarch said that it was now a year since the decision was taken "to restore law and order and activate the multiparty democratic polity in the country in keeping with the nation's needs and the people's aspirations"
He boasted that during such a short span of time "the Nepalese people have experienced the nation grow in confidence and the self-respect, with the cloud of pessimism dissipating."
He further stated that "Guided by a national perspective that upholds our political, administrative and civic traditions, we are confident that by April 2007, all popularly elected bodies will be active in ensuring a bright future for the Nepalese people through a dedicated exercise in democracy so as to create a welfare society."
The king also bragged that "the nefarious designs to portray Nepal as a failed state a year back has now begun to unravel with acts of terrorism (Maoism) being limited to petty crimes."
But ironically while the King was boasting of containing the Maoist menace, the Maoist guerrillas were busy shooting security personnel in the mid-western district of Palpa, some 300 kilometers west Kathmandu. The Nepalese Royal Army has conceded that the Maoists killed some 11 security personnel. Maoists numbering some 4,000 terrorists had set some 300 prisoners including their 75 hardcore cadres free.
Devendra Lal Nepali, a senior lawyer and leader of the largest political party 'Nepali Congress', told AsiaNews that in contrast to the King's claim of containing violence and terrorism "the bloodshed is escalating every day."
Nepali said that violence and terrorism could never be combated with military power. Only dialogue and democracy "are the panacea against the Maoist insurgency."
He claimed that Maoists also craved for peace. They were fed up with killing and maiming their own Nepalese brethren. "But the King does not intend to wean them away from the life of violence. If not so then why he is not initiating dialogue to go for requisite constitutional changes to ensure that every strata of the society got its legitimate place in the economy and polity of the country. Rather the King is prone to reviving medieval day monarchy which is only an anachronism in this era of democracy and globalization."
Meanwhile a leading Brussels-based think tank, International Crisis Group (ICG) in its latest report entitled 'Nepal : Electing Chaos' released here has warned that Nepal risked political collapse and increased human suffering unless the royal government initiated a broad-based peace process.
In the report the ICG's Asia program director, Robert Templer, has explicitly said that "The outside world must help convince King Gyanendra to reverse course and create an environment for a genuine peace process or Nepal's civil war will become much worse, with the monarchy an increasingly likely casualty." .
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24/01/2007
06/07/2022 12:33
