Police open fire at demonstrators in Pokhara, Over 100 arrested across the country NepalNews.... police opened fire at a group of demonstrators in the western town of Pokhara on Thursday....... police started beating them indiscriminately near Prithvi Chowk. ...... In a separate incident, police opened fire in the air to disperse the rally of at opposition activists at Dolakha of Dolakha district....... Bhairahawa .... Biratnagar, Chitwan, Palpa and Nuwakot districts also, among others.... Mid-western town of Nepalgunj also looks totally deserted..... activists entered into the local office of the Election Commission and tore down election-related papers..... Dhankuta, activists burnt ballot box and chanted slogans against the municipal elections
Nepal police fire at protesters BBC News, UK
Witnesses say police open fire on protesters in Nepal, one injured
EC to provide life insurance to municipal poll candidates
Crown Prince visits Janakpur Crown Prince Paras visited Janakpur on Wednesday and offered puja at Ram Janaki temple...... also inaugurated the covered hall in Mahottari on Wednesday..... Crown Prince also observed the local 'fold dance' of Mithila area with keen interest on the occasion.....
India will always stand by the people of Nepal: Indian envoy Saying that a republican democracy has taken strong, deep and immutable roots in the country, the Indian ambassador said....... India is the largest investor and trade partner of Nepal. In the past ten years, Nepal’s exports to India have grown by 1,100 percent while its imports from India have grown 350 percent. At present, over two-third of Nepal’s total exports are to India while 63 percent of Nepal’s imports from India....... over 1,00 projects worth about NRs 1,400 crore are under implementation or consideration in 61 out of 75 districts in Nepal at present. The prominent projects completed or under construction with the Indian assistance include the East-West highway optical fibre project, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, a number of highways, feeder roads, bridges, airports, schools, irrigation and hydropower, sanitation and drinking water, among others....... More than 1.2 lakh Gurkha soldiers are serving in or have retired from the Indian Army and total pension disbursement to ex-Indian Gurkha soldiers stood at more than NRs 700 crore last year........
25 Maoists killed Palpa clash: RNA
UTL resumes service
Security forces using 'excessive force' in demonstrations: NHRC
Will Maoists keep their promise?
BJP leader Advani to visit Nepal: Report ..... for a one-on-one meeting with King Gyanendra ..... the foreign affairs cell of the Hindu nationalist party put forth a proposal to use Advani for a backchannel diplomatic exercise with Kathmandu considering his ‘good relations’ with King Gyanendra....... former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, NN Jha developed such an idea after his meeting with King Gyanendra and several Nepali politicians during his short visit to Kathmandu last week....... to break the existing deadlock between Kathmandu and New Delhi..... on his part, the former Deputy Prime Minister is believed to be extremely wary of any backchannel diplomatic initiative ...... Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, meanwhile, said the government of India was not aware of any such backchannel initiative by the veteran BJP leader in Kathmandu.... the government has no plans to use the services of Advani for any backchannel diplomatic effort anywhere in the world, least of all in the neighbourhood......
Deuba calls for boycott of municipal polls
Manisha Koirala urges political parties to participate in polls Coming down heavily on the international community for their call for the restoration of democracy in Nepal, she said, “They are selfish, and they look at things with biased perspective. They did not say a word when Bhutan’s King evicted 100,000 of his citizens of Nepalese origin who have been suffering ever since.” ...... Ms. Koirala also claimed that the world’s analysis of human rights situation in Nepal was not impartial. “The USA itself is violating human rights. Haven’t rights of people been violated in Iraq and Afghanistan? Should we keep mum on the human rights violations by America?”
Manisha begins campaigning, but appears ill at ease
Editor Bhandari released
Indian envoy meets Koirala
Maoists attack Dhangadhi
Citizens’ Groups urge the king to call off municipal polls, free opposition activists
Both factions of RPP blast the Election Commission
Fighting stops in Dhangadhi, No reports of casualties
EC to provide life insurance to municipal poll candidates
India donates 17 ambulances to Red Cross societies
Two big guns falter again
Poor Turn Out for Candidacy in Nepal, as Deadline Ends Thursday NewsLine Nepal, Nepal No recognised political figure has filed nominations so far for the upcoming municipal elections
Hundreds arrested as Nepal shutdown starts NewKerala.com, India
The King's Options
(1) A revolution sometimes can reach such a tipping point that the dictator ends up meeting a violent end. That is loss of crown, property, liberty, life, family. My personal full stop is at liberty. I believe in non-violent politics, I believe in rule of law. But here I am drawing the worst case scenario. I am not on the ground. I am far away. Right before that final step gets taken, everyone abandons you. The police, the army, all gone. Bodyguards? All gone.
(2) The second worst case scenario is loss of property and liberty. A revolution could install a parliament that could take steps to deprive the king of his property and liberty. During the French revolution, the revolutionary parliament took such steps. The parliament could also cleanse the army top brass of all the royalists. The parliament could punish all the henchmen.
(3) Or if there is a peaceful exit by the king, he loses his crown, but he keep the rest. His life, liberty, property. He keeps it all. But the parliament might not have this option if the king engineers the most violent possible crackdown upon the demonstrators. The public will not stomach such a peaceful exit.
(4) What puzzles me is as to why the king did not reciprocate the Maoist ceasefire, as to why he did not respond at all to the 12 point agreement. His reciprocation did not have to be unconditional. He could have laid down conditions. And as for the 12 point agreement, he could have bargained for a constitutional monarchy. How you do that is, you let go the army. You retain the monarchy. Your condition is that except for the monarchy, the constituent assembly may decide on all other issues. That guarantee would rest with the Supreme Court. If the king were to do that, even if the Maoists were to not come along, the Maoist-Democrat alliance would split, and the seven parties would probably take the offer. Even the Maoists might. But this step requires that the king genuinely believes in a constitutional monarchy. That he genuinely believes in peace and democracy. That he genuinely wants the best for the country. Precisely because he did not respond at all to the ceasefire and the 12 point agreement, I reached the conclusion he is not for a constitutional monarchy. Why would he not be for it? One, habits of mind. Maybe he has a fundamentally flawed character. He is an autocrat by mindset. Or he itches to be actively involved in politics. Maybe he is a republican after all, because in a republic everyone gets to pariticipate in politics regardless of the circumstances of birth. So if I am for a democratic republic, I am reading his mind.
The king should make up his mind. Either he is for a constitutional monarchy, or he is for a democratic republic. Some would say his options have already narrowed down beyond repair, and if that be true, a peaceful exit is his best option. That way he at least gets to stick around.
When you arrest leaders, open fire on demonstrators, you are really pushing the democratic camp to change gears. The democratic camp is slow to boil, but once it does, it really boils over.
I forage widely within the democratic camp, in the US, in Nepal. I also forage some in the monarchist camp, to the extent possible. But I do accept the leadership of the seven party alliance. I am respectful of the fact that I am not on the ground, they are. I just have to support the best I can. That is how I feel, that is where I stand.
The diaspora support to the movement has been managed chaos at best. There are individuals and groups pulling in all different directions. There is much internal tension, a lot of petty politics.
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