Ex-ministers held in Nepalese anti-monarchy protests

DEFYING a ban, five political parties in Nepal yesterday organised rallies to protest against the royal takeover during which at least 50 protestors, including eight former ministers, were taken into custody.

Eleven women activists were among those arrested.

Protestors shouting anti-government slogans marched through the streets of major towns Ason, Bhitahity and Ratnaapark, defying the ban on protest shows and public meetings amidst the presence of armed riot police.

This was the second major protest after King Gyanendra seized power on February 1. It coincided with International Women’s Day.

More than 450 people, detained after the takeover, have been languishing in different jails, and top leaders, including Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and Nepal Communist Party-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal have been put under house arrest.

Police armed with tear gas, bamboo batons and orders to use force if necessary were deployed across the capital Kathmandu.

The constitutional monarch dismissed the Government on February 1, imposing emergency rule and suspending civil liberties. Police arrested prominent reporter Kanakmani Dixit, publisher of Himal magazine, on Monday night, and released him five hours later.

Mr Dixit said police had inquired about a recent visit to India. He said they wanted to know whether he had tried to meet Nepalese Maoist leaders there.

Since the takeover, many politicians have gone underground and police have thwarted efforts by Nepal’s five major political parties to hold big rallies. A few demonstrators have taken to the streets, only to be quickly detained by police.

But Nepal’s political parties said yesterday’s anti-king rally in Kathmandu would be much bigger than previous ones and vowed that demonstrators would not be deterred by the heavy security presence.

“We have urged all our supporters to fight a decisive movement to restore democracy in Nepal,” said Meena Pandey, a leader of the Nepali Congress, the largest party.

Gyanendra said he seized power because the parties and their governments had failed to end a Maoist insurgency that has killed more than 10,500 people.

The rebels, who say they’re inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to dislodge the monarchy and establish communist rule.

The king’s actions have provoked an international outcry, with several nations cutting the aid that Nepal needs to fight the rebels and the poverty that is widespread there.