Nepal: Opposition Plans Huge Demo on Tuesday

KATMANDU, Nepal — Nepal's capital began its fifth consecutive day under curfew Monday, as opposition parties planned a massive rally to demand an end to King Gyanendra's rule and a new constitution.

The 11 a.m.-6 p.m. curfew imposed in Katmandu and Lalitpur, a major suburb of the city, follows nearly three weeks of demonstrations in which police and anti-monarchy protesters have frequently clashed in the capital.

Also, officials on Monday said communist rebels attacked security bases and government buildings overnight in Nepal's mountainous north-central region.

Details were sketchy about the overnight attack at Chautara, about 75 miles northeast of Katmandu, but officials reached at neighboring districts confirmed the attack.

The attackers knocked down the telecommunication tower around midnight cutting off all communications. The attack began late Sunday night but fighting continued until early Monday.

The rebels attacked the army base, police post, the district administration office and the local jail, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized speak to the media.

Meanwhhile, opposition parties said they planned only small gatherings for Monday ahead of a massive anti-king protest set to take place the next day on the ring road that circles Katmandu. An opposition alliance statement issued Sunday said hundreds of thousands of supporters are expected to attend Tuesday's rally.

The ring road has drawn gatherings of more than 100,000 protesters since the alliance _ backed by the Himalayan kingdom's communist rebels _ launched a general strike on April 6, even though the road falls within the curfew zone.

Clashes there between police and protesters on Sunday left at least three protesters injured. Security forces have killed at least 14 protesters since the strike began against Gyanendra, who seized power 14 months ago.

Protesters who tried to cross the road on the eastern edge of Katmandu on Sunday were beaten back by police who first fired tear gas, then rubber bullets, independent Kantipur television reported.

Doctors at a hospital said they treated three people injured by rubber bullets.

Small groups protested inside the city as soldiers patrolled in armored personnel carriers and strung barbed wire to block off some inner alleys and major intersections.

Nearly 250 protesters were wounded in violent clashes with security forces Saturday when they came within a half-mile of the royal palace.

Protests across the Himalayan country have intensified since Friday, when Gyanendra offered to allow the alliance of seven opposition parties to nominate a prime minister and form a government.

Opposition leaders and the communist rebels say the king's offer to resolve the crisis fell short of a key demand _ the return of parliament and creation of a special assembly to write a new constitution that could limit _ or even eliminate _ the monarchy.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3814321.html

The pro-democracy movement has intensified in other parts of the country with thousands of people hitting the streets demanding the restoration of Loktantra.

In Morang, people from the Santhal, Rajbansi, Mandal and other ethnic communities staged demonstrations.

In Ilam, a protest rally was organized by various professional organizations with significant participation from government employees.

Elderly people took out an anti-government rally organized by various religious organizations in Sunsari and Morang.

In Itahari, academics, businessmen and transport workers took to the streets demanding establishment of complete democracy in the country. They also urged the SPA leadership not to stop the movement on petty compromise.

In Janakpur, the market remained shut due to the SPA-called general strike and demonstrations. Employees of Nepal Bank, Banijya Bank, Janakpur Appellate Court, Dhanusha District Court, District Development Committee and Public Health offices staged demonstrations bringing the official work to a halt.

In Dhankuta, all the employees of Dhankuta Municipality office staged a sit-in protest against the government for two and a half hours this morning.

In Udaypur, expressing solidarity with the ongoing movement, all the employees of Rastriya Banijya Bank, Gaighat, halted the official work today. They said their protest would continue until the establishment of Loktantra in the country. The employees also donated their one-day salary to the injured victims of the pro-democracy movement.

Thousands of women including the family members of security personnel took to the streets at Gaighat, the district headquarters.

In Siraha, civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises took out a silent rally against the government this morning. Protest demonstrations were also staged at Lalbandi.

In Dhading, demonstrations were held Adamghat and Dhadingbesi in protest of the arrest of 18 academics by the government yesterday.

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http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=71688

The agitating seven-party alliance (SPA) announced fresh nationwide protests on Sunday, vowing to bring a mass of 2 million people in the capital, Kathmandu, on Tuesday.

A meeting of the Central People’s Movement Coordination Committee held today announced to stage Ring Road-centred peaceful demonstrations in Kathmandu and protest rallies in all cities and towns around the country on Tuesday.

Issuing a statement after the meeting, the committee said as many as 2 million people will take part in Tuesday’s demonstrations in Kathmandu. Top leaders of the SPA will address the mass meetings following the peaceful demonstrations.

According to the statement, Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala will address a mass gathering at Narayangopal Chowk, CPN (UML) general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal at Kalanki, NC (D) president Sher Bahadur Deuba at Gongabu and Amik Sherchan at Satdobato. Similarly, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party chairman Narayan Bijukchhe, Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) vice-chairman Bharat Bimal Yadav and United Left Front’s Bishnu Bahadur Manahandhar will address the mass meetings at Koteshwor, Sitapaila and Chabahil respectively. The demonstrations will be carried out from interior parts of the city and along the stretch of Ring Road from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Torch rallies, peaceful marches and mass gatherings would be organised in Kathmandu and elsewhere on Monday. Major demonstrations will be staged in districts on Tuesday against the royal address of Friday, according to the committee. nepalnews.com mk Apr 23 06

http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/apr/apr23/news14.php

ELEANOR HALL: To Nepal now, where the besieged city of Kathmandu is quiet, but only because of another curfew.

Protests against authoritarian King Gyanendra haven't been diminished at all by his offer last week to cede some power.

The opposition groups are planning another mass rally, hoping to force the King's hand, but in the meantime Kathmandu is suffering the consequences of a strike now into its third week.

Correspondent Shane McLeod is in Kathmandu, where he's still under curfew.

(to Shane McLeod) Shane, what's happening this morning?

SHANE MCLEOD: The curfew's just been announced a short time ago, so that will apply for most of daylight hours today, Eleanor, and the process will be that people who want to move around in the central area of Kathmandu need to get a pass. Most people aren't able to do that, so they have to stay indoors, police threaten to shoot them onsite if they see them on the street.

Outside of the central area, along the ring road, the police are gathering at key intersections where protesters also gather to put pressure on them. And outside that area they are allowed to gather to an extent.

ELEANOR HALL: And, Shane, what's the state of the capital this long into the strike?

SHANE MCLEOD: Well, it's… there's a lot of rubbish piling up. People only have a couple of hours usually each morning to get out and buy food, things like that. So it's very quite during those curfew hours. But in the mornings, before the curfew's imposed it's quite busy. But a lot of things aren't available. There's a report in the local newspaper today suggesting that the city has only four days of oil supplies left – that's petrol. So that's obviously a problem. And this strike, the longer it goes on, just makes those problems worse.

ELEANOR HALL: Now why have the opposition groups and the protesters rejected the King's offer?

SHANE MCLEOD: Well, it was some way to the demands that they've been making, but it wasn't far enough. And also the fact that the size of these public protests have been growing over the past few days, and certainly on Saturday it was more than 100,000 people were on the streets of the capital.

But there's a view that perhaps the seven parties, had there not been that massive public support, they might have been able to consider this offer from the King. But given there's now so much public support for major change, and that means possibly a future without a King, I think the seven parties couldn't even come to discuss this offer with the King, they had to push on, which is what's happening now.

They say that, short of the reinstatement of Parliament, and the election of a constituent assembly to consider a new constitution, they're not prepared to accept the King's offer.

ELEANOR HALL: And what's been the response from the King to the rejection? Any sign of movement from him?

SHANE MCLEOD: Very little at this stage. A Government spokesman was quoted over the weekend saying it was still up to the seven parties, they were the people who'd been driving these protests, and they were the ones who would have to respond and accept the King's offer.

But the opposition groups are now planning a major rally tomorrow, and we expect that will be quite a large rally, and that will again put more pressure on the King to see if he'll make some form of response. But, given the circumstances, it's very difficult to see how this will be resolved quickly.

ELEANOR HALL: And what are the logistics of this major rally that you just mentioned?

SHANE MCLEOD: Well, it's been mentioned in newspaper reports here today, and the seven, the leaders of the seven opposition parties are planning to each take up position at various locations on the ring road around the city, to rally the troops, I guess you'd say.

And then they are suggesting that they will again try to get into the city limits and head towards the Royal Palace. Now if that happens we would expect that the security forces would take a fairly dim view of that, and you would expect that there would be more clashes, similar to the clashes we've seen over the past few days.

ELEANOR HALL: Shane McLeod, in Kathmandu, thank you.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1622793.htm

athmandu, April. 24 (PTI): The seven-party alliance, spearheading the democracy movement in Nepal plans to launch a "grand show" tomorrow in their campaign for reinstatement of the dissolved parliament and in a sign that all is not well the US today asked its non-essential staff and citizens to leave the country.

The Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom, Shivshanker Mukherjee met King Gyanendra yesterday and discussed the situation. This was his first meeting with the monarch after he had issued the Royal Proclamation offering to transfer executive power to his people.

Defying the curfew imposed for the sixth consecutive day by the Royal Government, tens of thousands held rallies in the Nepalese capital today as security forces clashed with protestors injuring over 30.

At least five Maoists and a soldier were killed when the rebels, who are supporting the seven-party alliance's stir, launched overnight raids on government establishments in the town of Chautara, 120 km. northeast of here.

The Seven-Party Alliance is preparing for a huge rally around the Ring Road of Kathmandu tomorrow in which a few hundred thousand protestors are expected to gather and top leaders address, party sources said.

Top alliance leaders, including two former Prime Ministers Girija Prasad Koirala of Nepali Congress and Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress (Democratic), CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and four other top leaders will lead the rally, party sources said.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200604241969.htm