Saturday, February 26, 2005

3 Months Or 3 Years


If King G and his yes-men do not change course and do not restore fundamental rights, how long do you see them lasting. 3 months? 3 years?

They have been in denial regarding the major global backlash they have generated.

The Koirala Congress and the Deuba Congress have actually come under the same umbrella to organize protests, as have a few others.

On another note, as a Buddhist I am deeply, deeply, deeply offended the king shut down the Dalai Lama's office in Kathmandu.

The king is giving clear hints he will not be able to stand the backlash, but he is not acting upon it. It is like, he ousted Deuba, then got him back into the saddle after massive street protests. He will have to perform a repeat act on the emergency. He will have to restore all fundamental rights before he can even think of other alternatives.
  • Dozens of Maoists killed in Nepal violence Daily Times, Pakistan ....guerrillas raided a TV station ..... 400 rebels attacked forces in the village of Hasulia ..... hundreds of suspected Maoist rebels attacked a state-run Nepalese TV station in the remote southwest, forcing the outlet to suspend broadcasting .....
  • Nepal Maoists withdraw blockade but graver measures on cards: New Kerala .....would call an indefinite countrywide shutdown soon ..... would start "from another month" ..... next Nepalese month of Chait that begins March 14...... rumours of the guerrillas planning 1,000-hour shutdowns along the lines of the Gorkha National Liberation Front-led struggle for a separatist Gorkhaland in the hill areas of eastern Indian West Bengal state. ..... The guerrillas would be undergoing a review of their strategy in view of India and Britain, two of Nepal's largest donors for military supplies, announcing a suspension in the aid to show their disapproval of the royal takeover...... Prachanda's statement suggests that the Maoists are trying to network with likeminded forces outside Nepal. They are already said to have close links with two outlawed Indian organisations branded as terrorists - People's War of Andhra Pradesh and Maoist Communist Centre of Bihar.
  • Singhal backs emergency in Nepal Indian Express, India Gyanendra seems to be using his RSS and Hindutva connections in India .....Singhal said Maoists should be crushed militarily and the international community, including India, should support the King in his initiative ..... ‘‘I welcome the Emergency imposed by Nepal King Gyanendra and all the Hindu community in India supports the move by the world’s only Hindu king to save Hindus of Nepal from the Maoist terror"
  • EP for sanction against ruling elites in Nepal HindustanTimes.com UK edition The European Parliament (EP) has called on the European Union Council of Ministers to impose smart sanctions against the ruling elites in government and the military until democracy is restored in Nepal...... the campaign of arbitrary arrests, censorship and general repression...... called for a negotiated and democratically based solution, which it stressed, was the only "sustainable way to end the current conflict" ..... 732-member EP ..... The MEPs pressed the Nepalese Government to allow the Tibet Refugee Welfare Office (TRWO) and the representative office of the Dalai Lama in Kathmandu to resume operations, and expressed concern that the closure might be interpreted as a trade-off with China on the state of emergency.
  • EU for smart sanctions Times of India The European Parliament has called for its 25-member club to impose smart sanctions against Nepal, just hours after King Gyanendra adopted the shrugged shoulder and raised eyebrow as a diplomatic strategy to face down international criticism of his bloodless coup. India, the UK and the US, it said, could do much to stop the world simply rolling over and accepting the King's coup...... "the chances of greater violence and even a Maoist victory will only increase" if the world took a "wait and see" position. ..... "Nepal needs immediate, coordinated international action" .....emphasized the importance of a negotiated and democratic solution.
  • World Bank suspends monetary aid to Nepal Deccan Herald, India .....the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also indicated that it will follow the WB's line ..... As per the current budget, the government needs to mobilise nearly 450 million USD foreign loans and grants to meet its expenditures.
  • US rejects Nepal King's 3-yr timetable for restoring democracy Economic Times, India .....the US was in constant touch with India and Britain
  • Nepal Govt release seven people, including former ministers Press Trust of India, India .....Homnath Dahal, Agriculture Minister in the dissolved government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba; Khagendra Bhattarai, former President of Nepal University Teacher's Association and Lokraj Baral, former Nepalese Ambassador to India ..... Pradip Nepal ...... Bishnu Nishthuri and two other journalists ..... The release comes a day after King Gyanendra told some reporters that the government has softened press censorship and called on the international community not to isolate Nepal.

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