Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Gagan Thapa Arrested, Deuba Re-Arrested


This gives me the impression the emergency will not be lifted at the end of April. The king is only tightening his noose. He is nowhere close to changing course. Plus, the guy ends up saying the most ridiculous things in his interviews.


From: Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba [mailto:arz8u@wlink.com.np]
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 3:40 AM
Subject: 2.30 am Arrest of Sher Bahadur Deuba

Dear all,

I am Arzu Rana Deuba, wife of former Prime Minister of Nepal Rt. Hon.Sher
Bahadur Deuba of Nepal - I wish to inform all that my husband was arrested
an hour ago at 2.30 am by Nepal Police at the command of the so-called
"royal commission against corruption" on trumped up charges which does not
hold water as has been already re-iterated by the Asian Development Bank
in the Kathmandu Post and Kantipur broadsheets (these two are the dailies
in largest circulation in Nepal).

The very fact of his surreptious arrest under the cover of darkness with 5
truck loads of police in uniform and plainclothes is testimony to the fact
of my husband's innocence and the roayl government's guilt accussing a
honourable and upright man with trumped up charges. As a politician and
Prime Minister of Nepal my husband and a senior minister in his cabinet
Hon. Prakash Man Singh have refused to recognise the royal commission as
it does not have any constitutional basis and is thus an illegal
entity.The police came after midnight at 12.30 am, cut off our power
supply and our phone lines. After alteractions with them for one and a
half hour they forced entry into our residence - they threatened personal
violence to me and my son - who is 9 years of age and my father in-law who
is 90 years old. They have taken away my husband to an unkown location.
They told us that he is being taken to the royal commission premises which
does not open at night. It is against all laws to arrest anybody under the
cover of darkness - except perhaps in a case related to murder. Nepali law
also does not allow arrest after hours.

The royal commission is being used by the king for personal vendetta and
to discredit political leaders. My husband and his friends who are honest
and upright and more importantly popular in the country are being
especially targeted. The main strategy is to dicredit democratic system
and political leaders to establish a dictatorial authoritarian state.

As upstanding global citizens with love for freedom, human rights and
democracy, I wish to appeal to you all to spread the word of this
injustice, illegal and dastardly action as well as lobby with your
political representatives and media for restoration of democracy and human
rights in Nepal and condemnation of the dictatorial false king who is
trying to take our country back to the dark ages.

Sincerely,

Arzu Deuba
I, my son and my father-in-law strongly protest this action. The
desperation of the royal commission in trying to prove their
'constituionality' can not be more desperate or low.

As friends and aquaintances of my husband and myself - I request you all
to lobby your country's ambassador to protest this sly arrest of a
well-known political figure.

Sincerely,

Arzu

In The News
  • Nepal wait and watch Calcutta Telegraph, India Left leaders who met Singh yesterday have made it clear that apart from lifting the emergency, Gyanendra has to release all political prisoners, allow them to function independently and remove the censorship on the Nepalese media....... the government emphasised that “the first consignment of arms which was in the pipeline” would go through very soon.
  • Doubts over early resumption of Indian military aid to Nepal Asian Tribune Prime Minister’s office has clarified that no such promise was held out to the King and that a promise to consider his request was only made..... the king said the aid resumption was promised.
  • Nepal's key players to watch India on arms supply:- Webindia123 masked security men arrested a student leader from a condolence meeting, intimidated members and vandalised our party office...... "I would rather wait and see what happens instead of believing what I see in the press," said British Ambassador Keith George Bloomfield.
  • Attack on Nepal Communist party office flayed Hindu, India the attack on the headquarters of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) by police and security personnel ......the attack took place immediately after the funeral of Sadhana Adhikari, a prominent communist and wife of the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Adhikari. The body was kept in the party office for the people to pay homage.
  • The King has turned Nepal into police state: CPI(M) Deepika
  • Sacked Nepal PM arrested for graft Rediff, India Armed policemen arrived at Deuba's residence in Budhanilkantha, 10 km from Kathmandu, shortly after 2am, cut off telephone and electricity lines and forcefully took him into custody ..... the whereabouts of the senior leader were not known after the arrest
  • Nepal continues crackdown on poitical leaders Deccan Herald, India Within days of King Gyanendra avowing “total and unflinching” support to multi-party democracy, human rights and rule of law at the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta, security forces in Nepal continued arrests on political leaders and ransacked the office of the largest communist party ...... The trio was arrested by security personnel in plainclothes from Adhikari’s residence without any warrant. The arrests come a day after masked security personnel stormed the office of the largest communist party ...... Nepal Congress party has initiated action against one of its Central Working Committee members, father of Indian film star Manisha Koirala, for allegedly supporting the February 1 royal coup.
  • Top Nepal student leader arrested BBC News one of the country's most wanted men ..... Gagan Thapa, a firebrand ......locked up under an act which allows 90 days detention without trial ...... Kathmandu's deputy police chief said that the authorities had been looking for Mr Thapa since King Gyanendra declared an emergency in February...... student leaders had evaded arrest by moving from place to place, sometimes emerging to address protest meeting ...... masked police threatened party members with revolvers, smashed in a toilet door and beat up the person inside while hunting for party youth leaders....... Police headquarters deny all the claims.
  • Gyanendra reneges on Jakarta promise The Statesman
  • Russian envoy urges world community to support Nepal Gorkhapatra, Nepal “The present political state of Nepal could be referred to as a transitional phase to move towards a democratic set up that would be appropriate in the Nepalese context” ..... Valentin I. Soldatenkov, counsellor at the Russian Embassy in Nepal presented the global scenario of terrorism with particular reference to Chechnya.
  • Mood of Nepalese people now against terrorism, says HM Gorkhapatra His Majesty had also said that Nepal condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and we call for a resolute international action plan against terrorism in every nook and corner of the globe. ..... relocating the zonal headquarters ...... The headquarters have mostly been relocated from the lower regions to areas above the Mahendra Highway. ..... Reacting to a comment by a media person that certain regulations should be implemented to make the media more responsible and accountable, His Majesty opined that the state should give opportunities to all for the sector to develop further...... no person should be afraid to admit his or her mistakes. Trying to act like you know something when you actually know nothing about it could be more damaging, His Majesty said...... His Majesty said that he found Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh very statesman like. ...... there is nothing that has been taken away to be restored, the need is to put in more energy to the system that already exists ..... It was no surprise that both the convention hall and the media centre were attentive and silent when His Majesty addressed the Summit. The foreign journalists, after His Majesty spoke, were all praise for the Royal Address....... His Majesty said that while he agreed with their view that constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy were the two pillars of a system, still other pillars were also necessary to construct a house. According to the design of the house there could be four pillars, six pillars or even more if needed, His Majesty said....... In a serious tone, His Majesty also reminded the media people that the only truth was that a person would die after being born. But in between, we must have a purpose to do something and we must do something for our country.
  • Nepal forced India to restore military aid India Monitor, UK It was also brought home to the policymakers in New Delhi that King Gyanendra was “here to stay” ..... Nepal is now expected to join Pakistan in lobbying for China’s inclusion in Saarc
  • Prominent Student Leader's Arrest Could Galvanise Anti-King ... Inter Press Service (subscription) Gagan Kumar Thapa, a 28 year-old charismatic Nepali student leader at the forefront of Nepal's pro-democracy protests ...... Charged with sedition for shouting republican slogans and held in prison for more than two weeks by King Gyanendra's government in late 2003, Thapa also had the bad luck of being fired from his position as general secretary of one of the biggest students union in Nepal by none other than his party elders....... His crime: vocally pushing for a republican line when the Nepali Congress was still trying to reconcile with King Gyanendra during the heady protests in summer 2004...... In the wee morning hours, jeep-loads of police surrounded the tiny house at the Sorhakhutte neigbourhood in the heart of Kathmandu, a house that had served as his hiding place after Gyanendra seized power ..... now imprisoned at a police station barely 450 meters from the Royal Palace..... Thapa is widely known across Nepal and commands a solid following among the youth of the Nepali Congress party. Even rivals from opposing parties acknowledge his popular appeal...... Minutes after his arrest became public through a secret grape vine, human rights networks kicked into high gear in an effort to get the news out....... ''We fear that he could be disappeared just like so many others'' ..... That is a valid fear...... Because of his organizational skills, unrelenting demand for a republic and charismatic speeches, which often held crowds enthralled, he was high on the list of politicians and students wanted by the royal regime....... Thapa went underground. A frustrated regime harassed his family members and cut of the phone lines in his house, all in an attempt to coerce them into giving Thapa's whereabouts. None of this worked. ....... From his safe hiding place, Thapa regularly put out press releases and statements calling for the international community's support in the fight for the restoration of democracy. ........ "There is no solution to the present political crisis in Nepal without the involvement of the democratic-progressive forces, that represent well over 90 percent of the Nepali people...There are just too many people in Nepal who are neither royalists nor with the Maoists.'' ...... ''To deny their existence, and to imagine a political solution without their decisive role, merely because they do not carry guns, and believe in peaceful politics, is utter foolishness and arrogance' ..... ''The king has repeatedly shown that he wants to use the pretext of the Maoist threat to usurp power for himself; he has no intention of resolving the crisis. It is high time that the Maoists and the international community realize this'' ..... ''If the king believes that even in the 21st century, Nepal is his private property, that he can rule through intimidation and terror, that he can hold the country hostage for his raw greed for power and wealth; that he has the authority to silence dissent and to deny the inalienable and universal human rights of the sovereign citizens, then we the people of Nepal have every right to trash this king in the dustbin of history''..... any physical harm to him will act as a trigger for more intense protests against the regime
  • Nepal needs new leadership, not the failed one United We Blog, Nepal In a network of email communication, several views regarding Sujata, her image and her visit are popping up...... Those who want good for Nepal shouldn’t be excited about shouldering that failed leadership. Giving Sujata unnecessary priority is nothing less than shouldering her....... Look at Gagan Thapa. He remained inside the country, mobilized cadres against the royal takeover...... Party should formally decide and assign central level leader for such mission with clear objective: where to go, whom to meet and what to talk.
  • Student leader arrested in Nepal United We Blog
  • Top student leader is arrested in Nepal Times of India, India
  • Nepalese troops, helicopters track Maoist rebels: Officer Zee News Ground troops backed by helicopters are closing in on Maoist rebels in the western jungle areas of Nepal in the fifth day of an offensive to claim control of the countryside ..... Troops combed the jungles in the Rolpa .... "Over 1,400 army security forces are being mobilized in Rolpa and are narrowing the circle on the Maoists .....
  • Authorities in Nepal arrest ex-PM Deuba United We Blog, Nepal police banned traveling Budhanilakantha area two hours prior to the arrest. Sources have told us that Deuba has been kept in Police Training Center in Maharaganj...... Commission wants to interrogate Deuba on his alleged involvement in corruption of Melamchi Drinking Water Project and Prime Minister Relief Fund...... Many people have expressed their doubt over that much power given to same authority that can investigate and decide on it’s own....... Correspondents waited whole day yesterday expecting arrest in Deuba residence. They did same the day before yesterday too.......
  • Update On Gagan Thapa's Arrest INSN I then parted the police station saying, “remember, if anything happens to these guys, it’ll be out all over the world and you guys will face the heat.” He smiled, shook my hands, and said, “we take orders from above. That’s where you should go.”
  • Nepal , A Failing Strategy INSN .... the Royal coup on 1 February 2005 by his son, King Gyanendra, has once again taken Nepal back to the days of absolute monarchy .....space for political activism is severely restricted ...... Strong condemnation of the coup within and outside the country has done little to influence the regime’s policies ..... most of the present regime’s policy assumptions are flawed and, consequently, point towards a continued future of violence and conflict ...... Politically, Nepal has never been as polarized as it is now ...... the traditional ruling elite and the business and industrial lobby support the King’s actions and point to the relative quiet of Kathmandu streets ...... Only 5 per cent supported a Royal dictatorship ...... flawed thinking and a serious mis-reading of conditions prior to February 1 ...... Attempts by the parties to start a 1990-style People’s Movement have consequently yielded no results...... the campaign against democratic politicians through selective use of the Royal Corruption Control Commission ..... a vindictive approach towards political parties and civil society ...... reviving Panchayat era politicians and institutions ..... What Nepal is witnessing today is the gradual dismantling of democratic institutions in favour of a Panchayat-style system. .... Ironically, King Gyanendra could prove to be the biggest catalyst for this rejuvenation of the parties.....
  • Release Gagan .... INSN the systematic targeting of the pro-democracy students by this dictatorial regime of Gyanendra Shah ..... police seized today the video camera of Mr. Ajay Shivakoti, a journalist and human rights defender. Ajay is a television journalist with Image Metro TV Channel, a district committee member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists Lalitpur district, and a long-time volunteer with Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) .....
  • Gyanendra's Handshake With Manmohan Singh INSN Emboldened by this, Gyanendra is reverting to his February 1-10 frame of mind..... Some 30 plain clothed men, calling themselves policemen, entered the CPN (UML) Office ..... carrying a list of ten persons to arrest ..... Jhala Nath Khanal, now acting General Secretary of UML, Surendra Pande, Gokarna Bista, Khim Lal Bhattarai, Yogesh Bhattarai and Rabindra Adhikari ..... particularly trying to hunt down Yogesh and Khim Lal. Yogesh was one a few youth leaders to collect some 500’000 signatures against the misdeeds of Parash Shah, now Crown Prince, in the aftermath of his killing of singer Pravin Gurung some five years back. The signatures were then handed to late King Birendra urging him to take stern action against Parash...... They kicked open a toilet being used by Jhapat Rawal, a youth activist, but not in the list. He was kicked and punched while in the toilet, and was threatened with throwing off the window from the four-storey building. Jhapat was suspected as Khim Lal, one of the two in the hit list, and was made to confess. He repeatedly said that he was not the person they were hunting down, but no one heard his voice..... Mr Shakya warned them if they did not leave the building, it would invite repercussions with serious and far-reaching consequences they had not thought of...... he is not going to give way to democratic order and those who voice for democracy and speak of freedoms are not safe at all. .....raises a serious question about the ‘longest democracy’ itself. Is it so weak to be swayed by a tricky dictator? ..... the situation in Nepal is going from bad to worse each passing day after February One, there is no room for thinking towards relaxing the sanction on arms supply. At this juncture, such a decision will not only be wrong but criminal.

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