It has new photos everyday on the protests all across the country.

As she wrote, "the sheer number of people is staggering. esp when you think that they have been protesting at this rate for 13 days.
many shops, banks etc are closed out of solidarity. most government departments have also joined the call for change.
they are planning the largest rally tomorrow"

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Originally posted by Wilf Day:
First demo I've ever seen organized by a Bar Association.

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Just for you, a new verse to the old ballad:

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February marked the tenth anniversary of the Maoists’ war in Nepal, a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives, shattered a fragile rural infrastructure, halted development, and grown to dominate the consciousness of the country’s 26 million inhabitants who live precariously lodged between an armed and undisciplined militia and a repressive army that rarely pauses to distinguish between rebels and civilians.

On this tenth birthday, the rebels made a remarkable overture for peace, including a request for UN mediation and an offer to participate in multiparty democracy, which was immediately and decisively rejected by the U.S. whose influence in Nepal runs deep.
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The relatively sparse media coverage that the conflict has received in the West isn’t terribly hard to understand—Nepal doesn’t have many of the attributes that render a country relevant to U.S. and European political, economic, and military interests. Mount Everest was conquered over 50 years ago and Buddhism is no longer trendy. It could be easy to forget about Nepal and its problems, and to a large extent, the world has.

To make sense of the U.S. “paranoia,” let’s head back just four years....

...in 2002, newly crowned King Gyanendra ended Nepal’s 12-year experiment with democracy by declaring a state of emergency, dismissing the cabinet and parliament, and declaring “temporary executive authority,” which continues today. ...

...“What would Thomas Jefferson say…226 years after ousting King George III, the American republic is in the business of propping up monarchies.”...

In February 2005, when the king declared another state of emergency imprisoned political leaders, suspended all parts of the constitution related to civil rights, and began total autocratic rule, the U.S. joined the UK, EU, and India in denouncing the move. Unlike the UK and India, however, the State Department did not suspend military aid....

...the outcome of the Communists coming into power is considered so objectionable that the State Department would prefer to see continued fighting or monarchical rule rather than strive for their professed preferred position, democracy, which might involve the risks of a communist electoral victory. Repression by the king, then, was acceptable, so long as it didn’t tip the political parties and the people into the hands of the Maoists. But it did....

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Girija Prasad Koirala, who was recommended unanimously by the seven party alliance (SPA) for the post of the Prime Minister of the reinstated House of Representatives (HoR) is likely to be appointed new Prime Minister Friday.

Seven political parties have 194 seats between them in the recently reinstated HoR that has a total of 205 members.

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man, imagine a nepal in which the partiez made real changes backed by the guerrilla's military strength, followed by a disarmament by the guerrilla. that would be a nice result to the last 6 or so years of turmoil.

That revolution resulted in the King, who'd been restricted to a ceremonial role during much of the previous 100 years, taking full power until the democracy movement of 1990. At that point the monarchy backed down and, relying on a reservoir of respect much deeper than exists today, was able to preserve substantial residual powers in the new constitution.

The Maoist rebels have been calling for a constitutent assembly since their revolt began 10 years ago, and were joined by the parties following King Gyanendra's seizure of power in 2005.

The parties hope to use the assembly to guarantee multi-party democracy, with some happy to preserve a ceremonial monarchy and some not. The Maoists are hoping to use the assembly to be rid of the monarchy and, ideally, introduce a communist republic.

And that last post - Heavy Sharper, you come on over and help out the Maoists as they blow up schools, health clinics, assasinate and beat democratic Communist Party workers. The do more of that than fighting the RNA. I guess teachers don't shoot back, so they make easier targets.

Nothing like a bit of revolutionary pretension when you're living a nice middle-class life in a developed country, eh?

The Nepali Army is filled with poor kids desperate for any sort of job, just as the Maoist army is filled with conscripted child soldiers from poor families. A peace process is what's needed, not more executions. There's been enough of those.

[ 01 May 2006: Message edited by: Cardy ]