Dear Friends,
Yesterday I joined a protest rally at about 5.00 p.m .
near Sadtobato on the Ring Road. There were more than
10,000 people in the rally. As we moved along the road
towards Balkhu more and more people joined the rally.
Men and women, young and old were carrying green
branches in their hands. I asked them the significance
of the green branch. I was told that in Nepal, when
people join a funeral rally they carry a green branch.
This they said was the funeral of the Shah dynasty. At
different places on the road some of the protesters
set fire to wooden logs and old car and truck tyres.
These were the symbolic funeral pyres of the Shah
dynasty. They were chanting “Gynendra Chor Desh chor”
(Thief Gyanendra leave the country.), Hamro Paras
kasto Chaa- kukur jasto chaa (Our Paras is like a mad
dog.) In one voice they said the movement will not
stop till the king was driven out and a "complete
democracy" was established by a Constituent assembly
elected by the people of Nepal. I let the rally at
about 6.45 p.m. to listen to the proclamation of the
king.
The king as you all know has offered too little too
late. Harking back to the great tradition of the Shah
dynasty in protecting the sovereignty of the nation
and the safety of the subjects, he said the
sovereignty of Nepal d taken into his safe custody,
was being re3turned to the people. And, this he was
going to do by transferring the executive powers of
the state to a council of ministers under Article 35
of the 1990 constitution. He invited the Seven Part
Alliance to recommend the name of person who he will
appoint as the Prime Minister. It was a sick joke.
There were at least a quarter million people on the
streets of Kathmandu asking for his immediate
departure when he made this so-called offer.
The massive rally of more than a hundred thousand
protesters at Kalanki, the newly named "Republic
Square", in one voice rejected the king’s offer. They
said that an interim government must be set up by the
Seven Party Alliance without going to the king. This
government must immediately call for elections to the
Constituent Assembly, invite the Maoists to dialogue
and ensure their participation in the election to the
Constituent Assembly. Through out the night the
people continued to voice their rejection of king’s
offer. According to reports more than a million people
had gathered in different parts of Nepal, urban and
rural and through the night, they too continued to
express their rejection of the king’s offer. Almost
all the leaders of the Seven Party Alliance, the civil
society activists inside and outside the jail and the
Maoists have rejected the offer of the king.
The foreign governments and international agencies
have supported the king. India is sending another
envoy, Mr. Jaswant Singh, a former foreign minister of
India in the Hindu fundamentalist government and a
former ruler of a princely state under the British in
Rajasthan. He has said that India continues to support
multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy in
Nepal. Obviously, New Delhi has not heard the voices
of the people of Nepal. Like New Delhi, the USA, the
European Union, Mr. Kofi Anan have also deaf.
The king has re-imposed curfew from 12 noon till 8.00
p.m. today (April 22, 2006). Yesterday the army and
the police did to shoot at the protesters except in
New Baneshwor in Kathmandu. The representatives of the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights were allowed
five curfew passes. The national Human Rights
Commission was given four such passes. The protest
rallies have not been called off. As I was walking to
my office from my house in Dhobighat, I saw men and
women leaving their homes to go join the protest
rallies in Baneshwor, Chabahil and Kalanki. An old
woman told me "we will not stop till we drive out this
king".
I am not a Nepali. I am India. I have been here for
about ten years. I believe it is my duty to be a part
of the movement. I also must protest against the
position of the government of India which is a clear
violation of the inalienable right of the people of
Nepal to seek any change in their polity. It will be a
sad day for India, world’s largest democracy if it
ends up helping a rouge king in suppressing the
democratic struggles of the people.
I appeal to all democratic Indians and all fellow
South Asian to stand up for the Nepalese people.
Oppose the pro-Nepal king policies of our governments.
Organise rallies, pickets and meeting condemning this
betrayal of the people of Nepal. Send protest letters
to heads of states and the Secretary General of the UN
asking them to change their current position.
The Seven Part Alliance which is spear heading the
popular peaceful movement and has already worked out a
road map to peace with the Maoists has already
received a massive mandate of the people of Nepal. The
people have spilled their blood on the streets and
given their lives to express their support for a
Constituent Assembly. It this Seven party Alliance,
which must form the interim government immediately.
They do not and must not seek the approval of this
rouge king. He has no legitimacy in the eyes of the
people of Nepal. The foreign governments and the
international agencies must recognise this interim
government, if they do not want to participate in more
bloodshed and mayhem in the country.
Tapan Kumar Bose
Secretary General,
South Asia Forum for HUman Rights
Kathmandu
Tel: (+)977-1-5541026
Fax: (+) 977-1-5527852
Email: Buboo_1946 yahoo.com
E-mail: bose.tapan gmail.com
Mobile (Indian)(+) 91-9818001206