• Prohibitory Orders Defied
• Hundreds of Leader-Activists Arrested
• Thirteen Billion Pounds in Swiss Bank: Report
• Royal Commission in Supreme Court
• General Secretary Misbehaved
• Two Maoists Murdered
• ANNFSU Calls for a Decisive Movement
• Five Leaders Charged with Treason
• Army General Being Searched for GM
• Still in Maoist Abduction
• Two Dozen Writers and Artists Arrested
• Every Sector Chaotic after Royal Move

Prohibitory Orders Defied <TOP>

Kathmandu : Seven political parties have taken to the streets to protest against the royal coup of February One. On Tuesday, the parties led by their senior leaders defied the ban orders imposed by the royal government. They entered Ratnapark and other areas nearby prohibited as no-protest zones. Defying the ban, the parties have taken the tide of people's protest to a new height.

According to the parties some 1000 party leaders and activists were arrested from the protest. Those arrested included Mr. Madhav kumar Nepal, who coordinates People's Movement Mobilisation Committee of CPN (UML) and Vice coordinator of the Committee Bamdev Gautam; Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress; Acting President of Nepali Congress (Democratic) Gopal Man Shrestha; Amik Serchan of People's Front and CP Mainali, Chairperson of the United Left Front. Over two dozen protestors and half a dozen of journalists sustained injuries in the scuffle with police.

Hundreds of Leader-Activists Arrested <TOP>

Kathmandu: In the demonstration against prohibitory orders, CPN (UML) General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Standing Committee Members Amrit Kumar Bohara, Bam Dev Gautam and Ishwar Pokhrel; Central Committee Members Pradeep Gawali, Raghuji Panta, Yubaraj Karki, Gopal Shakya, Astha Laxmi Shakya, Shankar Pokhrel, Ram Chandra Jha, Krishna Gopal Shreshtra, Rajendra Shrestha, Gokarna Bista; and Madhav Poudel, Goma Devkota and Yogesh Bhattaria were arrested.

From Ratnapark and Bagbazar area, some 500 protestors were arrested. Those arrested were Ambar Bahadur Thapa, Prem Dangal, Rabindra Adhikari, Ajambar Kangbang, Bimala Khanal, Niraj Acharya, Kanchan Adhikari, Bimala Manandhar, Jayaram Basnet, Bikas Karki, Nirmala Prajapati, Bishnu Niroula, Binod KC, Urmila Bhattarai, Subash Karmacharya, Padam Bhandari, Krishnabhakta Suwal, Narayan Pande, Khim Thapa, Indraman Shrestha, Shiba Raj Kandel, Sanu Khatri, Bajra Rai, Kamalesh Mishra, Badri Bikram Thapa, Ramesh Poudel, Madan Bohara, Surendra Basnet, Kamal Raj Sunuwar, Bardan Gautam, Ghanendra Mahat, Prakash Bhujel, Samik Badla, Tulsiram Mainali, Shibram Khadka, Shyamkaji Khatri, Bhim Bahadur Rawal, Tanka prasad Upreti, Guru Khatiwada, Kanchan Adhikari, Urmila Karmacharya, Rupnarayan Shrestha, Rameshwar Phuyal, Sushila Nepal, Sarita Neupane, Sushama Sharma, Shobha Sapkota, Ramchandra Nepal, Bhojbikram Budhamagar, Bhojraj Joshi, Pitambar Timilsina, Gaida Ser Khan, Indraman Maharjan, Ram Kumar Basnet, Ishwar Timilsina, Lal bahadur Tamang, Om Thapaliya, Narayan Silwal, Premkrishna Pathak, Bidyasundar Shakya, Arjun Pudasaini, Suman Shrestha, Krishna Rai, Shanta Rai, Shanta Pradhan, Khamba bahadur Bogati, Anandaram Dangol, Damodar Dangal, Balmukunda Suwal, Harisharan Lamichhane, Madhusudan Poudel, Prabin Timilsina, Laxmipati Poudel and Ratna Gurung.

Sushil Koirala, Ramchandra Poudel, Balbahadur Rai, Mahantha Thakur, Khum bahadur Khadka, Dr. Ramsharan Mahat, Mina Pande, Ramkrishna Tamrakar, Dil Bahadur Gharti and Laxman Prasad Ghimire were among those Nepali Congress activists arrested from the demonstration

Thirteen Billion Pounds in Swiss Bank: Report <TOP>

Kathmandu : On Monday, the 'Press Secretariat of His Majesty's the King published the following notice in two dailies: 'The Secretariat protests and regrets the news carried recently by some papers that late Queen Aishwarya Rajyalaxmi Devi Shah maintained a bank account abroad. The news is confusing, untrue, fabricated and malicious.' But the Press Secretariat has not dared to call 'untrue and confusing' the news carried by The Telegraph, a respected British paper.

In the June 3, 2001, issue of the Telegraph, Olga Craig's report states: 'His Queen, on the other hand, was said to have amassed £13 billion in a Swiss bank account and was widely believed to be planning a palace coup and nominating Crown Prince Dipendra as a rival to the King.'

However, this was not the first time Nepal's monarchy got the headlines. Dr. Sanubhai Dangol, in his PhD thesis 'The Palace in Nepali Politics', quotes Pristhabhumi Weekly as reporting that the notorious 1964 arms treaty (between India and Nepal) centred around a consignment of King Mahendra to Switzerland, which was intercepted by India. The consignment contained 9 tons of gold.

Royal Commission in Supreme Court <TOP>

Kathmandu : The Royal Commission constituted to try party leaders and activists on fabricated charges is in a crisis of existence following the series of Supreme Court hearings that a royal decree cannot constitute a parallel constitutional organ.

The Supreme Court has already rejected the Commission's claim that an institution constituted by the King as per the royal tradition stands beyond the scope of the Supreme Court. Lawyers Subash Nembang and Shambhu Thapa pleaded that the Commission was formed unconstitutionally by manipulating unrelated constitutional articles.

General Secretary Misbehaved <TOP>

Kathmandu : CPN (UML) General Secretary was misbehaved by military personnel in Dang. All the agitating parties adopted a motion deploring this lowly act.

Students organized protests in a massive scale against this military atrocity. All the parties took this incident as an addition to the militarisation imposed after February One. General Secretary was stopped on his way to Dang Party leader Bam Dev Sharma's home-where he had arranged to stay overnight-on completion of Party meeting which went till late in the night. Police were informed of it, and he was with police escort on his way. But the army men blocked his way as per the order from the 'above' and 'send him back where he came from'. They did not elaborate the 'above' whether it was military headquarters or the palace.

Two Maoists Murdered <TOP>

Dailekh: Three days after the announcement of ceasefire by Maoists, two Maoist activists have been killed at the instigation of the military.

Those killed were Narayan Municipality In-charge and Chairperson Uttam Hamal aka Udaya Regmi and Vice Chairperson Sukul Bahadur Singh aka Sangharsha. They were killed by military formed vigilante known as 'special tigers force' while they were organising a meeting. A woman is reported to have fled the vigilante attack.

ANNFSU Calls for a Decisive Movement <TOP>

Ghorahi: The Second National Council Meeting of the ANNFSU has strongly deplored the military behaviour against CPN (UML) General Secretary Nepal. Mr Nepal was misbehaved on his way back from inaugurating the Council on Sunday.

The meeting started on 11 September ended on Tuesday. The meeting adopted various 19 motions. It deplored the royal coup of February One observing that the royal action weakened people's sovereignty and established autocratic monarchy. It supported the movement for complete democracy led by the seven parties and civil society and called on all to participate in the movement. The meeting also strongly deplored the state firing on agitating students in Kanchanpur and Pokhara.

Five Leaders Charged with Treason <TOP>

Mahendranagar: Five leaders and activists of CPN (Unity Centre-Masal) have been charged with treason for participating in peaceful demonstration.

Local administration has issued a 3-month detention warrant to United People's Front Nepal Central Vice ChairpersonManoj Bhatta, Central Joint Movement Committee Kanchanpur District Coordinator Khagendra Joshi and Janak Dhami. Last Friday, police had intervened in a demonstration arresting dozens of leaders and activists. Some of them were seriously manhandled.

Army General Being Searched for GM <TOP>

Kathmandu: In the royal regime, one should be a former general to qualify for the post of General Manager of National Insurance Corporation. Finance Ministry is learned to have been searching a former general with a background in economics, management and law to fill the post.

Unable to resist the pressure from employees' union, Shambhu Prasad Poudel, Bijaya Ghimire and Surendra Man Pradhan have already resigned as General Manager. Five days ago, the last GM-Kusheshwar Mahato-also resigned. His resignation is yet to be approved. The Chairperson of the Management Committee of the Corporation-Deep Basnet-has been suspended from his position on a corruption charge filed by the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority. The Corporation is without GM and Chairperson now.

Still in Maoist Abduction <TOP>

Kathmadnu: Despite the announcement of unilateral ceasefire, the Maoists are yet to release political activist they have abducted. This hints at the fact that the Maoists are not honest to their declaration.

UML's Democratic National Youth Federation District Chairperson Laxmi Adhikari and activists Tapendra Rawal and Ratan Ukheda of Sera VDC in Achham are still in Maoist captivity. They were arrested before the ceasefire announcement. UML Central Office Secretary Kashinath Adhikari has deplored the abduction and demanded their release.

Similarly, Maoists have not yet released two activists of United People's Front arrested in Pyuthan. District Member Gopal Sharma was released but Yamprasad Pande and Durgabahadur Thapa are still in the Maoist captivity.

Two Dozen Writers and Artists Arrested <TOP>

Kathamdnu : Police have arrested writers and artists protesting in the street demanding for the restoration of democracy and peace.

Last Friday, over two dozen of them were arrested from Ratna Park as they defied prohibitory orders and crossed past the no-entry zone. Those arrested included United Forum of Democratic Writers and Artists Chairperson Bairagi Kaila, Progressive Writers' Association Chairperson Anandadev Bhatta, Modnath Prashrit, Ninu Chapagain, Dr Tulasi Bhattarai, Pradeep Gyawali, Dr Jagadishchandra Bhandari, Harigobinda Luitel, Amar Giri, Ramesh Bhattarai, Ahuti, Bishnubibhu Ghimire, Ram Prasad Gyawali, Dr. Khumnarayan Poudel, Rameshjang Sijapati, Baladev Majgaiya, Bishnubhakta Phuyal, Rajan Kafle, Chenath Dhamala, Manoj Neupane, Dhankumari Sunar, Nabin Chitrakar, Rajan Mukarung, Bhogendra Lingden, SB Bibek, Madhusudan Pathak, Niranjan Sangpang, Jayahang Rai and Lohasing Bibakiran.

Every Sector Chaotic after Royal Move <TOP>

Kathmandu: Rastriya Janashakti Party has concluded that following the royal coup, every sector has turned chaotic. This conclusion was drawn by a meeting of the Party Central Committee held on last Sunday under the chairpersonship of Party Chairperson Surya Bahadur Thapa. Mr Thapa was the second nominated prime minister following the royal regressive move of October 4, 2002.

The Party has stated 'following the latest royal move no signs of improvements have been seen in peace and security situations despite promises and claims that improvements are in place'. The Party also termed the appointment of Regional Administrators and Zonal Administrators and the constitution of District Monitoring Committee as contrary to the spirit of Nepal's constitution that envisions independent and fair bureaucracy.

The meeting also expressed concerns about the government treatment of the media. It is the government prejudice against the media that has prompted the press movement, the meeting has concluded. Stating that a forward looking transformation is a must, the meeting has identified extremist thinking and behaviours as obstacles to such a transformation. According to the press release informing the decisions of the meeting, 'there should be structural transformation in the state structures and the governance system based on the principles of people's sovereignty and constitutionally monarchical multiparty system'.