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From the underbelly of the beast in Nepal
Nepal Oppn rejects King’s talks offer
Strike cripples Pak cities
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From the underbelly of the beast in Nepal
Taken in by Kathmandu’s royal regime with two dozen other protestors last week for willfully (and with prior announcement) breaking the curfew order, this writer had
the opportunity to see how a ‘militarising’ autocratic state machinery can ride rough-shod over some of the weakest members of society. It was an opportunity to take a look at the underbelly of the monster that government can be. What we have seen during our incarceration is something that the privileged with contacts in high places or money to buy safe passage rarely care to see or understand. There are three types of inmates in this makeshift detention centre at the Duwakot armed police barracks outside Kathmandu. The relatively Then there are political activists both senior and junior, who receive some protection from party affiliations and linkages. But here in Duwakot there is an entire category of true innocents. Most of these young adults, some of them mere boys, are migrants who have left their families in faraway hills and plains, to work in menial jobs. They represent the rural poor of all ethnicities and castes, but they are united in their lack of influence anywhere in the state structure. This lack of agency is only matched by their absolute poverty. The trauma that these boys of Duwakot have faced and are facing exists at several levels. Firstly, it is the chase on the streets, the attacks by batons and staffs, the abuse, and the bundling into the back of trucks. Once in the holding centre, the toilet facilities are non-existent, then they are transported from one detention centre to another, provided with no information whatsoever. No food is provided for more than a day, and when it is it is of the lowest grade imaginable. There is fear that authorities in need of proving Maoist ‘infiltration’ of the democratic movement can with the flick of a pen declare you an insurgent and do away with your life and prospects. Who will tell the family, who will inform the employer, who is the lawyer or activist to speak for you? Who is to defend you, and to charge the regime with wrongful imprisonment, and seek a writ of habeas corpus, and demand release and reparation? Dambar Nepali, is 14, from Udayapur in the hills of the east. He works as a construction labourer and was taken in and beaten while coming home from work. Ramesh Basnet, 23, from Dhading, was returning from the printing press where he works. Ram Kumar Tamang drives a microbus, license plate No 4266, and was crossing the road during a curfew when he was detained. Biraj Sharma, 18, was loitering outside a roadside shop in an area outside curfew limits. "The policemen were like demons," he recalls, "they kicked my head as if it was a football." Three kids were resting inside a bus at a bus stop where they work as cleaners when they were dragged out: Dhruba Timilsina, 17, of Hetuada, Buddha Lama, 16, of Sindhupalchok, Ramesh Thapa Magar,17, and Ram Lama, 20, of Chapagaon. They have all been moved elsewhere. Individuals who are in the lowest class bracket in detention get the toilet that is furthest, the rice that is the worst. It will be important for the ICRC to determine their fate and whereabouts. Some policemen can be fine, sensitive individuals. But they take orders from an insensitive state run by a ruler who has sought again and again to prove his contempt for the people of Nepal. When autocracy and militarisation is combined with contempt those without recourse suffer unseen and unheard. This is one more reason for a quick return to democracy, pluralism and peace. Ramesh Basnet told me the day before yesterday before he was taken away: "This turns out to be the kind of country I was born in. I love my country, but I hate the government. I have not picked up a stone, I have not burnt a tyre in protest, why am I here, and where will they take me?" |
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Nepal Oppn rejects King’s talks offer
Kathmandu, April 14 The participation of broad masses of people, including professionals, mediapersons, teachers, doctors, industrialists and human rights workers, have made the movement for restoration of democracy widespread, a joint statement issued by the seven-party alliance said today, urging people to keep actively participating in the agitation in coming days. A day after the King called for general elections and dialogue with the opposition, the parties rejected the monarch's offer and said, "We vehemently condemn the brutal repression and killings by the autocratic regime and express our high respect to the immortal martyrs of the movement." There can be no permanent peace in the country unless autocracy ended and full-fledged democracy established, the statement said. Recalling the 12-point understanding the seven parties reached with the Maoists recently, the statement said the move was aimed at bringing about permanent peace and restoring democracy in the country ending the present conflict. The parties' statement came as over one lakh people demonstrated against the King's direct rule in Pokhara and Chitawan and also held condolence meetings for the two activists killed there during the past one week in army firing on protestors, witnesses said. Meanwhile, Kathmandu remained mostly peaceful today with Nepalese people celebrating their New Year amid some protest rallies in different places in the capital with no violent clashes. Army personnel and riot policemen deployed in various parts of the capital have not yet been removed and armoured vehicles could also be seen on the roads. The transport service partially resumed and people rushed to markets to buy essentials, though all shops were not open. In its statement, the opposition alliance also thanked the international community, including friendly countries, for expressing solidarity with the peaceful mass movement and expected similar cooperation and support in the days to come. "We are fully confident that the aim of ending autocracy and establishing democracy can be achieved through peaceful joint movement," the statement said. Those who signed the statement included Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal Communist Party-UML acting General Secretary Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepali Congress (Democratic) President Sher Bahadur Deuba, United Peoples Front President Amik Serchan, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party President Narayanman Bijukchhe and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) Vice President Bharat Bimal Yadav.
— PTI |
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Strike cripples Pak cities
Islamabad, April 14 Roads in Karachi wore a deserted look with public transport remaining off forcing people to travel in taxis and rickshaws. All major markets were closed. However, stock exchange worked as normal. Most people stayed at home at the call by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the Sunni Tehrik and the Jamaat-e-Ahli Sunnat. The major opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) had also supported the strike. The strike followed three days of violence, which started on Tuesday when a suspected suicide bomber struck a rally organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad. Paramilitary troops and police contingents were also seen patrolling various parts of the city. Meanwhile, Opposition members in the Provincial Assembly demanded resignations of the Governor and Home Minister in their speeches in the Assembly session. A central leader of Ahli-Sunnat Mufti Munif-ur-Rehman said the strike would be peaceful and the group would not hold any procession. But the MMA and ARD had announced plans to hold rallies. The Sindh Assembly debated the blast as the Opposition members held the government responsible for the incident. —
PTI |
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