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Hundreds of thousands defy shoot to kill curfew { April 21 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9dbb8532-d0d3-11da-b160-0000779e2340.htmlhttp://news.ft.com/cms/s/9dbb8532-d0d3-11da-b160-0000779e2340.html
Nepal police shoot protesters
By Jo Johnson and Binod Bhattarai in Kathmandu
Published: April 21 2006 03:00 | Last updated: April 21 2006 03:00
King Gyanendra of Nepal deployed lethal force against his people yesterday as he cracked down on a pro-democracy movement that is gaining support from a spreading cross-section of Nepali society.
Government forces with shoot-to-kill orders shot three demonstrators, taking to 13 the number of deaths since the start of a general strike on April 6. More than 100 were injured, human rights groups said, and protests are likely to resume today.
The seven-party alliance behind the rally said between 200,000 and 400,000 people risked their lives by turning out in defiance of a day-time curfew imposed inside the 28km Kathmandu ring road. Security forces put the figure at 40,000-50,000.
The curfew was due to end at 8pm but was extended a further seven hours last night to stop crowds massed on the outskirts of the city at Kalanki entering the city limits and joining forces with groups from other localities.
"It's a very serious situation," said one ambassador to Nepal. "The king is pulling out all the stops to prevent demonstrators from crossing the ring road and getting into the centre of town where they can unite people from three or four hotspots."
An eleventh-hour intervention by Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, whose personal envoy yesterday urged the Nepali monarch to restore democracy immediately, has yet to win concessions from the royal palace.
New Delhi fears that Maoist movements in India would be bolstered by the overthrow of the monarchy in Nepal, and is also worried about a possible exodus of refugees across the open border into the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
King Gyanendra seized absolute power in February 2005, justifying his decision to appoint a hand-picked government by the failure of the political class to suppress the decade-old Maoist insurgency that has killed more than 13,000 people.
"The ball is now squarely in the king's court," said Karan Singh, the Indian special envoy, after a two-hour meeting. Diplomats said the palace responded by inviting Krishna Prasad Bhattarai - a former prime minister in his 80s - to head a new government. In a reflection of a hardening of positions within the seven-party alliance, Mr Bhattarai is said to have refused the offer, which has been seen as evidence of the monarch's reluctance to step back from front-line politics. "No one wants to play ball now because he's left it too late," said Rhoderick Chalmers of the International Crisis Group. "He has to relinquish control of the army and make it clear he will stop meddling in politics."
Journalists, diplomats and United Nations officials were all denied curfew passes - which have been granted in the past - giving security forces effective cover for the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
A UN spokesman said: "This obstruction is a clear violation of the agreement between the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Nepal . . . which provides that OHCHR-Nepal shall have freedom of movement."
Police and army vehicles patrolled the deserted streets of Kathmandu, which would normally be thronged with tourists in the peak trekking season for the Himalayan kingdom.
Unable to move around town, party activists began sending short messages on their mobile phones early yesterday, calling on people to defy the curfew.
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