So Where is Bush's Campaign for Democracy?

Five opposition parties have said police have detained at least seven hundred of their leaders and cadres from across Nepal Monday while taking part in peaceful protests demanding restoration of peace and democracy.

The five political parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Congress-D, Janmorcha Nepal and Nepal Sadhabhawana Party (Ananddevi), had designated March 14 as the start of their "peaceful protest" program. As part of that plan, the leaders and activists were ordered to defy the government ban on demonstrations and rallies and court arrests.

The biggest demonstration was held in the politically sensitive, southern town of Janakpur where at least five hundred activists courted arrests defying prohibitive orders issued by the authorities. Central committee member of the CPN (UML), Ramchandra Jha, claimed that police had detained over 600 cadres affiliated to five opposition parties.

In the nearby Mahottari district, at least a dozen protesters were reportedly injured when police baton-charged them for defying orders. Half a dozen injured persons have been taken to Janakpur for treatment, according to reports. Over one dozen activists each were detained in Sarlahi and Siraha districts while half a dozen activists were arrested in nearby Saptari district.

Reports from eastern district of Jhapa said over a dozen protesters including former Nepali Congress MP, Dr Gopal Koirala, were injured when police baton-charged upon a group of protesters at the bordering town of Kakarbhitta. Police detained over 30 protesters including Dr Koirala and former lawmakers Chet Kumari Dahal and Pushpa Pokhrel.

Police briefly detained a Reuters journalist, Rupak Chaudhary, who had gone to cover pro-democracy protests from India.
In another eastern district of Udaypur, at least 40 protesters were held for defying prohibitory orders.

In the capital, Kathmandu, around two dozen activists were arrested by police including senior Nepali Congress leader and former minister, Bal Bahadur Rai. Those arrested from Ason area in the busy business district include UML members of National Assembly, Bir Bahadur Singh, and Mahesh Mani Dixit. The protesters unfurled their party flags and chanted slogans while courting arrests. In the far-western district of Doti, police arrested over a dozen activists while opposition activists took out corner rallies in neighboring Kailali district.

At least eight political cadres were arrested in mid-western district of Banke. In the conflict-hit mid-western district of Dang, police detained over two dozen activists who were taking part in a peaceful protest rally. Police also arrested Sharad Adhikary, Dang- based correspondent of Channel Nepal—a private sector television channel, who had gone to cover the event. Adhikary is also the central council member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ).

In Narayangarh, police arrested former UML lawmaker, J. P. Bhetwal along with a couple of other political activists. Half a dozen activists were detained in western town of Butwal, according to reports.

In western district of Kaski and Tanahun, cadres affiliated to five opposition parties took out separate corner rallies. Police have detained office secretaries of some of the opposition parties in Pokhara, reports said.

Despite all this, the Bush Administration, that champion of democracy, seems unconcerned. In fact, he Asian Human Rights Center(AHRC) today slammed America for messing up Nepal's crisis by refusing to suspend military aid.

India and Britain froze military aid to the Himalayan kingdom but Washington instead plans to extend 2 million dollar in security assistance to Nepal this year.

The human rights watchdog has warned against the move saying it has given wrong signals to an already defiant King.

"The United States is part of the problem because they see the problem in Nepal as part of the war against terror. They are trying to ignore the ground realities, which prevail in Nepal. The fact that the US has not suspended military aid, basically contributes to the problem because the King perceives this as a support to his rule since February 1," AHRC Director Suhas Chakma told a news conference here.

Nepal's King Gyanendra is being criticized across the world for his decision to sack the Sher Bahadur Deuba government on February 1 and
imposing state of emergency and suspending the civil rights.

Recent US media reports have quoted top Washington officials that the US is pressing the Nepalis to investigate and punish soldiers responsible for abuses. But the AHRC maintains that the royal takeover had only reduced the accountability of the army, thereby increasing the risk of disappearances and greater abuses at the hands of the army, in the Himalayan kingdom.

The AHRC said more than a 1000 people had disappeared in the last few months as the state tries to "break the backbone" of the revolt. Nepal's army has denied the claims saying it is committed to protecting people's rights.

"I think there is tremendous amount of fear against the Nepal army, given the fact that over one thousand people have disappeared. You can be shot anywhere in Nepal. So there is fear against the Royal Nepal army," Suhas said.

The Nepali media as well is being closely monitored by security forces and are banned from reporting anything the pro-monarchy government feels will boost the morale of Maoists.

Jitman Basnet, a lawyer and editor of the Sagarmatha Times, a weekly magazine, who was arrested for being an alleged Maoist sympathizer, termed his 10-month detention as akin to hell. "Only three things I could say were toilet, water and food, any other I could not say. They did not give me permission to talk to other. For all the 10 months they covered my eyes 24 hours in a blindfold and tied my hands at the back. Not only me, with all the detainees they did so," he said.

(From Oread Daily. Sources: NewKerali, Nepalnews, Kantipur OnLine, Press Trust of India)