King adds 2 Cabinet members


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KATHMANDU, Feb 14 - King Gyanendra added two more portfolios on Monday in the Council of Ministers under his chairmanship.
Dr. Tulsi Giri has been designated as vice-chairman and assigned the portfolios of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Water Resource, Land and Transport Management; Forest and Soil Conservation; and Science and Technology.

Kirtinidhi Bista has been designated as vice-chairman with portfolios of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Agriculture and Cooperatives; Population and Environment; Physical Planning and Works and Health

Dissent in Nepal could lead to midnight knock on door

By Sanjeev Miglani

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - It was a simple statement that wouldn't raise eyebrows almost anywhere else.


Reuters Photo



But in Nepal's state of emergency after the royal coup, the implied criticism of King Gyanendra was enough to bring police to journalist Bishnu Nisthuri's front door late at night to drag him away.


Nisthuri had defended a colleague who had spoken out against King Gyanendra's decision to impose an emergency and suspend civil liberties in the tiny Himalayan kingdom.


"We said come tomorrow morning, we won't go anywhere. We haven't done anything," said Nisthuri's wife, Shakuntala Ghimire, recalling the freezing cold night earlier this month.


"But they wouldn't listen, they said they had orders."


In a country which has always had a tradition of a free press, Nisthuri, 40, general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), isn't the only one targeted.


Federation president Taranath Dahal is also on the run, and hundreds of political activists and union leaders have been in detention since the king sacked the government on Feb. 1.


Soldiers have been stationed in newsrooms and in some cases are vetting every word before it goes out, say reporters.


International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has said that around 1,000 journalists, especially those working for the dozens of private radio stations, could lose their jobs as a result of the crackdown on the news media.


Political parties say as many as 1,000 people may be detained or under house arrest in the countrywide crackdown.


But authorities said only 31 political leaders remained under detention or house arrest after seven people, including two former prime ministers, were freed last week.


"The initial picture of the situation in Nepal is one of heightened uncertainty, insecurity and fear," rights watchdog Amnesty International said as its representatives began a tour of the country to assess the impact of the emergency.


CRACKDOWN ON MEDIA


The king's decision to assume power in the mountain nation that has been battling a spreading Maoist insurgency for years has evoked condemnation from many countries.


Activists fear the emergency could led to the further deterioration of human rights in Nepal, which already has one of the world's worst records on rights since the Maoist revolt began nine years ago.


Both the military and the guerrillas have been accused of torturing and killing people in a conflict in which 11,000 people have died so far.


Ghimire said the men who came to arrest Nisthuri did not show an arrest warrant or identity papers.





With phones cut off across the kingdom, Ghimire had no clue where her husband was for five days.

Last week, a friend managed to trace him and persuaded authorities to allow Ghimire to visit him.

"We were both crying when I saw him, but he was all right," she said after her first visit to the heavily guarded Singha Durbar, the seat of the Nepali government, where Nisthuri was kept in a sparse room.

Ghimire said her husband told her he had not been tortured or harassed in custody. "But he should be released. I don't know long we can cope with the mental tension," she said.

Gyanendra justified taking power by blaming the previous government of failing to tackle the Maoist rebellion and raised fears of the poor country sliding into anarchy.

Politicians said the arrests suggested that anyone thought capable of organising popular protests against Gyanendra had been taken into custody or placed under house arrest.

"It is a two-fold strategy, arrest top leaders, and terrorise the party workers," said an official of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1965&ncid=731&e=5&u=/nm/20050214/india_nm/india_191456

Kirti Nidhi Bista is the KG's man whose JAMANAT has been lost during election. ......

Now he is Vice Chair Man ....

Tulshi Giri is not Nepalese as he resign from nepali citizenship ....

Now he is King's Man


What a shame!!!!!!!

Gyane claimed that he took the decision (Feb 1) for bright future nepal.. but how he is doing his job leads him to dark past or to the hell.

It is now non-sense to hope that Gyane will solve the problem facing the country. He is just power greedy.. more than the leaders... and too far more than the maoists. We, Nepalese, have to support any forces (less worst among the worsts) that can eliminate monarchy (The supper worst) from Nepal. I wonder how many Nepalese have to donate thier life for NEPAL AAMA to save the nation from this stupid damn.

Lets unite for Future Nepal

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Futurenepal

Nepali king appoints ex-PMs as loyalist deputies

1 minute ago

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali King Gyanendra named two former royalist prime ministers as deputies of his ruling council, state radio said on Monday, in a move seen as further tightening his grip on power in the troubled Himalayan kingdom.

Gyanendra sacked the government this month, blaming it for failing to tackle a Maoist revolt. He assumed direct charge, setting aside multi-party democracy that was introduced in 1990.

Political wrangling and the insurgency in land-locked Nepal, which is sandwiched between giants India and China, have raised concern about its stability, and fears foreign militants could take advantage of the chaos and find a hide-out.


Radio Nepal said Tulsi Giri and Kirti Nidhi Bista, who were both prime ministers in the 1960s and 1970s, during absolute monarchy, were named deputy chairmen of a council of ministers -- already packed with royalists -- headed by King Gyanendra.

Leaders of mainstream political parties have been either under house arrest or in police custody since Feb. 1, when the king imposed a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties including press freedom.

Following the crackdown, King Gyanendra's government has stepped up operations against the Maoist rebels who want to overthrow the monarchy. More than 11,000 people have been killed in the insurgency since it erupted in 1996.

The Maoists, who hold sway over large parts of the countryside, have rejected talks with the king, and instead launched a nationwide blockade and transport strike over the weekend to build support against his move.

The king's seizure of power has been condemned by countries across the world including India, the United States and Britain.

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Futurenepal

Nepal king appoints two ex-premiers to Cabinet


Nepal's King Gyanendra on Monday appointed two former prime ministers to top posts in his Cabinet in the wake of a royalist takeover earlier this month that suspended civil liberties.

The king appointed Kritinidhi Bista and Tulsi Giri as vice chairmen of his Cabinet. The two will serve directly under Gyanendra, who holds the post of chairman.

Both Giri, 79, and Bista, 78, served as prime ministers before 1990 when Nepal was under an absolute monarchy, and are therefore viewed as sympathetic to the king's Feb. 1 power grab when Gyanendra dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency.

The king has justified his move as necessary to restore order and combat a Maoist insurgency.

Bista and Giri have been given charge of several Cabinet ministries _ including law and justice, health and agriculture.

Meanwhile, buses and trucks on Monday defied a blockade by the communist rebels of Nepal's highways, moving thousands of passengers and bringing fuel, food and supplies into the capital under military escort.

The rebels on Saturday launched an open-ended blockade to protest King Gyanendra's emergency rule.

The communist insurgents in the past have brought traffic to a virtual standstill with mere threats of attacks on vehicles, and many drivers stayed off the road Monday. But the new royal government vowed to crack down on such strikes, and deployed army trucks and helicopters to protect vehicles.

Traffic was reviving Monday following a lull over the weekend, police said.

"We haven't heard of any attack on our route and there are soldiers on every corner," bus driver Hari Lama said.

But some transportation companies chose not to take any risks.

"I have put all my buses in the garage. I don't have insurance and I can't afford to lose any vehicle or drivers," said a bus company owner who did not want to be identified.

Two soldiers were killed Sunday when they triggered a land mine while clearing a blockade of stones left by rebels on a highway near the southern border town of Birgunj, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Katmandu.

On the Prithvi highway, the lifeline for residents of Katmandu, rebels hurled bombs at a convoy of buses on Sunday but no one was hurt.

Nepal has no railway system, and relies on trucks to deliver food, fuel and other supplies. Most of the country's 24 million people travel by bus.

The rebels, who are inspired by the late Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, called for the blockade to protest the king's power grab, which has been decried by foreign governments as a setback for democracy.

The strike was also meant to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the rebels' struggle to overthrow the government and establish a socialist state. The insurgency, which began in 1996, has claimed more than 10,500 lives.

Meanwhile, the guerrillas have refused peace overtures from the new government.

Rebel leader Prachanda said the king's action has "ended any and all possibility of peace talks."

In the statement issued over the weekend, the elusive rebel leader also asked the international community and donor nations to sever ties with the royal government.

We will see the tamasha!!!

VIEW: The return of the king in Nepal ?Kunda Dixit

Many Nepalis have welcomed King Gyanendra?s move. Much of the public is disenchanted by the instability caused by fractious and corrupt parliamentary leaders and by the Maoist insurgency. If this is what the king had to do to restore peace, they say, so be it. After all, the king has staked all and gambled his own throne by taking over power

Every time we in Nepal think things can?t get worse, they do.

In 2001, as our Maoist insurgency intensified and casualties soared, almost the entire royal family ? including King Birendra ? were massacred by one of Nepal?s princes. The next year, parliament was dissolved and local elected bodies were disbanded. As political parties bickered, King Gyanendra, who succeeded his murdered brother, sacked the prime minister in 2002 and ruled through an appointed cabinet.

King Gyanendra has now sacked his prime minister again, declared a state of emergency, and suspended civil liberties. Nepal?s 15-year experiment with democracy now seems over. Since February 1, the Nepali media have been subjected to absolute censorship. Nothing that goes against the ?letter and spirit? of the king?s dismissal of his government is allowed to be printed and broadcast, and ?action will be taken against anyone violating the notice.?

Armed soldiers now sit in newsrooms, vetting the galleys before they go off to press. Sometimes, they change headlines that they think are critical of the royal move. Nepal?s vibrant FM radio stations ? once models for decentralised public-service broadcasting and community radio ? have been prohibited from broadcasting current affairs. Some FM stations have been locked down and are silent.

The BBC?s Nepalese service, which used to be relayed through a network of 12 FM stations all over the country, has been stopped. All Indian news channels have been dropped from cable networks. On Saturday, two senior journalists were detained for issuing statements critical of the crackdowns.

Newspapers and magazines are blandly reproducing official pronouncements and reports from the state-run news agency. Some have taken the risk of resorting to metaphors and allegory, while others poke fun at the whole thing by writing editorials on ballet or bee-keeping. At least one newspaper came out with its news pages completely blank.

Most young journalists, especially those in radio, have been shocked by the censorship. The freedoms that they were so accustomed to, and maybe even took for granted, have now been snatched away. But, for older journalists like me, there is a strong sense of d?j? vu?the controls hark back to the times of the partyless absolute monarchy that existed here before 1990, when self-censorship was the order of the day.

Back then, irrational news decisions, sycophancy, and propaganda were passed off as journalism. In those days, editors, reporters, and columnists played a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, resorting to satire, humour, or metaphor.

But punishment could be harsh. Many journalists spent time behind bars, and there was a price to be paid when the morning newspapers contained even accidental typos, such as occurred when a headline concerning a royal birthday read ?suspicious? instead of ?auspicious?.

Old jokes from the pre-1990 days have returned, like this one: a man was walking down a Kathmandu street, shouting, ?Down with dictatorship in Pakistan.? A policeman grabbed him and took him in. At the police station, he asked the protestor, ?Why are you denouncing dictatorship in Pakistan when it exists here??

To be sure, many Nepalis have welcomed King Gyanendra?s move. Much of the public is disenchanted by the instability caused by fractious and corrupt parliamentary leaders and by the Maoist insurgency, which has cost 12,000 lives in nine years. If this is what the king had to do to restore peace, they say, so be it. After all, the king has staked all and gambled his own throne by taking over power.

They have a point. Many expect the king to pull a rabbit out of his hat, to restore peace and start raising the living standards of Nepal?s 25 million people, most of whom live below the poverty line. In his speech on February 1, King Gyanendra said the Nepali people would have to temporarily give up democracy in order to save democracy, and many Nepalese will go along with that, at least for a while. The king has a window of opportunity to deliver on his promises.

Perhaps King Gyanendra does have something up his sleeves. In the long run, however, the answer to Maoist totalitarianism is greater and more inclusive democracy, a vibrant free press, and civil liberties. Curtailing freedom merely polarises society. Indeed, even as a short-term strategy against the Maoists, it may well prove counterproductive. ?DT-PS

Kunda Dixit is the editor of the Nepali Times

Nepal must reinstate democracy, Natwar tells envoy:
[World News]: New Delhi, Feb 14 : External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh on Monday told Nepal's envoy to India, Karna Dhoj Adhikari that the Himalyan kingdom must reinstate multi-party democracy, restore freedom of the media and take immediate steps for the release of political leaders, journalists and human rights activists.

According to a statement issued by External Affiars spokesman, Navtej Sarna, Singh also told Adhikari that efforts must be made to evolve a national consensus for addressing the country's problems. Singh said that India wanted a stable and peaceful Nepal in its neighbourhood, The meeting was held at the request of the Nepalese envoy. (ANI)

Global Pressure Mounts on Nepal's King

Monday February 14, 2005 8:46 PM


AP Photo XGO101

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA

Associated Press Writer

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal came under mounting international pressure Monday over its king's dismissal of the government and suspension of civil liberties earlier this month.

The United States recalled its ambassador for consultations on the crisis.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement that Ambassador James Moriarity will confer with administration officials in Washington for a week, then return to Nepal.

``We remain deeply troubled by developments in Nepal,'' Boucher said, adding the king needs to ``restore and protect civil and human rights, promptly release those detained under the state of emergency and move quickly toward the restoration of civil liberties.''

King Gyanendra has justified his power grab as necessary to restore order and combat a communist insurgency that has claimed more than 10,500 lives since 1996.

Britain and France have also recalled their ambassadors.

``Once again, we call on all parties concerned to act in favor of the fastest re-establishment of democracy,'' said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.

Neighboring India's External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh said the king's actions had sparked a confrontation between the monarchy and political parties that would only benefit the Maoist rebels.

India is worried an unstable Nepal could cause regional turmoil, with refugees or militants spilling across the border.

Singh urged the monarch to release the scores of political leaders under house arrest or in prison, to restore press freedom and to take steps toward a return to democratic rule, according to a ministry statement.

``We have to deal with whatever government is in office, but our sympathies lie with the democratic forces in that country,'' Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in a speech to diplomats and journalists.

On Monday, the king consolidated his power, appointing two former prime ministers - unlikely to challenge his rule - to top Cabinet posts.

Kritinidhi Bista, 79, and Tulsi Giri, 78, were named vice chairmen of the 10-member Cabinet installed by Gyanendra. Both served as prime ministers before 1990, when Nepal was under an absolute monarchy, and are therefore viewed as sympathetic to the king.

Bista and Giri will oversee several ministries including health, agriculture and law and justice.

Meanwhile, buses and trucks on Monday defied a rebel blockade, bringing thousands of passengers as well as fuel and food into the capital, Katmandu.

The blockade began Saturday as a protest against the king's suspension of civil liberties.

The guerrillas have refused peace overtures from the new government.

Rebel leader Prachanda said the king's action has ``ended any and all possibility of peace talks.''

In a statement issued over the weekend, the elusive rebel leader also asked the international community and donor nations to sever ties with the royal government.