Another round of violence has been unleashed by royal forces in Nepal against pro-democracy Nepalis. Canadian Network for Democratic Nepal (www.pdfnepal.com) – made of many Nepali expatriates – condemns this crackdown.

There he goes again! After nearly a year of royal coup, King Gyanendra has once again unleashed the military brutality against political opponents coming from major parliamentary parties, members of civil society, human rights activists, and common people opposed to his autocratic rule. The crackdown on democracy and human rights seeking people has come in the context of the seven-party alliance’s planned peaceful protest rally in Kathmandu on 20th January. King Gyanendra, who is behaving like the 17th century French King Louis XIV who had said, 9m the state,Chas ignored all international appeals to respect people’s aspirations for democracy and human rights,

In early morning hours on January 19th the royal junta unleashed its joint security force comprised of Nepal police, Armed Police and Royal Nepal Army to arrest more than 200 opposition leaders, students and youth activists, senior civil society leaders, human rights activists and journalists on pretext of possible Maoist infiltration in proposed demonstration. The Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, Prachanda, has refuted the royalist propaganda and clearly stated on the 18th that his party will not infiltrate in peaceful demonstration organized by the seven-party alliance. Despite the Maoist statement the royal junta is still rounding up political leaders, human rights activists and civil society leaders. There are reports that those arrested are detained in military and police barracks of Kathmandu valley under inhuman conditions.

The royal government has imposed day long curfew in three cities of Kathmandu for tomorrow (Friday, 20th January) in addition to overnight curfews in several parts of the country since 16th January and has imposed a ban on peaceful mass meetings, rallies, sit-ins, etc., in the capital until further notice.

In this coup-style crackdown on political dissidents, the state has cut off all of telephone lines and night-vision military helicopters are hovering in the sky of Kathmandu. This barbaric act of Royal Junta is clearly shows that it has already lost its political battle against democratic forces and further buttresses the opposition charges that King Gyanendra is more interested in political confrontation and bloodshed than in political negotiation and peaceful solution of the political impasse.

CNDN condemns these violations of basic human rights, arbitrary arrests, rounding up of political dissidents and demands immediate lift of all kinds of prohibitions and immediate release of all those detained. CNDN also thanks all international diplomatic as well as human rights communities for their opposition to human rights violation by royal junta and request to exert diplomatic pressure on Nepali government for immediate withdrawal of all kind of prohibitions including day long curfew on 20th of January 2006 and release of all political detainees with due respect and dignity.

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