Word: nepal
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...weak even to protest; yet blows from sticks and fists of the angry men keep raining down on him. This kind of scene, taking place on a main road in the neighborhood of Chabhail, a suburb of Kathmandu, has been all too common in the past two weeks in Nepal, where the police have often brutally attacked peaceful protestors with sticks and batons...
...Nepal's struggle against its King, now entering its nineteenth day of street protests and violent police reprisals, may be close to a resolution. Late Monday night, Nepal's King finally capitulated to relentless pressure from street protests and agreed to meet a key demand of his nation's pro-democracy movement - thus offering hope for a resolution to the nineteen-day-old political crisis that has ravaged Nepal. Appearing on national TV half an hour before midnight, King Gyanendra offered to reinstate Nepal's parliament, which was dissolved in 2002 - thus meeting an important demand of the pro-democracy...
...Many Nepalese at first welcomed his move. Since Nepal became a parliamentary democracy in 1990, the politicians have done little but fill their pockets and fight over power-the country had 14 Prime Ministers in 14 years-while the Maoists built a mini-state in the mountains based on torture, execution and extortion. But Gyanendra did not live up to his pledges. Instead, he locked up thousands of politicians, human-rights activists, journalists and students, while doing little to stop the Maoists. He almost reveled in his disdain for public opinion-H.M. KING GYANENDRA DOES NOT SEEK CHEAP POPULARITY...
...have all been attacked in the past weeks. "There is no mechanism in place to create a new government," says Ohashi. "The Maoists could walk into Kathmandu by default." At the very least, says the friend of the royals, "Autocracy would switch to anarchy." It's a scenario that Nepal's neighbor, India, which has an open border with the kingdom, particularly fears. Earlier last week, New Delhi dispatched two envoys to Kathmandu to persuade Gyanendra to compromise-and welcomed his Friday statement. Gyanendra's offer, said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna, "should now pave the way for restoration...
...possible to just throw them out?" Bhandari concurs. He says that whatever the King's faults, the older generation still revere him as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, a symbol of national unity and a linchpin of Nepalese identity. Even the young find it hard to picture Nepal without its monarchy. "The reality is that all the plans for the future are vague," says Bhandari. "Everyone has democracy, freedom and human rights in their hearts. And we know none of that is possible under an autocratic regime. But a life without the King? We're shouting...