Nepalis march to defy shoot-on-sight curfew
Soldiers and police patrolled Nepal’s capital today as thousands of protesters from surrounding areas marched toward the city limits, where troops had orders to shoot on sight anyone breaking a curfew.
Demonstrators were marching toward Kathmandu from several directions, and thousands of people protested just outside the curfew area in the suburb of Gangabu, watched by a line of police and soldiers.
District administration officers said the 2am-8pm curfew was necessary to prevent opposition parties from holding a huge rally, planned for today, to demand that King Gyanendra loosen his grip on power.
Residents in parts of central Kathmandu came out onto their roofs, whistling and banging plates.
People used mobile phones to call each other and send text messages, trying to draw each other out for demonstrations.
“We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the nation because we are about to be killed, but we are not concerned about that. It is for the nation and without the nation there is no life,” said Sangam Poudel, a 22-year-old student.
Security forces had orders to shoot curfew violators on sight. Diplomats, journalists and human rights monitors were not issued passes allowing them onto the streets as they were in the past.
Police tried to keep media and rights workers away from any protests, escorting some foreign journalists back to their hotels.
Still, opposition leaders met today and decided to go ahead with the protest plans.
Krishna Sitaula of the Nepali Congress party said there would be rallies at Kathmandu’s major entry points, where protesters would try to break through police lines.
Two weeks of often violent protests and a general strike against palace rule have paralysed the Himalayan country, leaving cities short of food and fuel and Nepal at its most volatile since King Gyanendra seized power 14 months ago.
The royal government has responded harshly, claiming that communist insurgents - now allied with the opposition – have infiltrated rallies to instigate violence. Police have beaten, tear gassed and arrested thousands of protesters.
Security forces have killed at least 10 people, including some pro-democracy protesters shot dead yesterday, since the opposition launched a general strike in the Himalayan kingdom on April 6.
Officials claimed security forces opened fire yesterday only after being shot at during an assault by brick-throwing protesters in Chandragadi, about 310 miles south-east of Kathmandu.
The government has made such claims in the past, but no shootings by protesters have been independently verified.
The region’s chief administrator, Bhola Siwakoti, said the demonstrators had defied a ban on protests and were looting.
