B. Raj Giri: Nepal: Beginning of a New Era?
A new chapter in Nepal's history entered on 1st of
February, 2005. King Gyanendra initiated this history
by sacking unproductive Sher Bahadur Deuba led
coalition government, declaring state of emergency,
and most of all by forming the cabinet under his
direct supervision. This has meant that 'many basic
rights have been suspended, including freedom of
assembly, the right to privacy and the right against
preventative detention.'
As expected, King Gyanendra's 'moves have been
criticised by the UN, the US, the UK, India and rights
groups' and he has defended by saying 'he had to act
as the government failed to protect Nepal from the
Maoists.' Whether one likes this King or not, Nepal
was in terrible mess and he took the boldest step to
hopefully sort things out. Unfortunately, for a small
and dependent country, even a minor political
development gives the biggest excuse to opportunist
leaders of especially India, and the US to squeeze
Nepal in whatever ways they want. They are arguing
about 'restoring democratic norms,' but who will
believe that the leaders of these countries are really
interested in a genuine democracy in Nepal? For
instance, think carefully about Bhutan, Saudi Arabia,
and even Iraq..
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