Nepal’s Maoist road blockade winds up

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

KATHMANDU: An 11-day road blockade called by Nepal’s Maoist rebels to protest against King Gyanendra’s power grab ended on Tuesday but the army said it would keep escorting vehicles to prevent guerrilla attacks.

“Army escorts of vehicles coming in and going out of the capital (Kathmandu) will continue for some time,” a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re serious about protecting vehicles and the public.

”The Maoists called the nationwide blockade to protest against Gyanendra’s decision February 1 to dismiss the civilian government and assume absolute power in what the monarch said was a move to end the deadly insurgency.

The protest was the latest in a series called by the rebels who have been battling since 1996 to topple the monarchy and install a communist government.

The blockade launched on April 2 cut the number of buses and trucks on roads in the Kathmandu valley by about 50 percent to 1,500, the security official said.Many vehicles defying the blockade covered their license plates to avoid identification by the rebels.

The blockades are enforced by fear of rebel attack rather than by roadblocks.

A senior official of the Federation of the Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, PR Pandey, expressed relief at the end of the protest.The blockade led to sporadic violence in the countryside controlled by the rebels and near the capital controlled by the government.

Meanwhile, a US-based media rights group called on Tuesday for an end to press censorship in Nepal and the release of at least 10 journalists it says have been detained since King Gyanendra seized power on February 1.

“The government’s crackdown ... is the most devastating blow to the country’s vibrant private media since democracy was re-established here in 1990,” said Ann Cooper, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Cooper, executive director of the group, was speaking in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu at the end of a week-long fact-finding mission to the impoverished country which is racked by a Maoist revolt.

“At least 10 journalists have been detained since the royal takeover February 1,” Cooper said. “We call upon the government to immediately free all detained journalists and restore press freedom in Nepal.” She added: “The government’s ban on news reporting by Nepal’s 46 private FM radio stations has deprived the Nepalese people of a crucial news source besides throwing 1,000 journalists out of work.

”Gyanendra dismissed the government and seized power on February 1, saying the move was necessary to tackle the increasingly bloody Maoist insurgency. Emergency rule provisions proclaimed at the time of his takeover suspended freedom of the press.

“The authorities seem determined to close down the media and force a return to the old days when news came only from tightly restricted state media,” Cooper said.

She called the growth of Nepal’s independent media since 1990 one of the country’s success stories and said “the private print and broadcast media had developed into the main forum for responsible, constructive public debate”.

The New York-based group said it had asked for a meeting with the king and senior government officials but the requests were refused.

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