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13 April, 2006
This past week has seen the largest demonstrations against the authoritarian rule of King Gyanendra since he dissolved the government and took absolute power in February 2005. What started last Thursday as a four day strike, led by the 7-party opposition coalition, and supported by the Nepalese independent trade unions and many others, has grown into an indefinite strike since, aimed at ending the absolute rule of King Gyanendra. The organisers call for the parliament to be reinstated.
According to the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), the regime in Nepal has lost all control and launched brutal and bloody attacks on peaceful demonstrators. In addition to beating and shooting at ordinary trade union members, including at a security guard at the GEFONT headquarters, the regime has also arrested at least 43 GEFONT leaders since the beginning of April. All of them have been handed a detention order ranging from 90 days to indefinite periods. Three were released yesterday. Many other GEFONT leaders find themselves under heavy surveillance.
Fate is not much different for the other trade union federations in Nepal. According to the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), at least ten of their representatives have been arrested since April 6. In total, many hundreds of protesters have been detained in Nepal last week. One source puts the total number of arrested people at 2,300 for Tuesday alone, with at least another 1,300 still held in detention since Monday.
The general strike, which is in its eighth day today, is nationwide, with large demonstrations taking place in several cities throughout Nepal. The king has reacted to the strikes, in addition to the many arrests, by declaring a number of curfews. These have, in a few cases, quickly turned into shoot-on-sight curfews. Only this morning, police opened fire on a demonstration of around 500 lawyers, with many of them ending up in hospital. Over the course of the last few days, at least four people were killed and a large number of demonstrators has been injured.
In spite of the violence, there appears to be more and more public support for the democratic movement by the day. Protests have not only gained the support of professional organisations and of the FNCCI (the body of employers and business), there are also more and more people from all walks of life reported to take part, without or without the curfews.
In addition to sending a protest letter to the king, the ICEM also sent a letter of support to its Nepalese affiliates.