Three Shot Dead In Nepal Protests

BBC News

April 19, 2006

Security forces have shot dead three people protesting against the monarchy in eastern Nepal, bringing to eight the number killed in recent rallies. Two opposition leaders were earlier freed from jail as Indian special envoy Karan Singh flew in for crisis talks.

Communist Party (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress were released in Kathmandu, court officials said.

Mr Singh is to meet King Gyanendra and politicians opposed to him.

He is expected to express Delhi's concern over the rising instability in Nepal, where protests have been escalating in recent days.

According to the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kathmandu, Mr Singh will tell the king that it has become extremely difficult for Delhi to continue backing him - though India does not really want the monarchy to wither away.

India borders Nepal and is a major ally.

Intensifying protests

The latest killings of protesters were reported from the district of Jhapa.

Earlier on Wednesday it emerged that a woman injured by a tear gas shell fired at a protest in the western town of Nepalganj on Tuesday had succumbed to her injuries.

She had been among tens of thousands who marched there on Tuesday in one of Nepal's biggest protests so far.

At least five other people had earlier been shot dead by security forces since protests erupted in Nepal nearly a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, security forces in the town of Pokhara, a Himalayan trekking hub some 200km (120 miles) west of Kathmandu, arrested some 250 teachers who joined anti-monarchy protesters, reports said.

Thousands took to the resort town's streets in protest at King Gyanendra, who seized absolute power last year.

Dozens, some of them members of the security force, were hurt in clashes in Pokhara.

Wednesday was the 14th day of a nationwide shutdown called by the opposition in protest at the king's coup.

The government also doubled the period of detention orders on a number of imprisoned human rights campaigners and opposition politicians.

India 'worried'

On Tuesday, police arrested dozens of protesters, including 25 civil servants who demonstrated against the king inside the Home Ministry.

Mr Singh, who was named India's envoy to Nepal on Tuesday, is a former ambassador to the United States and is related to King Gyanendra by marriage.

He said India's prime minister had asked him to take a message to the king and "make a general assessment of the situation".

He told the BBC that India wanted to help Nepal resolve its problems.

"India is seriously worried with the worsening situation in Nepal," he said. "People in Nepal are also suffering a lot. Violence and anarchy is continuously increasing."

"India doesn't want to interfere in internal matters of Nepal, but India has such strong relations with Nepal that if we could help in finding some solution, then we'll certainly try for that," he said.