MARCH 29, KATHMANDU, NEPAL
NEPAL IN CRISIS
WITH OVER 1000 LEADERS AND ACTIVIST HAVING BEEN ARRESTED SINCE THE FEBRUARY-1 POWER GRAB BY THE KING OF THE HINDU-KINGDOM-OF-NEPAL.......THE DAILY DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY SHOW NO SIGNS OF ABATING.
THE MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES HAVE ANNOUNCED RALLIES AND PROTESTS ACROSS THE NATION TO MARK THE 15th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASS ACTIONS THAT FORCIBLY SEIZED ABSOLUTE POWER FROM KING GYANENDRAS’ FATHER, AND ESTABLISHED DEMOCRACY .
THE DEMONSTRATIONS BEGINNING APRIL- 8 WILL COINCIDE WITH AN 11-DAY GENERAL STRIKE SET FOR APRIL-2 BY THE MAOIST INSURGENTS WHO HAVE LED A 9 YEAR PEOPLES’ WAR AGAINST THE MONARCHY.
THESE ACTIONS ARE SET AGAINST F.M. RADIO STATIONS HAVING BEEN STOPPED FROM BROADCASTING ANY NEWS OR CURRENT EVENTS, T.V. STATIONS BEING BARRED FROM BROADCASTING ANY CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT AND NEWSPAPER AND PRINT JOURNALISTS BEING INTIMIDATED, ASSAULTED AND ARRESTED. THE SOUTH ASIAN FREE MEDIA ASSOCIATION(SAFMA), AFTER SENDING A 5 MEMBER DELEGATION TO THE HIMALAYAN KINGDOM, DEMANDED THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL JOURNALISTS FROM DETENTION, AND SUPPORTED THE FEDERATION OF NEPALI JOURNALISTS(FNJ) IN DEMANDING THE RESTORATION OF FREE-PRESS, FREE-SPEECH, AND THE RIGHT TO KNOW.
NEPALI JOURNALIST HAVE URGED THEIR COLLOGUES FROM ALL
MEDIA : PRINT, RADIO, T.V. AND BLOGGERS TO SUPPORT THE IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF THE FREEDOM OF PRESS IN NEPAL.
D.MICHAEL VAN DE VEER IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST Reporting from Kathmandu, Nepal, A CONTRIBUTOR TO PACIFIC’S FREE-SPEECH-NEWS, UnitedWeBlog, , & CO-HOST OF OUT OF THE BOX KKCR-FM www.kkcr.org
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