The Hindu : Front Page : Gyanendra's offer spurned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Gyanendra's offer spurned

Siddharth Varadarajan

Protesters manage to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Less than 24 hours after King Gyanendra offered to hand over power to the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), which has been spearheading the campaign for democracy in Nepal, the verdict here is clear: neither the people, who have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers, nor the political parties, intend to settle for a half-way house in which the sword of royal intervention hangs perpetually over the head of civilian government.

Indeed, the popular response to the King's televised offer has been so ferocious that for the first time since the current agitation began on April 6, protesters managed to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu.

Spontaneous gatherings

Gathering spontaneously at points along the ring road like Kalanki despite the shoot-at-sight curfew, which was re-imposed again, a crowd that was as large as two or even three lakh slowly converged towards the centre. Their demand: a Constituent Assembly and dialogue with the Maoists. At Tripureshwar, near the Singha Durbar, which is home to the Prime Minister's office, and other points, sporadic clashes erupted between the police and protesters. Tear-gas and rubber bullets were fired and more than two dozen people were injured.

A providential afternoon downpour helped the police as the crowds slowly melted away, but the tension on the faces of soldiers guarding the square mile around the Narayahanhiti Palace was palpable.

By late afternoon, a nervous Gyanendra had ordered the kingdom's cell phone providers to switch off all mobile services in an attempt to frustrate any attempts at organising fresh protests.

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