On February 1st, 2005 the king of Nepal decided that the country was not ready for Democratic rule. In one swift move he put the Prime Minister and his political cabinet under house arrest, selected himself as the supreme ruler, cut all communications throughout the country, called for complete press censorship, shut down all major transportation depots including the airport, and called for a national state of emergency which gave military personnel the right to shoot if there was any rallying or protesting. With this list of sudden changes it seemed like complete mayhem was soon to come. It wasn't that way at all.
It has been almost two weeks since the king took over complete control and evidence of the change has been almost invisible. There was a three day national strike called by the government for no apparent reason, but very few people cooperated and business went on like usual. Everyday I have to remind myself of the fragile state this country's government is in. Just four or five days after the fact, people seemed to completely stop thinking and talking about it. MOst of the population seems to agree that a change in power was necessary. I guess the type of change wasn't important.
I son't believe everyone is content with the king's decision. His suspension of many human rights has gotten criticism from most of the worlds leading nations, but outcry inside the country is punished with prison time. In the past five days nearly all of the members of Nepal's major human rights organization (their name slips my mind at the moment) have been arrested and held with no official charges. People here are scared to make public criticism of their leader. It's hard to believe this is possible in the 21st Century.
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