Hundreds of Buddhist monks rally in support of King in Nepal

[World News]: Kathmandu, Mar 5 : Waving portraits of King Gyanendra and chanting pro-monarchy slogans, hundreds of Buddhist monks today hit the streets of Kathmandu in support of the royal seizure of power.

Wearing long saffron robes, more than 1,200 monks marched through the streets of Kathmandu appealing for "peace and stability", a day after police arrested a dozen activists of Nepal Communist Party-UML for challenging the power grab.

"Long live the King,", "We want peace", "Our King and our country are dearer than life" read banners and placards carried by them.

Dozens of riot police escorted the demonstration, which was attended by some top members of the Royal Council, to prevent possible attacks from the anti-monarchists.

King Gyanendra sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, seized power and clamped a national emergency on February 1, claiming the government had failed to check escalating Maoist violence in the country.

The government has so far arrested over 450 pro-democracy activists and put senior leaders under house arrest to prevent political agitation.

"We have nothing to do with politics, all what we want is peace and stability," said one of the participants.

Meanwhile, the Peoples' Front Nepal has in a statement asked the government to release all its leaders, including the party's vice president Lilamani Pokhrel, and demanded withdrawal of the February 1 Royal Proclamation.

It also urged all political parties and general public to take part in the movement for restoration for multi-party democracy scheduled to kick off form March 8. PTI

One interesting fact that isn't known w.r.t. the situation in Nepal is that the King's(a Hindu monarch) PM appointee is a Christian. I don't know how Christian he is, but he is a convert to Jenova's Witness during his stay in India.

The King's move is highly supported by Buddhist monks of Nepal and Hindu right-wing groups of India.

A man holds a portrait of King Gyanendra at a Pro-King rally.

Young Buddhist monks hold portraits of King Gyanendra and Queen Komal while participating in a pro-monarchy peace rally in Katmandu, Nepal, Saturday, March 5, 2005. Nearly 2,000 Buddhist monks Saturday marched through Nepal's capital in support of the King, in the biggest rally since the royal leader sacked the government and took power last month. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

"nepal historically has a long history of religious co-existence."

That is mostly true, but the founder Prithvi Narayan Shah did proclaim that Nepal as an official Hindu kingdom.

He was distrustful of Indians because it was under the established Muslim Mughal and the expanding British rule, which he saw as a Christian rule. When he conquered Kathmandu(back then Kathmandu valley was 3 kingdoms), he sent both Muslims and Christian missionaries packing to India.

Although Christian schools, such as St. Xavier's, and churches for local Christians were allowed by the King, it wasn't until the 1990 reform that mosques were allowed to be built within the valley. Today there is a large mosque. Ironically, it was almost destroyed by a mob when a dozen of Nepalese laborers were slaughtered in Iraq by the terrorists.

Raging mob destroying the Kathmandu mosque

"Just curious. Who is winning right now?"

In theory the King should win. After all, he has the backing of the army and the police. And half of the population supports his move, especially the urban population of Kathmandu. They distrust the Maoists, because they bring uncertainty. The educated elites fear Khmer Rouge style genocide in Nepal should the Maoists get hold of Kathmandu.

However, since the King's sacking of "democracy" has been condemned by the international community and military aid has been halted, the Maoists COULD gain the upper hand. But, I don't think countries such as USA or India or UK will continue the sanctions. They are just showing that they regret the King's decision, like they condemned Musharraf of Pakistan when he sacked the government and took over. Soon, however, the King's "anti democracy" move will not be the focal point and the anti-Maoist support from the international community(mostly from the west and India) will resume.

"Is the King leaning toward China or India, or he is still trying to get the best deal?"

The King cannot just lean towards China and be anti-India or lean towards India and be anti-China. He must be really careful not to piss off those countries. I personally think he will try to get support from both countries, but the country of most importance is India, because of geographic continuity and cultural ties.

yeah, but compared to the treatment of Muslims and Christians in India, i think Nepal has a great record. As a former student of STXC in Kathmandu, I've heard tons of horror stories about the treatment of christians in India.
BTW sagar, nepali ho?

"yeah, but compared to the treatment of Muslims and Christians in India, i think Nepal has a great record."

Most of Nepal does not have large Muslim or Christian population and the people don't intermingle much, so there isn't much chance of violence. Regarding Christians, Nepal(at least Kathmandu) has image of Christians as white tourists($) or hippies, so the religious conflict or animosity is low.

Some area of Nepal do have animosity towards Muslims, however. Especially the southern part where there are districts that are Muslim majority. The police does not like to go there and the local Hindus fear those towns.

"As a former student of STXC in Kathmandu, I've heard tons of horror stories about the treatment of christians in India."

Christians of India are generally recent lower cast converts, so the hatred is probably not because they are Christians per se, but because of their old caste grudge. When the lower-caste people convert, they don't leave the place and their social "status" remains the same.

"BTW sagar, nepali ho?"

ho :) ke tapai nepali bolnu huncha?

i have been to nepal many before and it is one of the friendliest place you can go.people are genuinely courteous and all religions get along well.

actually christianity got its biggest boost during the period of absolute monarchy though nowadays they have generally converted back to buddhism and hinduism.in nepal the means used to bring back the christians to hindu/buddhist fold is MOCKERY.yep no violence but laughter.villagers generally are very good at this and thus after few years even the most fervent believers surrender.lol no killings like in pakistan or afghanistan.nepalis are civilised people and gentle when treated honourably.

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