Despot in Nepal

27 AUTOCRATIC King Gyanendra of Nepal abolished all democratic freedoms and dismissed the government in a dramatic coup last month. Nepal is now under the rule of an absolute monarchy. All trade union rights have been suspended, meetings of more than three people have been banned and senior political and trade union leaders have been arrested. Three leaders of the Nepal Trade Union Congress, NTUC, are in detention including its senior vice president Puskar Acharya. Other union leaders are in hiding. Communication with the outside world has become extremely difficult with international phone lines cut. After being closed for some days, email has been restored but it is not known for how long. The king, who came to power following the mysterious massacre of King Birendra and his entire family, has assumed all executive powers for the next three years, declared a state of emergency and installed a new hand-picked puppet cabinet. Poverty Nepal is an extremely poor country where illiteracy, unemployment, malnutrition and economic underdevelopment are endemic in a society riven by caste, ethnic and class divisions. About 90 per cent of the 26 million population are peasant farmers and 71 per cent of wealth is owned by the top 12 per cent of households. The gross domestic product per capita is 240 US dollars, the second lowest level in the world, and over 80 per cent of the population exist below the poverty line on just £1 a day. The situation of women is appalling; many are abducted to India and forced into prosti- tution each year. The oppression of the so-called ‘untouchables’ continues. Nepal’s ruling classes consist of feudal landlords – serfdom is still legal – and sections of the business class whose interests are tied into foreign capital as well as those who directly use the state apparatus to exploit the people. Nepal’s economy is severely dominated by the Indian monopoly businesses. The refusal of those in power to allow any forms of democratic reform has led to a protracted and damaging civil war in the country. Nepalese Society (UK) president Karna Shahi said that the regime had unleashed the full force of the Royal Nepal Army through brutality, ‘disappearances’, torture, rape and executions, with more than 11,000 lives lost, documented by several human rights organi- sations. However, the British government has been giving military aid in order to buy two Russian built military Mi-17 helicopters, as well as explosive ordnance disposal, logistical and communications equipment in aid of the RNA military intelligence support group. “The time has come for us to tell the British government to stop arming the autocratic feudal monarchy of Nepal,” said Mr Shahi. Military aid The Guardian (August 5, 2002) revealed that this military aid programme was “hidden in a paper laid 48 hours before parliament went into recess and was slipped through under the ‘global conflict prevention pool’”, an aid programme meant for war-torn countries. At the same time the United States announced $20 million of new military aid. The BBC also reported last April that the US was investing $17 million of military aid to pay for about 20,000 M16 rifles and night vision equipment. According to the New York Times, the US Agency for International Development (AID) is exploring ways to add another $14 million in “insurgency relevant” aid. Belgium, Israel and India also give military aid and training. Belgian Health Minister Magda Aelvoet resigned in 2002 over the proposed sale of 5,500 automatic rifles to Nepal. RMT has joined calls for solidarity, the restoration of democracy and the release of hundreds of political prisoners. G Protests to His Excellency Prabal SJB Rana, the Nepalese Ambassador, Nepal Embassy, 12a Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QU. Telephone 020 7229 1594 fax 020 7792 or email info@nepembassy.org.uk or rnelondon@btconnect.com PROTEST: An RMT delegation joined an ITF day of protest on 10 February and a TUC delegation to hand in a letter of protest against the suspension of democracy and trade union rights in Nepal. Pickets were held outside Nepalese embassies to coincide with protest rallies that were attempted by human rights groups in Nepal, but swiftly broken up by police. Despot in Nepal RMT News looks at the recent royal coup in Katmandu