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Source: The Hindu, 20th Feb. 2005 |
“It's
a do or die situation. Either we will
win or he (King Gyanendra) will win,”
said Sujata Koirala, leader of the Nepalese
Congress and daughter of its president,
G.P. Koirala, who has been arrested.
She and other prominent Nepalese political
leaders, having fled from the oppression
of the Nepalese establishment, were
speaking at a discussion on “Crisis
in Nepal” organized by the Observer
Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi,
on 19 th February. The discussion was
attended by a wide cross-section of
members of the Nepalese diaspora in
India and also by representatives of
Global March Against Child Labour (GMACL),
which has a storied history of close
partnership with the Child Workers In
Nepal (CWIN) concerned center.
Though
at first glance, Ms. Koirala's statement
might seem like an abrasive declaration
of war, the stark reality is that the
situation in Nepal is fast deteriorating
comes on the heels of a visit to Nepal
by the Amnesty International general
secretary, Irene Khan, who described
the situation as on a “downward spiral.”
Even though the King's seizure of all
levers of power on 30 th January 2005
has been roundly criticized worldwide,
the Nepalese establishment has continued
to flout civil liberties and human rights
through arbitrary arrests, censorship
and general repression of political
leaders, students and members of civil
society. The constitution of Nepal does
not allow the King's actions to be challenged
in court putting Nepal's population
at the mercy of the security forces,
which have a history of widespread and
serious violations of human rights.
Global
March has been personally affected as
recently its Regional Coordinator, South
Asia, Mr. Gauri Pradhan, a well-respected
Nepalese child rights and human rights
activist and founding member of CWIN
was arrested at Kathmandu airport for
unwarranted reasons. Since 1987, Mr.
Pradhan has selflessly been leading
CWIN with a mission to work for children
with the children themselves as advocates
with special emphasis on community link,
networking and support service to promote
and protect the rights of children in
general and the rights of children at
risk in particular. To accomplish these
objectives, GMACL has established a
time-tested partnership with Mr. Pradhan.
However, the current situation in Nepal
is worst affecting the children. Many
of their parents have been arrested,
schools and colleges remain closed and
there is a feeling of tremendous insecurity
among these children.
Nepali
political leaders and civil society
members present at the discussion were
unanimous in their belief that this
was their last opportunity to put up
a united fight against the usurpation
of power and democratic rights of the
people by King Gyanendra. Still in shock
at the manner in which they have been
shunted out of the Nepalese political
conundrum, the political leaders spoke
about trying to bring together the Maoists
with other agitating political parties
in order to launch a massive countrywide
agitation against the monarchy. Requesting
all help from Indian people for their
fight, Pradeep Giri of the Nepalese
Congress (Democratic) also endorsed
the creation of an elected Constituent
Assembly as the first priority of the
political parties now.
