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Massive rally in Kathmandu today

      Kathmandu: Day curfew in Nepal was reduced by four hours on Monday, even as the royalist government squared off against the seven-party alliance ahead of Tuesday's planned anti- King rally-cum shutdown. Curfew will be in force till 6 p.m. local time. On Sunday, curfew was enforced from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The massive showdown around the Ring Road of Kathmandu tomorrow will be spearheaded by top leaders.The rally is expected to be attended by over 1.5 million people and is aimed at exerting pressure on the King to accept the roadmap for a democratic government rather than a Constitutional monarchy as has been in the past. So far, 14 people have died in clashes between the demonstrators and the security forces. According to international news reports, hundreds of Maoists stormed the town of Chautara, about 125 km east of Kathmandu, and fought security forces for six hours. The rebels targeted government buildings including the army base, the police post, the district prison and district headquarters. Communications were severed when a communications tower was attacked. District authorities had requested helicopter support and reinforcements were being sent to the area, an official said. The area is said to be a stronghold for the rebels who control large swathes of the Nepalese countryside. The king seized power on February 1, 2005, saying the elected government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had failed to deal with the Maoist rebels. The opposition parties say the king's recent invitation for them to form a government does not match their demand for restoration of a democratic system of government. More than 13,000 people have died in the 10-year Maoist insurgency aimed at replacing the monarchy with a Communist republic.

Natwar fumes over Govt ineptitude
on Nepal crisis

     New Delhi: Former External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh today criticised the Manmohan Singh Government for its inept handling of the Nepal crisis. In a terse statement released by Singh on Monday, he stated: "We have let the people of Nepal down, lost the goodwill of the seven parties, earned the annoyance of the Maoists and received no kudos from King Gyanendra." Singh, who had to relinquish his Foreign Ministry portfolio in December last year after getting embroiled in the Volcker Oil- for-Food issue, accused the UPA government led by his own Congress party, of failing to achieve any success after remaining 'masterly inactive' for months, as the situation in Nepal deteriorated. Singh also termed the visit of Prime Minister's special envoy Karan Singh to Nepal as "too late" and emphasized on the need to take up a proactive role in the Nepal crisis. "What can India do now? Too much is at stake in geopolitical terms. We should be the leading player. Why are we not?" he questioned. Singh also suggested that the Government should work upon the seven point formula proposed by CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury. Yechury's formula on defusing the Nepal crisis entail restoration of the dissolved Parliament of 2002, formation of an interim Government by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), formation of a Constituent Assembly in which the King should have no role and last but not the least, involving Maoists to take part in the democratic process. Commenting that the linguistic incoherence of different players of India would not bear any positive result vis-a-vis the Nepal problem, Singh said that the Yechury's formula "could be the base on which a coherent and concrete policy could firmly stand". "We need calm self-awareness, strong nerves," Singh added. This is Singh's first salvo against the Government since his resignation from the Union Cabinet.

Jaswant Singh cancels Nepal visit
by Maya Singh

      New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh cancelled his Nepal visit in the backdrop of critical condition of party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan. Singh was scheduled to visit Nepal as an envoy of the BJP to hold talks with King Gyanendra and other political leaders there over restoring democracy in the landlocked country. According to party sources, Singh cancelled the visit as "Mahajan, who is battling for life at Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital, is more important than Nepal". Pramod Mahajan has been kept on dialysis, as his Kidneys are not functioning properly. He underwent an emergency surgery last evening, during which excess fluid from his kidneys was drained out.