Democracy Under Assault in Nepal

Kanak Mani Dixit, “Democracy Under Assault in Nepal,” (Silver City, NM & Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, February 2, 2005).

Nepal’s 14-year-old experiment in constitutional monarchy suffered a major assault on February 1, 2005 when King Gyanendra sacked the prime minister, formed a new cabinet composed largely of royalists, and established direct monarchical rule. This was followed by a declaration of a state of emergency as leading political leaders were placed under house arrest, media censorship was imposed, fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of assembly were suspended, and telephones (landlines and cellular) as well as the Internet were shut down.

Also see Nepal: State of Emergency Deepens Human Rights Crisis

Political leaders have been placed under arrest and communications links within Nepal and with the outside world have been severed. All independent Nepali media have been closed down and state owned radio announced that a number of rights - including freedom of movement and freedom of assembly - have been suspended.