Nepal: crackdown on rights activists

A week after Nepal’s king dismissed his government and imposed emergency rule by personal decree, the isolated Himalayan nation has largely disappeared from the headlines. The NY Times reported Feb. 9 in short page 13 story that King Gyanendra has allowed international telephone service to resume (gee thanks, Your Highness).

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that same day that Krishna Pahadi, leader of the Human Rights and Peace Society, was arrested the day before he was scheduled to lead a demonstration in Kathmandu. Soldiers patrol the streets, and all protests have been banned. "We will defy the ban and we are ready to face arrest," Pahadi told Reuters before his arrest. Stay tuned to see if the protest takes place tommorrow–and if the pseudo-omniscient New York Times pays any note.

See our last blog post on Nepal.