Kathmandu:
Former King Gyanendra Shah was on Saturday fined by Kathmandu’s civic body following the damage caused to public property and environment during pro-monarchy protests in parts of the Nepalese capital a day before.
Following the protests, normalcy returned to Kathmandu after a curfew in the city’s eastern part was lifted at 7 am.
The local administration imposed the curfew at 4.25 pm on Friday after following violent demonstrations by the pro-monarchists in the Tinkune- Baneshwor area, during which protesters pelted stones, attacked the office of a political party, set vehicles on fire and looted shops.
Two persons, including a TV cameraman, were killed and 110 others injured in the clashes between the security personnel and the pro-monarchy protesters.
As the protest was organised on the call of Gyanendra Shah, Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s (KMC) mayor Balendra Shah sent a letter to his residence at Nirmala Niwas at Maharjgunj on the outskirts of Kathmandu asking him to pay Nepali Rupees 7,93,000 as compensation against the damage.
In the letter sent to the former monarch, copies of which were released to the media, the KMC said that the protest organised with the call of the former monarch had damaged various properties belonging to the metropolis and affected the environment of the capital city.
Durga Prasai, who was the convener of Friday’s agitation, had met Gyanendra Shah a day before and received instructions to stage the agitation demanding the reinstatement of monarchy and a Hindu state.
Media reports suggested that the ex-king’s passport had been seized and the number of security guards at his residence reduced, though there was no official confirmation. On Saturday, all transportation resumed, markets opened and life came to normal.
Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak visited the Tinkune area, where protesters had set fire to around a dozen houses and nearly a dozen vehicles the previous day. He vowed to take action against those responsible for the vandalism.
Police detained 112 people including leaders of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Dhawal Shumsher Rana and Ravindra Mishra, who were active during the violent demonstrations.
Meanwhile, a high-level meeting of the ruling Nepali Congress said that Gyanendra Shah should take responsibility for what had happened in the Tinkune area.
“We reviewed the activities carried out on Friday in the name of pro-monarchists and the Home Minister presented the details of the incidents, after which we came to the conclusion that the violent activities were deliberately planned with the motive of imposing a totalitarian rule and former King should take all the responsibility,” said Nepali Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat after the party’s central office bearers’ meeting.
The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce (FNCCI) and the Federation of Nepali Industry and Entrepreneurship also condemned the violence and demanded proper compensation for the damages.
Releasing separate press statements, both business entities demanded stringent action against those involved in the violence.
“Although everyone has the right to organise and be involved in peaceful demonstrations with demands, they must not violate the rights of citizens and industrialists to carry on their business,” they said.
“The loot, arson and attack on private property and loss of human life are condemnable,” the FNCCI stated.
On Monday, a group of civil society leaders in Nepal slammed Gyanendra Shah for becoming “politically active with the aim of reinstating monarchy”.
“Gyanendra Shah’s descent into political activism subverts the nation-building efforts of his ancestors and carries the danger of weakening the country before its neighbours and the world,” eight civil society leaders had said in a joint statement.
The pro-monarchists have become active since democracy day in February when Gyanendra Shah said, “Time has come for us to assume responsibility to protect the country and bring about national unity.” They organised rallies in Kathmandu and other parts of the country, demanding the reinstatement of the 240-year-old monarchy, abolished in 2008.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)