The king of Nepal ended the state of emergency on April 30, two days earlier than the three month constitutional mandate. The order followed talks with India and Kofi Annan, who pressured him to restore democracy and civil liberties in the country. What followed was the emergency lifted, but the complete retainment of power and a fresh crackdown. Hundreds of political opponents and dozens of journalists remain in jail, and several student activists were shot the same day of the lift.

People are fed up. They don’t want to be treated like dogs anymore. To celebrate May Day, the people of Nepal set out into the streets and marched for democracy.

KATHMANDU: About ten thousand people marched through Nepal????????s capital on Sunday, demanding the restoration of democracy in the biggest show of opposition strength since King Gyanendra seized absolute power three months ago.

In two rallies organised by unions to commemorate the May Day labour holiday, demonstrators carried placards calling for an end to the king????????s direct rule.

Gyanendra on Saturday lifted a state of emergency that had given police unlimited powers, but retained direct rule. The demonstrators stayed away from restricted areas around the king????????s palace and government offices, and police did not interfere with the protests.

In the biggest show of strength since Gyanendra seized power in February, nearly 2,000 people participated in the first rally and another 8,000 in the second march through the streets of Katmandu, watched by people from homes and rooftops. The protesters carried red flags and chanted: ???????We want democracy, down with autocracy.???????
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???????We will continue to protest against the king until full democracy is restored. We have teamed up with other parties and are working on a joint strategy to fight the king????????s direct rule,??????? said Gopalman Shrestha of the Nepali Congress Democratic party. The government said the emergency was lifted because security had improved in Nepal.

For the past three months, people have been quietly resisting and sporadically protesting before dispersing. Journalists have taken to blogging to get the word out. Everybody knows that the lifting of the state of emergency was just an attempt to fool the international community, but it didn’t work. This could be the beginning of more to come if the king doesn’t wise up.

He should know that he’s doomed, because the protests babes have shown up:


All photos courtesy of Chandra Shekhar Karki.