King Gyanendra ended the three month state of emergency this past April 30, meaning he was supposed to ease up tight controls on civil liberties imposed since February. Of course, that didn’t happen. In the most recent example of his power grab, over 100 journalists were arrested for protesting against the restrictions.

Police arrested nearly 100 journalists Monday after scuffling with them during a protest to demand King Gyanendra immediately lift media restrictions in Nepal imposed four months ago.
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Protesters from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists were arrested as they marched into a restricted area near the royal palace, chanting: “Free the press! Withdraw censorship!”

Police bundled them into buses, and the detainees shattered some bus windows as they were driven away. Some protesters were injured in the scuffles.

Many streets near the palace complex and the main government offices in other parts of Katmandu have become restricted areas since the king seized power.

Bishnu Nisthuri, president of the journalists’ federation, condemned the government use of police to break up the rally.

Many of the protesters “were manhandled and injured by the police,” said Nisthuri, who was among the journalists being held at several detention centers in Katmandu.

“We will continue our protests even while we are in detention,” Nisthuri vowed.

Journalists have staged several protests since Gyanendra seized power. Criticism of the king, the government and security forces has been banned, along with any independent reporting on the country’s communist insurgency. Journalists must get all of their information on security issues from the army or police.

He was at least kind enough to lift the ban on media from India, and I’m so thankful he did, because we may never have heard about this hilarious campaign to embarrass the government.

Kathmandu, June 14 : Nepal’s opposition parties hit upon a novel way of shaming King Gyanendra’s deputy and the second-most senior minister in the cabinet, who along with his wife are mired in allegations of not repaying bank loans.

They went a-begging in Nuwakot in central Nepal, saying they were trying to raise funds to help the minister repay his debts.
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As clamours arose in the capital for the minister’s resignation, he refused to be daunted and denied any wrongdoing.

To shame him, Nepal’s major opposition parties said they have started a fund-raising campaign in Nuwakot to help the minister repay the loans. The novel ‘Suka Mohor Sankalan’ – penny pitching campaign – started Monday in the local market square where people were asked to chip in with sukas – 25 paise coins – and mohors – 50p coins.

The opposition begging bowl yielded over NRS 175 with the highest “donation” said to be coming from a beggar who contributed NRS 2. The parties bought a draft for the collected amount and mailed it to Giri, the Kathmandu Post daily reported Tuesday.

It doesn’t get more ironic than that.

More coverage: Gateway Pundit.