Nepal arrests 60 over constitution protest

Police in Nepal arrested 60 Maoist activists on Friday for forcing schools and public transport to shut down in a nationwide protest over government plans to bring in a new constitution. Authorities deployed hundreds of security personnel in Kathmandufor the first national strike since a devastating quake hit the country in April.Nepal’s Maoists struck a deal with rival parties on a new constitution last month after years of bitter disagreement, spurred by an earthquake that killed more than 8,800 people in the Himalayan nation.

But a breakaway faction of the party says the deal betrays the principles of the Maoists, who fought a decade-long civil war with the state that ended in 2006 and led to the abolition of a centuries-old feudal monarchy.

“The draft is against the people and the spirit and hopes of the people’s war,” their spokesman Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma told AFP, referring to the conflict.

“The constitution does not address the problems of the ethnic, racial and gender discrimination that we fought against.”

Dozens have been injured this week in clashes between police and protesters angered by the terms of the draft constitution. A key sticking point concerns internal borders, with the opposition pushing for new provinces to be created along lines that could favour historically marginalized communities. Other parties have attacked this model, calling it a threat to national unity.

There were no reported casualties in Friday’s protest, but police said they had detained 13 men carrying plastic water bottles filled with petrol. “We have arrested 60 cadres in Kathmandu for trying to block roads and planning to vandalize cars,” police spokesman Bishwo Raj Pokharel told AFP.

The strike emptied Kathmandu’s usually packed roads of traffic and many Nepalis expressed frustration over the impact on livelihoods already devastated by the quake.

“I am tired of strikes. It is people like us who suffer… whenever there is a strike, there is no work and we go hungry,” said daily wage labourer, Karma Tamang. Bank official, Nisha Shrestha, told AFP she was walking to work, defying the strike call.

“It makes me angry that at a time when we are trying to recover from an earthquake, these people want to trouble us more with strikes,” the 28-year-old said.

Continue Reading

Nepal arrests 60 over constitution protest

Police in Nepal arrested 60 Maoist activists on Friday for forcing schools and public transport to shut down in a nationwide protest over government plans to bring in a new constitution. Authorities deployed hundreds of security personnel in Kathmandufor the first national strike since a devastating quake hit the country in April.Nepal’s Maoists struck a deal with rival parties on a new constitution last month after years of bitter disagreement, spurred by an earthquake that killed more than 8,800 people in the Himalayan nation.

But a breakaway faction of the party says the deal betrays the principles of the Maoists, who fought a decade-long civil war with the state that ended in 2006 and led to the abolition of a centuries-old feudal monarchy.

“The draft is against the people and the spirit and hopes of the people’s war,” their spokesman Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma told AFP, referring to the conflict.

“The constitution does not address the problems of the ethnic, racial and gender discrimination that we fought against.”

Dozens have been injured this week in clashes between police and protesters angered by the terms of the draft constitution. A key sticking point concerns internal borders, with the opposition pushing for new provinces to be created along lines that could favour historically marginalized communities. Other parties have attacked this model, calling it a threat to national unity.

There were no reported casualties in Friday’s protest, but police said they had detained 13 men carrying plastic water bottles filled with petrol. “We have arrested 60 cadres in Kathmandu for trying to block roads and planning to vandalize cars,” police spokesman Bishwo Raj Pokharel told AFP.

The strike emptied Kathmandu’s usually packed roads of traffic and many Nepalis expressed frustration over the impact on livelihoods already devastated by the quake.

“I am tired of strikes. It is people like us who suffer… whenever there is a strike, there is no work and we go hungry,” said daily wage labourer, Karma Tamang. Bank official, Nisha Shrestha, told AFP she was walking to work, defying the strike call.

“It makes me angry that at a time when we are trying to recover from an earthquake, these people want to trouble us more with strikes,” the 28-year-old said.

Continue Reading

U.S. helicopter missing in Nepal

(CNN) A U.S. military helicopter with eight people on board has gone missing in Nepal as Marine personnel worked to help people in the earthquake-ravaged country. Americans and Nepalis are searching for the Marine helicopter that lost contact Tuesday evening near Charikot, an area roughly 45 miles east of Kathmandu, the capital, Pentagon officials said.

The UH-1 Huey helicopter had six U.S. Marines and two Nepalis aboard at the time, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said. Radio transmissions indicated its crew was having some type of fuel problem before it went missing, said Warren, who added the U.S. government is "hopeful" the aircraft didn't crash but doesn't know.

The aircraft was assisting with disaster relief in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation on April 25, killing thousands of people. Another strong earthquake hit Nepal on Tuesday afternoon, causing more damage and casualties. Nepalese military service members unload supplies from a UH-1Y Huey in Charikot, Nepal, May 5, Nepal, May 5.

Nepali soldiers and police searched on foot through the night for the missing helicopter, said Prem Lal Lamichane, a senior official in Dolakha district. Two U.S. helicopters from the same squadron as the missing aircraft set out Wednesday morning to conduct aerial searches, according to the U.S. military. The helicopter that went missing had been "delivering humanitarian aid to those affected by the recent earthquake and evacuating casualties back to Kathmandu," the U.S. military said. About 300 American personnel are on the ground in Nepal helping with earthquake relief efforts.

-

Continue Reading

U.S. helicopter missing in Nepal

(CNN) A U.S. military helicopter with eight people on board has gone missing in Nepal as Marine personnel worked to help people in the earthquake-ravaged country. Americans and Nepalis are searching for the Marine helicopter that lost contact Tuesday evening near Charikot, an area roughly 45 miles east of Kathmandu, the capital, Pentagon officials said.

The UH-1 Huey helicopter had six U.S. Marines and two Nepalis aboard at the time, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said. Radio transmissions indicated its crew was having some type of fuel problem before it went missing, said Warren, who added the U.S. government is "hopeful" the aircraft didn't crash but doesn't know.

The aircraft was assisting with disaster relief in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation on April 25, killing thousands of people. Another strong earthquake hit Nepal on Tuesday afternoon, causing more damage and casualties. Nepalese military service members unload supplies from a UH-1Y Huey in Charikot, Nepal, May 5, Nepal, May 5.

Nepali soldiers and police searched on foot through the night for the missing helicopter, said Prem Lal Lamichane, a senior official in Dolakha district. Two U.S. helicopters from the same squadron as the missing aircraft set out Wednesday morning to conduct aerial searches, according to the U.S. military. The helicopter that went missing had been "delivering humanitarian aid to those affected by the recent earthquake and evacuating casualties back to Kathmandu," the U.S. military said. About 300 American personnel are on the ground in Nepal helping with earthquake relief efforts.

-

Continue Reading