A Japanese journalist, Kiyoko Ogura has beautifully chronicled the People’s Movement of 1990 that ushered in the multi-party democracy in Nepal. Nepalnews brings to you selected chapters from the book “Kathmandu Spring: The People’s Movement of 1990” by Ms. Ogura published by Himal Books in 2001 and reprinted in 2004.
Patan declared a Free Zone
By Kiyoko Ogura
The idea of Patan as a Free Zone was welcomed by everyone. Anti-establishment feelings had sunk deep among Newar community of Patan, and they liked the idea of preventing any intrusion by the police.
As soon as the meeting ended, work on barricading the main entrances to the old city (Patan) began. On the road in front of the Ganesh temple in Chyasal, a one-meter deep trench was dug within an hour. At Patan Dhoka, a big garbage container was used to block the road. On the main road coming from Pulchok, that is the western entrance of the city, trenches were dug and barriers of logs and pipes were put up.
After sunset the streets became completely dark. Only dim candle lights could be seen through the windows. Inside, the women waited for their men to come back, sitting up till later than usual. On the streets, old tyres and straw heaps were burnt here and there and the men on the guard roasted corn and soyabeans while they sat around.
On the very day that the people of Patan announced their city had become the Free Zone, a delegation of eleven officials from the Indian government arrived at Kathmandu ‘s Tribhuvan International Airport. Among those who received them were the foreign secretary Narendra Bikram Shah and the Indian ambassador to Nepal S. K. Sinha. The delegation led by the Indian foreign secretary, were visiting Kathmandu for four days to discuss the problems that had cropped due to the expired trade and transit treaties.
It had been three days since Patan had been declared a Free Zone. An unexpected outcome of this declaration (change of prime minister) was that over one hundred policemen in Mangal bazaar had been trapped in their police station. They could do nothing but sit around quietly, without supplies of food or water, and without contact with outside world except through radio. The government did try to enter the old city areas with food supplies using a crane, but without success. Such was the situation when, on the morning of April 3, the chairman of ninth ward, Hari Krishna Byanjankar, got a telephone from the Rastriya Panchayat member from Lalitpur, Keshar Bahadur Bista. Bista was known as liberal pancha and he had strong connection with political party activities. He told Hari Krishna, “I have heard the government is ready to call in the army to rescue the policemen in Mangal Bazaar. If this happens, something serious can take place.”
In Kathmandu, it was clear that the function of the state was in disarray. The government decided to close all the schools in the valley from 1 April until further notice. On the same day, as if keeping in step with the government, medical workers in hospitals and clinics all over the country went on strike responding to the appeal by Nepal Medical Association.
As soon as he heard this, Hari Krishna went into consultation with other chairmen and local party activists. They agreed that it would be better for the policemen to leave, and Hari Krishna and others went to the police station. As they stood talking to the policemen, people gathered around them and began making angry noises. It seemed they could go out of control. So, the negotiators decided to let the policemen go immediately. Amidst crowds of locals thronging the streets, the demoralized and exhausted policemen left on foot along the road to Lagankhel.
They boycotted all functions except emergency services. At the same time, 250 lawyers of the Nepal Bar Association went to see the prime minister and asked him to accede to their ten demands, foremost among which was the immediate release of 64 lawyers detained in jails over the country. They handed over a memorandum to the prime minister, who was himself busy with the cabinet reshuffle and the delegation from India.
The government had warned civil servants not to go on strike, but this order only succeeded in increasing their resentment. The Staff of the Agriculture Development Bank went on a ‘pen-down strike’, and boycotted their duties for two hours. In the Nepal Food Corporation as well, lower grade officials oppose working. On the Kathmandu streets, even children had begun shouting slogans against the establishment, the king and members of the royalty. After the blackout programme of March 29, people began coming out openly against the government in the old city areas like Asan. Patan’s declaration of a Free Zone had galvanized the Kathmandu Newars. They could not remain mere spectators any longer.