Reports from Dang say an estimated over 300,000 people have converged at Tribhuvan Nagar, the district headquarter of the conflict-hit mid-western district, to express their support to the on-going movement led by the seven party alliance.
Lokraj Adhikari, a journalist with the Radio Sworgadwari F. M., told Nepalnews over phone that people from all five districts of Rapti zone had passed through various parts of the town before converging into a mass meeting at the Traffic Chowk.
People in hilly areas, attired in their traditional costumes, took part in the rally playing various instruments. They also chanted slogans in favour of democracy and denouncing absolute monarchy. The demonstrators had walked for hours to take part in the huge rally.
Addressing the meeting, senior journalist and poet Narayan Prasad Sharma and chairman of Professionals’ Association for Peace and Democracy (PAPAD) Dang district unit, Chinta Bahadur B. C. cautioned seven party alliance not to accept the king’s offer until their demands are met. They also warned that people would continue their agitation if the parties betrayed them.
In Chitwan, women led the pro-democracy rally calling for restoration of democracy in the country. Speakers at the mass meeting at Pulchowk called for the reinstatement of the dissolved parliament as a way out to end the on-going political stalemate.
Thousands of people have also taken out rally in the western town of Pokhara denouncing the royal proclamation. In industrial town of Birgunj, teachers of Thakurram Multiple Campus led a rally that demanded reinstatement of the dissolved parliament and elections to the constituent assembly.
In southern district of Sarlahi, demonstrators vandalized the office of Muskan Sena Nepal—a royalist outfit. At Panauti of Kavre, people took part into an opinion poll in which over 90 percent voted in favor of elections to the constituent assembly while less than five percent voted for constitutional monarchy.
There are reports of rally and mass meetings organized across the country denouncing Friday’s royal proclamation. There are no reports of major violence during the protest programmes. nepalnews.com by Apr 23 06