From: psycho@MAKALU.STANFORD.EDU (Mr. Knotty Sycho)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nepal
Subject: more news: violent demonstrations
Date: 8 Apr 92 17:52:07 GMT


	KATMANDU, Nepal (UPI) -- The death toll has risen to at least eight in
clashes between Nepalese government opponents and police, officials said
Tuesday.
	Three more people died of gunshot wounds following the clashes in the
Nepalese capital and nearby Patan, according to hospital officials. But
strike organizers claimed 24 people had been gunned down by police
during violent protests Monday. Scores were wounded.
	The mood in the capital was tense Tuesday as a large crowd gathered
outside Bir Hospital demanding the bodies of the dead. Police released
one corpse to relatives.
	Sporadic clashes were reported in various parts of the city and
protest rallies were staged.
	``People are starving. Control inflation,'' chanted young
demonstrators waving black flags in the streets of Katmandu.
	The Communist opposition, which organized Monday's strike, called
Tuesday for government's resignation.
	Two local human rights groups described the police response to
Monday's demonstrations ``excessive'' and demanded a public inquiry and
compensation for relatives of those killed and injured.
	A German and a British tourist were among the estimated 60 people
hurt during fighting between police and demonstrators, hospital sources
said.
	A night curfew was slapped on Katmandu and the satellite town of
Patan for a second straight night Tuesday to curb the violence.
	Most shops remained closed and few attended work or school. Traffic
on the roads was very light.
	Nirmal Lama, coordinator of the communist opposition Unity Centre
Party, denied government claims that stone-throwing militants were
responsible for the bloodshed.
	``We are not for violence,'' he told a news conference. ``The
government is just trying to discredit us.
	``We called the strike putting forward fundamental grievances of the
people who are suffering from inflation and inefficient government.''
	Government charged radical elements in the Unity Center of trying to
set ablaze a cultural centre and a telecommunications station in the
capital and said several vehicles were set ablaze in neighboring Patan
while pitched street battles were fought between police and
demonstrators in both urban centers.
	The strike was called Monday to protest double-digit inflation and
alleged corruption by the ruling Congress Party, which is accused of
doling out jobs and favors to party faithful.
	Communists also accused Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koiralas, who
heads the Himalayan kingdom's first democratically-elected government in
32 years, of ``selling out'' to India during December talks in New Delhi
by agreeing to cede territory in western Nepal.
	Lama called for the resignation of the Koirala government and urged
people not to pay increased electricity and telephone bills.
	Koirala is facing the most serious crisis of his 10-month rule with
demands for his resignation not only coming from opposition leaders but
also from a section of dissidents within his own party, who have
critized his inept handling of the economy.
	With local-level elections barely two months away, the communists are
trying to cash in on popular resentment against the Congress government.
	Communists emerged as the main opposition force after May 12 general
elections.