Murders mar Nepal election

Wednesday, November 16, 1994 - 11:00

Murders mar Nepal election

KATHMANDU, November 7 — The deaths of five party activists from the main opposition party, Communist Party of Nepal — Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), has brought campaigning in Nepal's second democratic election to a standstill.

The dead were part of a peaceful rally, protesting against the destruction of a regional headquarters of CPN-UML and a medical shop at Dang valley by the ruling Nepali Congress. The minister of transport, Kum Bahdur Khadka, allegedly ordered the shooting and fired several shots himself.

Thirty other protesters were seriously injured, including CPN-UML district secretary Srimani Acharya and former MP Shiva Raj Gautam.

At a funeral procession for two of the victims in Kathmandu on November 5, more than 50,000 people marched in the streets. Charges have been laid against the minister.

From GLW issue 167