Nepal’s déjà vu on Black Friday

One video on social media shows Avenues tv videographer Suresh Rajak filming Friday's pro-monarchy protests in Kathmandu through windows shattered by stone-throwing crowds on the street below. The steel sliding door has been padlocked from the outside. 

Minutes later, the rioters set fire to the building and stoned a fire truck trying to douse the flames. Rajak’s body was found two hours later after colleagues started searching for him.

Onlinekhabar journalist Dinesh Gautam was taking pictures of protesters snatching a tear gas gun from a policeman, when they attacked him, fracturing his leg. Across the Tinkune intersection, protesters attempted to set fire to the office of Annapurna Post and pelted stones at the Kantipur Television building. A Himalayan TV van was set alight.

Kathmandu woke up on Saturday to watch videos of the violence on their devices, or buy dailies at the newstands. The front pages carried special editorials and publisher’s notes that accused the royalists of deliberately targetting the media. 

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) organised memorials nationwide for Rajak and called the royalist attacks “a black day for press freedom”, comparing it to the days of the absolute monarchy.

“The attacks on the press and activists prove that protesters had no intention of peaceful gathering, they were itching for violence,” former FNJ chair Taranath Dahal said at the event in Kathmandu attended by hundreds of journalists.

Nepal’s public sphere appears to be polarised by former king Gyanendra Shah’s attempt to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu kingdom. While the mainstream press is vocally critical of the arson and looting unleashed by his supporters on Friday, on social media the picture is more mixed with many accusing the security forces of provoking the protesters.

The posts say riot police used the roof of the building that was torched to fire tear gas shells at the stage prepared for pro-monarchy figures. Police denied doing this. The owner of Avenues tv, Bhaskar Rajkarnikar, who is on a pro-monarchy committee led by Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, had one of his own journalists burnt to death by royalist protesters. He has since accused the police of not doing enough to douse the fire and rescue Suresh Rajak. 

The other fatality on Friday was 29-year-old Sabin Maharjan who got a police bullet in his neck. At least 112 people were injured, including 77 security officials. Apart from newspaper buildings, protestors vandalised private property, party buildings as well as ransacked a Bhatbhateni department store and a pharmaceutical factory.

Late Friday night, pro-monarchy leaders Rabindra Mishra and MP Dhawal Shumsher Rana of the royalist RPP were arrested for instigating demonstrators to engage in violence. The leader of Friday’s protest, business tycoon and alleged bank defaulter Durga Prasai, who rammed his pickup through police cordons, has eluded the police dragnet.

Many have said that the final responsibility for Friday’s violence lies with Gyanendra Shah, who reportedly instructed Prasai directly on Thursday on plans for the rally. The government is reportedly planning to strip Shah of state facilities granted to him since the monarchy was abolished in 2008, and to cancel his passport because of fears he may flee the country.

Ex-king Gyanendra has not yet spoken out about the protests. The RPP under Rajendra Lingden gave moral support to the protest but he had disagreements with Prasai, Mishra and Rana about how and when to hold it. The party meeting on Saturday is said to have decided to continue with “peaceful protests” to restore Nepal’s monarchy. Strategically, it helps Lingden's position within the party that a more radical faction is being blamed for Friday’s violence.

Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC on Saturday warned: “If this is what Gyanendra is doing now, what will he do if he is a king? He has never been a constitutional monarch, and he never will be.”

In its Special Editorial titled ‘Hold Gyanendra Shah Accountable’ on Saturday, Kantipur wrote: ‘Instead of presenting ideological, political, and practical arguments for monarchy the royalists have engaged in vandalism, arson, and looting, proving that frenzy and chaos is inherent in their identity and character.’

Most editorials and analyses emphasised that Friday’s protest was an indication of public dissatisfaction with Nepal’s three main party leaders who have been prime minister multiple times — their corruption, lack of accountability and impunity.

Public anger is bubbling away, and Friday’s mayhem in Tinkune was a manifestation of this. This should be a final wake-up call to political parties to clean up their act, and for ageing leadership to hand the reins to younger untainted figures before the next elections in 2027.

This is the reason leaders like Balen Shah and Rabi Lamichhane were elected in 2022, and is proof that at least democracy allows citizens to choose their next leaders.

But for democracy to function, it needs checks and balances in place, and this is where the role of the media as a watchdog becomes crucial. It is when critical voices are silenced and suppressed, dictators are born.

Following an emergency central committee meeting, the FNJ has announced protests demanding action against those involved in the killing of Rajak. “Protesters might have attacked and killed journalists, vandalised equipment and media outlets, but you will lose,” FNJ’s Deepak Acharya said at Saturday’s memorial. “Nepal’s press has always fought authoritarian control and it will keep fighting.”