things seem to be getting increasingly tense in nepal as police fired on pro-democracy demonstrators yesterday. protestors were involved in attacks on vehicles as a general strike brought the country to a standstill. the Absolute Monarch, King gyanendra, is the object of the protestors fury, and is looking increasingly fragile as he uses more and more repressive powers to quell the uprisings.

meanwhile the democratic parties are making coalitions amongst themselves and talking with the maoists who've been waging a civil war against the state in nepal for many years. maoist bombings and attacks on government forces have continued throughout.

the king's methods of responding to the maoists is your usual state repression. according to fpif's review of the situation:

Claiming to curb the Maoists, the king has embarked upon a path that is as brutal as theirs. Torture, arrests, abductions and killings by the army have become commonplace. With even less support from the general public for his rule than for the Maoists, the king has used his control over the army to perpetuate his rule with no regard for the law. The army is responsible for almost two-thirds of the total killings in this war.

...and that war has claimed 12,500 lives and counting. unsurprisingly in this day and age, the king has resorted to the terror card, implementing a familiar-looking bit of legislation:

Key to the king's power is the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) 2002, which has given the security forces new powers to arrest people and detain them without charge. In October 2005, the king increased the powers of the TADA extending the period of detention without charge or trial from 90 days to a year.

now that's even worse than what the absolute monarch of britain was proposing.

in the face of the frequent and brutal repression, we just have to hope that the state will crumble and that the freedom of nepalis wins the day.