KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Supporters of Nepal ‘s former king clashed with police in riot gear on Friday during a rally in the capital to demand restoration of the Himalayan nation’s abolished monarchy.
The government imposed a curfew in the areas where the clashes happened in Kathmandu after the police used tear gas, batons and water canon against the protesters.
Several protesters and police officers were injured in the clashes, but no serious casualties were reported. Protesters vandalized nearby buildings, setting fire to at least two.
Thousands of supporters of former king Gyanendra Shah had gathered at the eastern edge of Kathmandu for the rally organized by an alliance of different groups supporting the ex-monarch.
The gathering on open ground near the airport had been planned as a peaceful rally, but trouble began after some protesters in a white pickup drove at a police barricade, colliding with several officers. Police resorted by shooting tear gas shells and spraying the crowd with water canon.
On the other side of the capital city, thousands of people who support the present system of republic nation gathered Friday for a counter rally. The rally participants were from the opposition parties led by Maoists party, which fought armed rebellion between 1996-2006 to oust the monarchy.
“It is impossible for the monarchy to come back. It is ridiculous to even thing that some that is already dead and created could come back to life,” said Ram Kumar Shrestha, a Maoist supporter.
There has been growing demand in the recent months for Shah be reinstated as king and Hinduism brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.
“We need the country to return to monarchy and the king to come back, because the political parties and system have failed in the country,” said Rajendra Bahadur Khati, one of the participants at the rally. “When the source is so polluted the entire system has gotten rotten.”
Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.
Gyanendra, who left the Royal Palace to live as commoner, has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support, the former king has little chance of immediately returning to power.
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