The King’s Telephone

On February 1st, post-sister’s-wedding, the King declared a state of emergency in Nepal, whilst simultaneously firing the Prime Ministers (that he himself appointed) and cutting off all phone lines and internet, and beginning strict censorship of all news sources (tv, radio, and newspapers). For a while, this Nepali news website was simply blank, but now you can go there to read the censored news about Nepal, and if you’re interested, the King’s address to the nation translated to English! http://www.nepalnews.com/ Take a look at the publisher's note, too. His (the king's, not the publisher's) basic reasoning is that the democracy wasn’t working due to corruption, and as long as the Maoist insurgency continues this corrupt democratic government can do nothing to keep the peace – therefore, the King (and his buddy the military) have resumed power and in order to keep the pesky rioters at bay, anyone who says anything bad publicly about the King will be arrested. (So, people out there, please don’t forward my website on to anyone who might tell on me. Not that I’m really saying anything bad, right? Eeee.) At first I couldn’t figure out why the phone lines got cut off, but it soon became clear that lack of communication does a lot to quell revolts, as well as keep those naughty corrupt prime ministers locked in their houses with no chance of escape. To read an anti-King (pro-democracy) website, go to http://freenepal.blogspot.com/ The cell phones have still not been restored, and in-general censorship reigns. There was no remarkable violence or any danger during this time however. I was selfishly most concerned with my own lack of email access over any other inconvenience.