Nepal in 1990: End of an Era

Abstract

The year 1990 started on an ominous note for the government of Nepal. The deadlock resulting from expiration of the trade and transit treaty with India had entered its tenth month with no solution in sight. Nepal was not getting any meaningful support internationally, and the lack of domestic support seemed to be eroding the initial defiant mood of the leadership. Shortages of kerosene and other essential consumer items were starting to be felt in middle class Nepali homes; the major opposition parties were determined to capitalize on the success of the prodemocracy movement sweeping across Eastern Europe; and the government came under pressure from most donors growing disenchanted with the country's inefficient use of aid and its record on human rights. The Nepali Congress (NC) and the United Left Front (ULF) parties joined hands for the first time in the hope of bringing down the panchayat system and replacing it with a multiparty parliamentary democracy. On January 19-20, the NC held a conference in Kathmandu attended by delegates from almost all districts, as well as observers from all major opposition parties and other prominent people associated with the human rights struggle. Also present was an all-party delegation from India led by Chandra Shekhar, a member of the ruling Janata Dal Party. This was significant because all along the royal government had been attempting to portray the trade dispute as a national struggle against India's hegemonistic policies. The NC Party made the decision to launch a nonviolent prodemocracy movement in the country beginning February 18. In an attempt to stem the movement, the government arrested national and district-level leaders of both the NC and the ULF on February 17 and banned all opposition newspapers. Late in the month, the police fired on a demonstration in