The royal government has banned protests in the Nepalese capital ahead of a massive anti-King rally being organised this week by the country's largest communist party, which vowed to defy the order and go ahead with its programme.
In a notice issued on Tuesday, the Kathmandu District Administration Office declared various locations in Kathmandu, including Nayabaneshwor, where the Nepal Communist Party - United Marxist Leninist is planning to hold its rally on Friday, as prohibited areas.
Strongly condemning the government decision to restrict peaceful gatherings, CPN-UML said in a statement on Wednesday that it will defy the ban and go ahead with the rally.
"We will defy the government ban and gather one lakh people at Baneshwor to oppose King Gyanendra's seizure of power," said Yadav Shrama, personal secretary of CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is scheduled to address the proposed rally.
The government order had said, "It has become necessary to ban demonstrations, sit-in, gatherings and procession in the area to maintain law and order."
The areas declared prohibited after the Royal takeover also remain effective, the notice said, thus bringing most parts of Kathmandu under the restricted zone.
CPN-UML spokesman Pradip Nepal charged that the government had issued prohibitory orders aimed at disrupting their rally.
Coincidentally, King Gyenendra is also scheduled to return to the capital on the same day after his three-week tour of African countries.
The government had also put various obstacles on protest shows organized by the party in different parts of the kingdom including Pokhara.
Meanwhile, the United Nation's Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights Nepal representative Ian Martin has said that the office will monitor UML's programmes to check possible human rights violations by the government.
