April 10, 2006

Troubling times for Nepal

Dear All,

We are now in the third day of curfew. “House arrest” I call it. The main political parties in Nepal have joined ranks with the Maoist insurgents to demand that the king remove himself from the position of absolute power that he took over unconstitutionally 14 months ago. Five days ago, the parties called a general strike. Businesses and schools were closed and no motorized vehicles were on the streets. On Saturday, they were to have a big demonstration here in Kathmandu and in other urban centers. To thwart the demonstration, the government called a curfew to prevent people from going. Well, this infuriated people, and en masse they have been ignoring the curfew. And this has brought about great violence. Three people have been killed so far and many, many injured by beatings. Curfew continued on Sunday. The planned strikes were to end after Sunday. Strikes are very hard on the people: the daily wage earners earn no income, the businesses and schools are disrupted, and it is difficult to travel and to shop.

Now there has been such a response to the curfews that the parties have called for the strike to continue indefinitely. And so the curfew has been clamped on.

Today, they have given us a break from 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., so we went out for breakfast and to do some food shopping. Nepalis don’t like to eat leftovers, so it important for them to be able to shop every day for fresh vegetables. When there are curfews they always try to let up for a few hours to allow shopping. It really amounts to house arrest for the entire population, and the purpose of it is clearly to prevent peaceful demonstrations.

Over the last several years, and particularly in the last year, it seems like a series of waves that need to become high enough to get over a wall—and that wall is revolution—and get to some other form of government. We are ever so close.

Please pray

• that the King will listen to the cries of the people.
• that the security forces will show restraint with the peaceful demonstrators.
• that the political parties will truly put the needs of all Nepalis ahead of their own.
• that the Maoist insurgents will seek a peaceful path in the process.
• that peace comes to this land.

In Christ’s hands,

Beverley

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 118