Describe the movement for democracy in Nepal, April 2006.
The movement for democracy in Nepal:
(i) The movement of 2006 was aimed at regaining popular control over the government from the king. All the major political parties in Parliament (Seven Party Alliance of Nepal) called for a 4 day strike and this protest soon turned into indefinite strike in which many other organisations joined hands.
(ii) People defied curfews and took to the streets. Even the security forces found themselves unable to take on more than 1 lakh people who gathered almost every day to demand the restoration of democracy. They stuck to their demands of restoring the parliament, power to an all–party government and a new constituent assembly.
(iii) On the last day of this protest movement, the king was forced to meet all the demands of the people. As a result, SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the Prime Minister and the restored parliament passed various laws taking away most of the powers from the king.