Nepal seeks Indian help for resuming democracy

For the first time since King Gyanendra dissolved the Nepalese Parliament and imposed emergency eight months ago, a high-level Indian political delegation left New Delhi Wednesday on a three-day visit to the Himalayan kingdom to assess the situation in Nepal.

A seven-member delegation, headed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury and representing seven major parties including the Congress, would review the political situation and report back to the United Progressive Alliance government, the Left leader told reporters before departing for Kathmandu.

The delegation, which has been invited by the seven-party alliance of major Nepalese parties for restoration of democracy, includes Chandra Sekhar Sahu (Congress), D Raja (CPI), Surendra Mohan Janata Dal (S), D P Tripathi (Nationalist Congress Party) and leaders of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party.

The Nepalese leaders who have invited the Indian team include former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and veteran communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

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The delegation represents a nine-party umbrella body 'Nepal Democracy Solidarity Committee (India)', which is garnering global support for immediate restoration of multi-party democracy in Nepal since the dismissal of Sher Bahadur Deuba government and imposition on emergency on February 1.

The Committee has asked the UPA government to stop arms supply to Nepal and not do anything to legitimise the King's "authoritarianism".

The Committee was set up by the Congress, CPI (M), CPI, NCP, Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Samajwadi Janata Party, JD (S) and the Socialist Front, with veteran Marxist Harkishan Singh Surjeet as its Chairman and Tripathi the secretary.