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Civil society leaders protesting the February 1 royal takeover here said they will organize a protest program on the day King Gyanendra leaves for New York to take part in the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
Addressing a mass meeting at Mangalbazaar at Lalitpur district Friday afternoon, they said they had decided to protest the royal visit, as ?the King did not have popular mandate.?
A leading rights activist, Krishna Pahadi, said, "The royal visit was nothing but a drama to show the international community that the King enjoys popular support within the Kingdom".
The civil society leaders also thanked the CPN-UML for deciding to go for democratic republic and Nepali Congress for removing reference to the constitutional monarchy from the party?s statue.
Other civil society leaders who addressed the mass meeting included Jeevraj Pokharel, Kamala Amatya, Dr Om Gurung and Kamal Krishna Joshi. They had demanded immediate restoration of democracy and civil liberties in the country.
Poets recited pro-democracy poems and artists presented songs demanding restoration of democracy in the program.
Thousands of people took part in the mass meeting- third program of its kind organized by the civil society in the Valley. The meeting was organized by Citizens? Forum for Peace and Democracy, among others. nepalnews.com pd Sep 02 05
