All right, here's a bad pun: It's Shiva Ratri, and the king gets stoned! Told ya: a bad pun :-( **** Seriously, though, it does NOT matter whether it's Prachanda, Girija, Madhav Nepal or King Gyanendra whose car gets hit by stones. In ALL cases, the incident would be unfortunate and should be treated as a shameful episode by any Nepali democrat worth his or her name. In a democracy, people don't settle differences by throwing stones at one's opponents, and at others that one does not like. People settle differences by debates, dialogues, compromises and trade-offs -- and NOT through violence. If throwing stones and physically trying to hurt others were democratic norms, then, why go through this song-and-dance routine of TRYING to having a parliament and a rule of law regime? Why not stone one's opponents to death, and chest-thump that achievment as the deeds of democrats? Sure, King G is a not loved figure in Nepal. That's fine. But THE POINT IS even UNLOVED figures in Nepal have a right NOT to be attacked with stones in public spaces. After all, a democracy is NOT a license to do anything to people one does not like while looking away when one's friends do all the bad things. Alas, our democracy has a long, long way to go with regard to how it treats even unpopular, unloved and reviled figures in public. oohi ashu