News from Dolakha/Arniko Highway, February 7, 2005. 11:30am.

[Compiled from travelers who reached Kathmandu on Sunday evening, Feb. 6]

- Royal proclamation was broadcast on Radio Nepal at 10am on Tuesday,
February 1. Later that day, all FM radio stations were either shut down
or played only the newsfeed from Radio Nepal.

- Immediately upon hearing the statement people were very frightened that
the army would take immediate action in their area since it is under de
facto Maoist control. At the same time, they were relieved that the
corrupt politicians were no longer in power. In general, older people
were more in favor of the King's move and became nostalgic about the
orderliness of the panchayat era.

- On Wednesday (Feb. 2) the Maoists began their bandh. It was taken very
seriously because people feared that if they didn't respect it they would
be accused by the Maoists of being royalists. All buses were stopped, and
all shops were closed.

- On the same day Maoists set up an effigy of Gyanendra in the Dolakha
bazaar bus park. It had a sign saying 'Sri Panch Gyanendra', and below a
sign saying 'khatara', danger. It had a metal container with wires coming
out of it that looked like a bomb. After putting up the effigy, the
Maoists led an anti-royalist parade through the streets of Dolakha
bazaar. Local people were compelled to participate regardless of their
political views.

- On Thursday buses were still stopped. The Maoists set off several bombs
in Charikot, the district headquarters, and on the perimeter of Bhimeswor
Nagarpalika. It is not known whether anyone was killed or injured.

- Friday was supposed to be the last day of the bandh. There was no
notable activity. The army did not make any moves during the bandh, and
did not even come to Dolakha bazaar to remove the effigy. The effigy was
still standing on Saturday, and local people were frustrated that the
army hadn't come to remove it yet. In fact, there has been no visible
sign of army activity after February 1. Until that day, the company
stationed in Chariikot had been making regular patrol rounds through the
villages. But even these routine patrols ceased after February 1.. People
wondered if the soldiers stationed at Charikot might have been redeployed
elsewhere.

- On Saturday morning half of the shops remained closed. Local phone
service within Dolakha district was partially restored on Saturday, but
there was still no STD service. There was a rally in Charikot organized
by unspecified 'civil society representatives' to welcome the King's
move, which was also joined by civil servants. About 3-400 people
participated.

- By mid-morning Saturday the first buses started to reach Dolakha. On
Wednesday the Maoists had stopped 45 vehicles in Dandapakhar
(Sindhupalcok) that had left Ktm heading towards Jiri/Charikot. The
Maoists took the keys from the drivers so that they couldn't move. They
returned the keys on Saturday morning. The passengers had left days
before to walk home. One large bus was set on fire in the middle of the
Dolalghat bridge. At around 10am the first bus left in the other
direction to travel from Dolakha/Charikot to Kathmandu.

Maoists had blocked the road with rocks and mud walls in several places
between Charikot and Kathmandu. The passengers had to get out and clear
the road at each juncture. In Balephi, the road was blocked with two big
trees. As several passengers were moving them, a small bomb attached to
the bottom of the tree went off. Everyone was afraid that army would come
and fire at them thinking they were Maoists because they had set off a
bomb, so the passengers fled back to Khadichaur to stay the night. But
the army never came. At that time the phones were briefly working in
Khadichaur.

- The next day (Sunday) drivers wanted to wait until buses came out from
Kathmandu before making a move. No buses came, so the passengers walked
to Dolalghat, which took 3 hours. There was a burned-out bus on the
bridge, so the buses that had come from Ktm (about 15-20) were waiting in
a line since they couldn't get by. Eventually one of the buses heading
towards Bahrabise turned around to return to Kathmandu and the passengers
finally reached the city 30 hours after departing Dolakha.

They did not see any armed forces or Maoists along the whole journey,
including at the checkpoints where the armed forces had been checking all
buses previous to February 1.