Nepal backed lynch mob rampage' By Thomas Bell in Kapilvastu (Filed: 08/03/2005) we need republic Nepal..........sale gyane chor read the news below: The Nepalese authorities have been accused of orchestrating a week-long rampage of burning, looting, rape and murder against supposed Maoist targets, in what appears to be the worst human rights violation since the king seized absolute power last month. According to villagers and reliable sources, up to 700 homes were burnt and about 30 people lynched on suspicion of being Maoist rebels by mobs sanctioned by the army in the Kapilvastu district in southern Nepal. Maoist rebels lie dead in a field in the Bardiya district after a clash with the Nepalese army They also assert that three ministers visited the area the day after hundreds of houses were destroyed and congratulated the mob. On Feb 21 the ministers for law, labour and education, all chosen by King Gyanendra after he sacked the democratically elected government, arrived in the town of Ganeshpur by helicopter and addressed the crowd. According to Major Sunil Galle, the commanding officer in Ganeshpur, "the government responded in a positive way". A local man said: "They encouraged in their speeches this 'brave' work by the people? and the people were beyond control." During the nine-year Maoist rebellion, which has claimed 11,000 lives, both the rebels and the army have been blamed for human rights violations, but recent events in Kapilvastu, reported here for the first time, clearly suggest that the new government is adopting unprecedentedly crude tactics against civilians. Immediately after consolidating power, King Gyanendra announced that the army would step up its campaign against the rebels. As a result of the king's Feb 1 declaration of a state of emergency, Nepal has seen military aid suspended by Britain and India, has been widely condemned internationally and could now face further censure. The trouble in Kapilvastu seems to have been sparked when rebels abducted two local men, one of them a retired police inspector, on Feb 17. That led to an angry mob releasing them and capturing three rebels who were taken to an army camp. Local witnesses said they were soon handed back to the crowd and beaten to death. On Feb 20, the day before the ministers arrived, 305 houses were burnt in the village of Hallanagar, government officials and locals say. Villagers said that an unmarried man, Prem Bahadur Rajkoti, was beaten to death. Nine people were injured and two women admitted themselves to hospital after allegedly being raped. Witnesses described a large crowd armed with axes, sticks and paraffin arriving at the settlement from several directions around 3pm. They said two or three "grenade" explosions were the signal for fires to be started throughout the village. More than two weeks later the people of Hallanagar are sleeping in the open and living on rice donated by local well-wishers. Many of them had moved here about two years ago to escape the Maoist violence in the hills to the north. One of the factors the army has appeared to exploit is long-standing resentment among residents against newcomers, and competition for scarce resources, particularly in community forests. The army has insisted all the victims were Maoists, while the state media has portrayed the events as a spontaneous anti-Maoist uprising. Private media has been unable to report the events due to state censorship. On Saturday a delegation of the National Human Rights Commission, a statutory body, was prevented from visiting the area. Major Galle, the officer at Ganeshpur, said 22 people were killed. He insisted that all were Maoists. At Baraipur the mother of Ram Bali Passi, who was beaten to death on Feb 20, said he was killed because he built his house using four timbers belonging to the village headman. His wife, three daughters, and four sons have not been seen since. "The public is terrified by the Maoists and the Government," said one man. "I didn't see anything. I have to think of my own security," said another. Maoist reprisals have already begun. Since the rampage ended on Feb 25 six members of the mob have been murdered, local investigators say. Previous story: Rome pays tribute to agent's final sacrifice Next story: China's bloated army of 46m bureaucrats worries ruling elite