REPORTER: Bronwyn Adcock
Welcome to Kathmandu - ancient city and tourist attraction. This is the political heart of Nepal, a country that's just seen its democracy taken away. In this square, a group of protesters is about to take to the street. I've been tipped off and obviously so have the police, who also wait. Suddenly they appear.
PROTESTERS: Democracy! We want democracy! Democracy! Democracy! We want democracy!
These political activists know their arrest is a certainty, so they have a strategy. Small groups of protesters appear suddenly in different parts of the square.
PROTESTERS (Translation): Take legal action against the law breaker! Take legal action against the law breaker!
This strategy gives each group a crucial few minutes to chant their slogans, before police and unidentified men in plain clothes drag them away.
PROTESTERS (Translation): Our protest is continuing. No one should arrest us. Our protest is peaceful. Our protest is continuing.
Getting arrested for chanting pro-democracy slogans is new for Nepal. Three months ago the king seized power, turning himself from a constitutional monarch into an absolute monarch. He declared a state of emergency and suspended key parts of the constitution including freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression.
Under the state of emergency, thousands of people associated with the former democratic government have faced arbitrary arrest, including ministers, parliamentarians and members of political parties. What's left of the political leadership has gone underground.
I'm going to meet a pro-democracy student leader who's in hiding. As arranged we meet a go-between, who'll take us to him. Kathmandu is crawling with informers and secret police so we're using a secret camera when filming in public.
We're taken to the latest hiding place of Gagan Thapa.
REPORTER: Hi Gagan. How are you? Good to see you, are you well?
Gagan Thapa is a member of the Nepali Congress party, and a prominent student leader. He's been in hiding since February, changing houses every few days.
GAGAN THAPA, NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY: It's not possible for us to stay in our homes, it has been raided more then five times, it's not possible to move from here to there, because it's due to the security condition.
Gagan is not appearing in street protests because he wants to stay out of gaol and able to coordinate resistance.
GAGAN THAPA: But there is also a rumour that the phone has been tapped, we have been very careful in this regards also. We used to call from here, but we don't give our number to all the friends, just some selected ones only.
With fellow student leaders like Pradip, Gagan is trying to organise street protests against the king's rule.
PRADIP (Translation): Why on 8 April? Why not before then?
FRIEND (Translation): That day the security forces will be focused on Kathmandu's Assan, Indra market.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): If you can go that way you can do it easily.
PRADIP (Translation): Okay, but have you talked to anyone else?
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): No, it's just my idea.
Gagan Thapa hasn't always had to hide. He's been a well-known face in Nepali politics for a number of years and a key organiser of demonstrations against the king. He's a popular student leader, and well-known for his anti-monarchy views.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): We don't want a king who attends receptions in the villages but has to bring French wine and food from Kathmandu in helicopters.
Today though, he never goes out without his simple, but so far effective disguise.
He's leaving now to attend a secret meeting of students. Inside the high walls of this courtyard, around 100 students have come to hear Gagan speak. Large political gatherings like this are completely banned, and obviously risky. Students can no longer meet on their university campuses, because security forces guard them.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): If we don't try to make them leave, they never will. A bunch of students throwing stones at the security forces is not the way to remove them from the campus. For that we must put pressure on the campus administration. The dean of Tri Chandra campus totally supports the king, every day we should get at least 10 students to call him. We should terrify him in a psychological way, he has a heart problem, I'm giving a simple example. If he threatens us with the police we can terrify him over the telephone.
As quickly as he arrives, Gagan must leave - he can never stay in one spot for too long. It's the only safe way of operating in a country that became a palace-run security state overnight.
It was the evening of January 31 this year, inside the royal palace, the army and the king's men were putting the final touches on their plot. Even under Nepal's 15 years of democracy, the king always retained control of the army. Early the next morning the takeover was launched. Security forces arrived at the homes of hundreds of politicians, placing them under detention. Gagan Thapa had a lucky escape.
GAGAN THAPA: One of the policeman called me at the time, and he said, "Where are you at?" and I said, "I'm just a few metres away from his home," and he told me, "I have just heard your name on the walkie-talkie of the secret police, they are already here to arrest you, so it's better for you to go away from here."
So as soon as I got that message...
REPORTER: So this was a policeman, outside the house of the leader?
GAGAN THAPA: Yes, in fact he helped me, he gave me the message, and I got a friend and on his motorcycle we ran away from there.
The phone and mobile network were soon disconnected and put under military control. The next target was the media. The military turned up in TV newspaper offices around the country.
MEDIA PERSON: All together there were 18 people.
REPORTER: And were they armed?
MEDIA PERSON: Yes, with M-16s and other sophisticated weapons, submachines guns and all sets, a walkie-talkie set. They came and told us, you know, the situation has been changed, you have to follow the directives of the king and of the army, so we are here to support you, to protect you and assist you in making good news.
It was a dramatic and well-executed coup, the king and now absolute monarch appeared on national TV and explained why he'd done it.
KING GYANENDRA, KING OF NEPAL (Translation): Democracy and progress always complement each other. But, Nepal's bitter experiences over the past few years tend to show that democracy and progress contradict one another.
For half an hour the king delivered a scathing attack upon the political parties that have governed Nepal for the past 15 years accusing them of corruption, nepotism, and failing to deliver progress to the people. Most of all he said, they failed to tackle the Maoist insurgency that's crippling the country.
Nepal's new Foreign Minister, hand-picked by the king, says this left the monarch with little choice.
RAMESH NATH PANDEY, NEPAL FOREIGN MINISTER: Now there are only two choices for His Majesty the King. One was to allow this country to be a failed state. Another was to save this country from being a failed state.
Since they launched their insurgency in 1996, the Nepalese Maoists have made huge progress in their so-called people's war. The Nepalese military has been forced to withdraw from large parts of the country except for a few district headquarters and military barracks. Now nearly every district of Nepal has been affected by the conflict.
The new Foreign Minister says the king's leadership is necessary to take on the Maoists and save the country.
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: The international community, who declared, that in today's world, the top most agenda of the free society is war against terrorism. If they mean what they are saying, they will have to support us because it is a war against terrorism and in favour of democracy.
King Gyanendra came to power in 2001, when the then king, his brother and almost the entire royal family were massacred by the Crown Prince. The new kings rule has been marked by political turmoil. He sacked and appointed several prime ministers. The parties saw this as the new king over-stepping his role as a constitutional monarch.
The Royal Nepalese Army is happy that such robust displays of democracy are no longer allowed.
ARMY GENERAL DEEPAK GORANG: You know our resources were getting diverted. To fight the terrorists, we need all the security forces to concentrate on that. So instead of now, that we're not bothered with, especially the army is not bothered with facing the strikes or demonstrations, rallies, so now we're more geared up, we're more focused to fight the terrorists now.
The army's recent role in the political crackdown has left some wondering who they are really after.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: It's a bit of a paradox, the army said it didn't need the distraction of political instability in Kathmandu, so that it could go after the Maoists, but a large part of its energy is spent on curbing the very political parties whose activities have been curtailed since February 1. So you wonder what's really happening and whether they really know who their real enemy is.
He says there are suspicions about the real motive behind the takeover.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: You know the longer this drags on the more people will start believing that. Already the fact that he is not going full force against the Maoists but trying to curb freedom and civil liberties, dismantling democracy, curbing press freedom, all this is not really attacks on the Maoists, this is attacks on democracy. So people are already very doubtful about his true motives, and the longer this drags on the more they'll be convinced that it is indeed a power grab.
The king says this is no power grab, that the current measures are only temporary, until peace is restored.
REPORTER: How committed is the king to democracy?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: He is totally committed. He has commitment on multiparty democracy is total.
REPORTER: But this move seems very undemocratic?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: How can you say that? To save the nation from sinking, to save the nation by not allowing the nation to be a failed state, is that undemocratic?
REPORTER: Well locking up people for having political views is undemocratic?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: Again you are coming back to the same point. Don't forget the nation is in state of emergency and we have already released, how many people are in prison now? Not more than 50 people.
The day after the Foreign Minister claimed only 50 were in detention, we went to visit one of the many temporary detention centres in Kathmandu, we used a secret camera.
REPORTER: So this is a detention centre? So this is a detention centre?
MAN: Yes.
The policeman guarding the centre wasn't too keen for us too close, though we did manage to ask the people behind the gate how many were there.
DETAINEE: There are 57 there?
REPORTER: Are you from a political party? And how long have you been here for?
DETAINEE 42 days?
We discover that there are members of all major parties inside. We try another detention centre. This building about half an hour's drive outside of Kathmandu is meant to be a training centre for the Electricity Authority, but a student activist we've spoken to has told us he was locked up here for over a month. We decide not to use the secret camera this time and see what happens.
REPORTER: Are we allowed to film in here?
We are allowed to film a few pictures from the gate. The police confirm the building is being used to house prisoners.
REPORTER: Could you ask him for me how many prisoners are in here at the moment?
CONSTABLE (Translation): There are around 72 people in there at the moment.
In just two detention centres we found well over 100 political prisoners, a lot more then the 50 cited by the Foreign Minister. Reputable human rights groups say that nationwide, at the end of March, there were over 1,000 people in jail. Nearly 2.5 months since the king took over and there are some signs he may be loosening his grip.
We've just heard that the leader of the Nepali Congress party has been released after two months of house arrest. He's expected to make an appearance here at party headquarters. GP Koirala is one of the country's most prominent politicians and a former prime minister, and the party faithful have gathered to see him. But no-one's quite sure whether it's even safe to be here.
Nepali Congress is the political party to which Gagan Thapa belongs. Some of Gagan's friends and colleagues in the student wing are already here.
STUDENT (Translation): Whether he comes or not depends on the situation, the security arrangements and continuing police vigilance. If the situation is favourable, he will come.
Before long, Gagan Thapa does turn up.
GAGAN THAPA: Our party president has been released yesterday, so there's been a bit of excitement as well.
The king's takeover has reignited debate within the Nepali Congress party over whether they should be fighting for the return of a constitutional monarchy or to get rid of the king altogether and go for a republic. Gagan wants a republic, making him a prime target for the king's security forces.
REPORTER: Did you feel secure coming today?
GAGAN THAPA: No.
REPORTER: You don't feel secure now?
GAGAN THAPA: No, not secure, but what I think is that as they have released the party president it may be some indication that the regime of the government has come to the situation, come into a position that they have been responding to the street protests.
But it appears Gagan's confidence is misplaced. He's barely here for 10 minutes before trouble starts brewing.
FRIEND (Translation): They sent a plain clothed policeman and he has been around here watching. The rest are hard to recognise.
Gagan realises he must leave immediately. Gagan's quick exit means he misses the press conference of his Party President, GP Koirala. In his first public appearance since his arrest, journalists repeatedly question Koirala on what is now becoming a burning topic.
JOURNALIST (Translation): There seems to be two factions in the Nepali Congress, one for constitutional monarchy and the other republican. Which faction will the Nepali Congress follow?
GP KOIRALA (Translation): The Nepali Congress was born under constitutional monarchy. And even today we are again moving in that direction.
JOURNALIST (Translation): Will the king continue to be a threat to democracy?
GP KOIRALA (Translation): Full democracy means keeping the king as a constitutional head of state, without giving him any powers.
It's probably just as well that Gagan left. It's not a speech the staunch republican would have liked. The next time we catch up with Gagan is two days later. We arrive minutes after he's received some devastating news. His right-hand man in the student movement, who we met earlier, has just been arrested.
GAGAN THAPA: It's bad news for us - our vice president, Pradip, who has been in a position to coordinate all the activities has been arrested this morning, I just got the news. And we don't know his whereabouts, we don't have any idea.
REPORTER: So you are worried about him obviously?
GAGAN THAPA: Of course.
REPORTER: So what can you do?
GAGAN THAPA: We're trying to figure out where he is, what police station he is, we don't know his whereabouts and that makes us more worried.
It is not unheard of in Nepal for people to disappear after arrest. even during the days of democracy so the group start trying to locate Pradip. The news is also an indication that security forces are now targeting the underground student resistance.
GAGAN THAPA: As far as we have infomation the police has a list of some potential student leaders who can wprk in that capacity to organise big student rallies or protests and they are looking for all those.
After one hour Gagan gets a phone call from Pradip's sister.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): Where is he being held? What did he say? Didn't he say where he is? At Kamal Pokhari. Kamal Pokhari’s police inspector is good compared to others. Blankets and mattresses need to be taken. Tell your mum not to worry. The Police inspector at Kamal Pokhari is comparatively good.
The other big news of the day is that Gagan has managed to meet with his aged party leader, GP Koirala - it didn't go well.
GAGAN THAPA: He told us that he is disappointed with us because the student, he was thinking when he was under house arrest, he thought the large number of students would come on to the streets for the protest. He thought you don't meet my expectations. He told us he was disappointed with us, but I replied that in fact we are disappointed with you, to some extent, because we don't have an agenda, we have asked the party leaders when they were under house arrest, what are the agendas, why should the people come down to the streets, for what issues, why should the people throw themselves for arrest. They need to know the cause for which they are supposed to be arrested.
A lack of vision from the political parties is a common complaint amongst all Nepalis. Ironically, this is one point upon which the king and many democrats agree that the parties failed to deliver for their people.
GAGAN THAPA: In 1990 we achieved multiparty democracy, but after that, what? We didn't have any agendas, we didn't have any programs. But we were in urgent need of social, economic, political programs and transformation. For eight years Congress was in government and in those eight years, that was the time when the Maoist insurgency broke out.
Isn't it time for Congress to reassess these past 14 years, the economic policies, the social policies of Congress? They failed, there was a huge failure.
As the king and the political parties tussle for power, the third player, the Maoists, enter the scene. This huge traffic jam on the road out of Kathmandu, is because the Nepalese military is stopping traffic venturing outside the capital. The Maoists have declared a 10-day nationwide strike, meaning they'll attack anyone who drives or tries to do business. Drivers who come from the countryside describe what's going on out there.
By suspending democracy in the name of restoring peace the king's team has staked everything on being able to deliver.
REPORTER: What's your strategy for bringing peace to Nepal?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: No, I don't want to discuss about the strategy. But I would like to tell you that in the last two months, the situation has improved.
REPORTER: Which situation has improved?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: The law and order situation, just go, drive your car anywhere you wants. All the major districts are peaceful, secure. People are going there, coming back to their areas.
REPORTER: Not at the moment they can't because the Maoists have got a 10-day blockade on?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: No. This is the fourth time the Maoists deliver the blockade and every time they are failed.
REPORTER: So you're saying that the blockade at the moment is not successful?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: Like the previous three times, this is not, it has failed completely. And that is the way the people are. When the people starts defying the threat of the terrorism, that is the beginning of the success of war against terrorism.
We leave Kathmandu by plane, to see what's really going on outside the capital. We're heading for the town of Pokhara in western Nepal. As soon as we arrive it's obvious something is wrong.
When I was last here five years ago Pokhara was a busy tourist town, crowded with trekkers heading off to explore the Himalayas. Now, the streets are nearly deserted of traffic.
Our taxi driver tells us most people aren't driving because they're scared of defying the Maoist strike.
TAXI DRIVER (Translation): The army commands us to run our taxis, otherwise they seize all our documents. Without our documents we can't drive our taxis and our vehicles become government vehicles. If we drive the Maoists take our cars. If we don't drive the army takes our cars. So were caught in the middle. What can we do?
Compared to normal, parts of Pokhara resemble a ghost town. This area is normally a thriving shopping district yet today, most businesses have their shutters down.
Maoist retaliation against anyone defying the ban is a real threat, as this other taxidriver found out, he picked up two passengers who turned out to be Maoists.
TAXI DRIVER 2 (Translation): They both grabbed my arm and told me to get out and said we are Maoists and we came to torch this vehicle.
He was lucky to escape with his life, but his livelihood is now gone. Despite being an eyewitness to that particular taxi burning, a newspaper editor couldn't write about it.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): We couldn't report what was happening next door, that a taxi was burning next door and the assaults on villagers by the Maoists. Also we couldn't report abuses by the defence forces, or the unnecessary questioning or ordinary people.
Since the king's takeover on February 1 all news about the conflict has to be checked with the army.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): The military don't want us to report any Maoist activities because they want to demoralise the Maoists. If we publish anything without their permission the military come the next day and interrogate us. They threaten us.
It only takes about 20 minutes to drive from downtown Pokhara to the outskirts, where state control ends. Up this street is Maoist-controlled territory.
Sita runs this shop literally on the front line, it is dangerous to open during a Maoist called strike, but feels she has no choice.
SITA (Translation): We are working class people. How many days can we keep our shop closed? We have no choice, I will face whatever comes. We have to feed our children. I'm afraid a little bit. For instance, if vehicles aren't running and people start moving about and strangers suddenly appear, that all makes us scared. But what can I do?
The Maoists also have incredible reach right into the very heart of Pokhara. Today, this family is mourning the death of their husband and father. Mahesh K.C. was a deputy superintendent of police, shot dead by the Maoists 10 days ago.
Maoists have a strategy of targeting police and security forces but this was a particularly audacious attack. He was shot in broad daylight, outside his own home. As the Maoists rampage around town, the security forces are cracking down and arresting local democratic politicians.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): The way they imposed the state of emergency was aimed at curbing the insurgents but instead they're focusing more on controlling the activities of the political parties that exist under the current constitution and arresting their members. Because of that, they haven't been able to mount a defence against the Maoists. They haven't been able to concentrate on them.
Wearing a secret camera we visit one of the detention centres. We manage to convince a policeman to let us inside for a short visit. It's almost the who's who of the local political scene, we meet a number of senior leaders including a former parliamentarian and President of the District Development Committee. There are around 40 people here.
DETAINEE: If the government will not change their policies we will not be released.
REPORTER: You think you'll stay here?
DETAINEE: Yes.
There is an air of futility here. These once active politicians are conscious of the fact that as they sit here, the Maoist insurgency rages about their town.
The day we leave Pokhara, we stop to see the damage of the night before. A bomb exploded on one of the busiest streets injuring at least half a dozen. Another blow for a frightened population.
Back in Kathmandu, King Gyanendra watches the Royal Nepalese Military demonstrate their equestrian prowess. Just how he plans on bringing peace to this troubled nation is unclear. But as he won't talk to the Maoists, and they won't talk to him, it appears a military solution is his only option.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: It's actually quite difficult for the army to make a major offensive I mean look at the terrain here, this is terrain like Afghanistan but with forests, it's ideal guerilla warfare, and also it is very densely populated, so even if the army wants, it would need 3, 4, 5 times more troop strength and logistics to be able to mount a major offensive.
REPORTER: Can the Maoists be destroyed by military might?
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: No, I think if you speak to most rational military analysts it's very, very difficult.
GAGAN THAPA: What I think is that peace and democracy cannot be isolated.
Gagan is planning to undertake his riskiest strategy yet. And it's the message of peace through democracy he's hoping to send.
REPORTER: How you feeling Gagan?
GAGAN THAPA: I'm excited. In fact I'm scared also, but it's not due to the fact that I might be arrested, but today around near 40 student leaders will be assembled there and if anything happens, a large number of prominent leaders will be arrested and that will affect the future programs.
Gagan is going to make a public speech. No pro-democracy politician has pulled off such a stunt since February 1. I wait with some local journalists who've also been told about the plan. Everyone keeps their cameras hidden so as not to draw attention to the fact something is about to happen.
Gagan appears and the cameras come out.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): We would like to again tell the king that this is the 21st century. If were not willing to accept God's slavery we can't accept a worthless king's slavery. Therefore, we'd like to remind our brothers and sisters living in Kathmandu that you've been living in a false peace for the last two months. The guns can never bring peace. Peace can only be brought by democracy. We know that our target is a long way off. On the way to achieving it I might not get a chance to give a speech like this again. Let's fight for democracy!
I ask a local TV journalist who's filming the speech whether it will appear on his TV station. He laughs and says "Of course not."
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): Democracy! Long live Democracy! Democracy! Long live Democracy!
Welcome to Kathmandu - ancient city and tourist attraction. This is the political heart of Nepal, a country that's just seen its democracy taken away. In this square, a group of protesters is about to take to the street. I've been tipped off and obviously so have the police, who also wait. Suddenly they appear.
PROTESTERS: Democracy! We want democracy! Democracy! Democracy! We want democracy!
These political activists know their arrest is a certainty, so they have a strategy. Small groups of protesters appear suddenly in different parts of the square.
PROTESTERS (Translation): Take legal action against the law breaker! Take legal action against the law breaker!
This strategy gives each group a crucial few minutes to chant their slogans, before police and unidentified men in plain clothes drag them away.
PROTESTERS (Translation): Our protest is continuing. No one should arrest us. Our protest is peaceful. Our protest is continuing.
Getting arrested for chanting pro-democracy slogans is new for Nepal. Three months ago the king seized power, turning himself from a constitutional monarch into an absolute monarch. He declared a state of emergency and suspended key parts of the constitution including freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression.
Under the state of emergency, thousands of people associated with the former democratic government have faced arbitrary arrest, including ministers, parliamentarians and members of political parties. What's left of the political leadership has gone underground.
I'm going to meet a pro-democracy student leader who's in hiding. As arranged we meet a go-between, who'll take us to him. Kathmandu is crawling with informers and secret police so we're using a secret camera when filming in public.
We're taken to the latest hiding place of Gagan Thapa.
REPORTER: Hi Gagan. How are you? Good to see you, are you well?
Gagan Thapa is a member of the Nepali Congress party, and a prominent student leader. He's been in hiding since February, changing houses every few days.
GAGAN THAPA, NEPALI CONGRESS PARTY: It's not possible for us to stay in our homes, it has been raided more then five times, it's not possible to move from here to there, because it's due to the security condition.
Gagan is not appearing in street protests because he wants to stay out of gaol and able to coordinate resistance.
GAGAN THAPA: But there is also a rumour that the phone has been tapped, we have been very careful in this regards also. We used to call from here, but we don't give our number to all the friends, just some selected ones only.
With fellow student leaders like Pradip, Gagan is trying to organise street protests against the king's rule.
PRADIP (Translation): Why on 8 April? Why not before then?
FRIEND (Translation): That day the security forces will be focused on Kathmandu's Assan, Indra market.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): If you can go that way you can do it easily.
PRADIP (Translation): Okay, but have you talked to anyone else?
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): No, it's just my idea.
Gagan Thapa hasn't always had to hide. He's been a well-known face in Nepali politics for a number of years and a key organiser of demonstrations against the king. He's a popular student leader, and well-known for his anti-monarchy views.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): We don't want a king who attends receptions in the villages but has to bring French wine and food from Kathmandu in helicopters.
Today though, he never goes out without his simple, but so far effective disguise.
He's leaving now to attend a secret meeting of students. Inside the high walls of this courtyard, around 100 students have come to hear Gagan speak. Large political gatherings like this are completely banned, and obviously risky. Students can no longer meet on their university campuses, because security forces guard them.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): If we don't try to make them leave, they never will. A bunch of students throwing stones at the security forces is not the way to remove them from the campus. For that we must put pressure on the campus administration. The dean of Tri Chandra campus totally supports the king, every day we should get at least 10 students to call him. We should terrify him in a psychological way, he has a heart problem, I'm giving a simple example. If he threatens us with the police we can terrify him over the telephone.
As quickly as he arrives, Gagan must leave - he can never stay in one spot for too long. It's the only safe way of operating in a country that became a palace-run security state overnight.
It was the evening of January 31 this year, inside the royal palace, the army and the king's men were putting the final touches on their plot. Even under Nepal's 15 years of democracy, the king always retained control of the army. Early the next morning the takeover was launched. Security forces arrived at the homes of hundreds of politicians, placing them under detention. Gagan Thapa had a lucky escape.
GAGAN THAPA: One of the policeman called me at the time, and he said, "Where are you at?" and I said, "I'm just a few metres away from his home," and he told me, "I have just heard your name on the walkie-talkie of the secret police, they are already here to arrest you, so it's better for you to go away from here."
So as soon as I got that message...
REPORTER: So this was a policeman, outside the house of the leader?
GAGAN THAPA: Yes, in fact he helped me, he gave me the message, and I got a friend and on his motorcycle we ran away from there.
The phone and mobile network were soon disconnected and put under military control. The next target was the media. The military turned up in TV newspaper offices around the country.
MEDIA PERSON: All together there were 18 people.
REPORTER: And were they armed?
MEDIA PERSON: Yes, with M-16s and other sophisticated weapons, submachines guns and all sets, a walkie-talkie set. They came and told us, you know, the situation has been changed, you have to follow the directives of the king and of the army, so we are here to support you, to protect you and assist you in making good news.
It was a dramatic and well-executed coup, the king and now absolute monarch appeared on national TV and explained why he'd done it.
KING GYANENDRA, KING OF NEPAL (Translation): Democracy and progress always complement each other. But, Nepal's bitter experiences over the past few years tend to show that democracy and progress contradict one another.
For half an hour the king delivered a scathing attack upon the political parties that have governed Nepal for the past 15 years accusing them of corruption, nepotism, and failing to deliver progress to the people. Most of all he said, they failed to tackle the Maoist insurgency that's crippling the country.
Nepal's new Foreign Minister, hand-picked by the king, says this left the monarch with little choice.
RAMESH NATH PANDEY, NEPAL FOREIGN MINISTER: Now there are only two choices for His Majesty the King. One was to allow this country to be a failed state. Another was to save this country from being a failed state.
Since they launched their insurgency in 1996, the Nepalese Maoists have made huge progress in their so-called people's war. The Nepalese military has been forced to withdraw from large parts of the country except for a few district headquarters and military barracks. Now nearly every district of Nepal has been affected by the conflict.
The new Foreign Minister says the king's leadership is necessary to take on the Maoists and save the country.
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: The international community, who declared, that in today's world, the top most agenda of the free society is war against terrorism. If they mean what they are saying, they will have to support us because it is a war against terrorism and in favour of democracy.
King Gyanendra came to power in 2001, when the then king, his brother and almost the entire royal family were massacred by the Crown Prince. The new kings rule has been marked by political turmoil. He sacked and appointed several prime ministers. The parties saw this as the new king over-stepping his role as a constitutional monarch.
The Royal Nepalese Army is happy that such robust displays of democracy are no longer allowed.
ARMY GENERAL DEEPAK GORANG: You know our resources were getting diverted. To fight the terrorists, we need all the security forces to concentrate on that. So instead of now, that we're not bothered with, especially the army is not bothered with facing the strikes or demonstrations, rallies, so now we're more geared up, we're more focused to fight the terrorists now.
The army's recent role in the political crackdown has left some wondering who they are really after.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: It's a bit of a paradox, the army said it didn't need the distraction of political instability in Kathmandu, so that it could go after the Maoists, but a large part of its energy is spent on curbing the very political parties whose activities have been curtailed since February 1. So you wonder what's really happening and whether they really know who their real enemy is.
He says there are suspicions about the real motive behind the takeover.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: You know the longer this drags on the more people will start believing that. Already the fact that he is not going full force against the Maoists but trying to curb freedom and civil liberties, dismantling democracy, curbing press freedom, all this is not really attacks on the Maoists, this is attacks on democracy. So people are already very doubtful about his true motives, and the longer this drags on the more they'll be convinced that it is indeed a power grab.
The king says this is no power grab, that the current measures are only temporary, until peace is restored.
REPORTER: How committed is the king to democracy?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: He is totally committed. He has commitment on multiparty democracy is total.
REPORTER: But this move seems very undemocratic?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: How can you say that? To save the nation from sinking, to save the nation by not allowing the nation to be a failed state, is that undemocratic?
REPORTER: Well locking up people for having political views is undemocratic?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: Again you are coming back to the same point. Don't forget the nation is in state of emergency and we have already released, how many people are in prison now? Not more than 50 people.
The day after the Foreign Minister claimed only 50 were in detention, we went to visit one of the many temporary detention centres in Kathmandu, we used a secret camera.
REPORTER: So this is a detention centre? So this is a detention centre?
MAN: Yes.
The policeman guarding the centre wasn't too keen for us too close, though we did manage to ask the people behind the gate how many were there.
DETAINEE: There are 57 there?
REPORTER: Are you from a political party? And how long have you been here for?
DETAINEE 42 days?
We discover that there are members of all major parties inside. We try another detention centre. This building about half an hour's drive outside of Kathmandu is meant to be a training centre for the Electricity Authority, but a student activist we've spoken to has told us he was locked up here for over a month. We decide not to use the secret camera this time and see what happens.
REPORTER: Are we allowed to film in here?
We are allowed to film a few pictures from the gate. The police confirm the building is being used to house prisoners.
REPORTER: Could you ask him for me how many prisoners are in here at the moment?
CONSTABLE (Translation): There are around 72 people in there at the moment.
In just two detention centres we found well over 100 political prisoners, a lot more then the 50 cited by the Foreign Minister. Reputable human rights groups say that nationwide, at the end of March, there were over 1,000 people in jail. Nearly 2.5 months since the king took over and there are some signs he may be loosening his grip.
We've just heard that the leader of the Nepali Congress party has been released after two months of house arrest. He's expected to make an appearance here at party headquarters. GP Koirala is one of the country's most prominent politicians and a former prime minister, and the party faithful have gathered to see him. But no-one's quite sure whether it's even safe to be here.
Nepali Congress is the political party to which Gagan Thapa belongs. Some of Gagan's friends and colleagues in the student wing are already here.
STUDENT (Translation): Whether he comes or not depends on the situation, the security arrangements and continuing police vigilance. If the situation is favourable, he will come.
Before long, Gagan Thapa does turn up.
GAGAN THAPA: Our party president has been released yesterday, so there's been a bit of excitement as well.
The king's takeover has reignited debate within the Nepali Congress party over whether they should be fighting for the return of a constitutional monarchy or to get rid of the king altogether and go for a republic. Gagan wants a republic, making him a prime target for the king's security forces.
REPORTER: Did you feel secure coming today?
GAGAN THAPA: No.
REPORTER: You don't feel secure now?
GAGAN THAPA: No, not secure, but what I think is that as they have released the party president it may be some indication that the regime of the government has come to the situation, come into a position that they have been responding to the street protests.
But it appears Gagan's confidence is misplaced. He's barely here for 10 minutes before trouble starts brewing.
FRIEND (Translation): They sent a plain clothed policeman and he has been around here watching. The rest are hard to recognise.
Gagan realises he must leave immediately. Gagan's quick exit means he misses the press conference of his Party President, GP Koirala. In his first public appearance since his arrest, journalists repeatedly question Koirala on what is now becoming a burning topic.
JOURNALIST (Translation): There seems to be two factions in the Nepali Congress, one for constitutional monarchy and the other republican. Which faction will the Nepali Congress follow?
GP KOIRALA (Translation): The Nepali Congress was born under constitutional monarchy. And even today we are again moving in that direction.
JOURNALIST (Translation): Will the king continue to be a threat to democracy?
GP KOIRALA (Translation): Full democracy means keeping the king as a constitutional head of state, without giving him any powers.
It's probably just as well that Gagan left. It's not a speech the staunch republican would have liked. The next time we catch up with Gagan is two days later. We arrive minutes after he's received some devastating news. His right-hand man in the student movement, who we met earlier, has just been arrested.
GAGAN THAPA: It's bad news for us - our vice president, Pradip, who has been in a position to coordinate all the activities has been arrested this morning, I just got the news. And we don't know his whereabouts, we don't have any idea.
REPORTER: So you are worried about him obviously?
GAGAN THAPA: Of course.
REPORTER: So what can you do?
GAGAN THAPA: We're trying to figure out where he is, what police station he is, we don't know his whereabouts and that makes us more worried.
It is not unheard of in Nepal for people to disappear after arrest. even during the days of democracy so the group start trying to locate Pradip. The news is also an indication that security forces are now targeting the underground student resistance.
GAGAN THAPA: As far as we have infomation the police has a list of some potential student leaders who can wprk in that capacity to organise big student rallies or protests and they are looking for all those.
After one hour Gagan gets a phone call from Pradip's sister.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): Where is he being held? What did he say? Didn't he say where he is? At Kamal Pokhari. Kamal Pokhari’s police inspector is good compared to others. Blankets and mattresses need to be taken. Tell your mum not to worry. The Police inspector at Kamal Pokhari is comparatively good.
The other big news of the day is that Gagan has managed to meet with his aged party leader, GP Koirala - it didn't go well.
GAGAN THAPA: He told us that he is disappointed with us because the student, he was thinking when he was under house arrest, he thought the large number of students would come on to the streets for the protest. He thought you don't meet my expectations. He told us he was disappointed with us, but I replied that in fact we are disappointed with you, to some extent, because we don't have an agenda, we have asked the party leaders when they were under house arrest, what are the agendas, why should the people come down to the streets, for what issues, why should the people throw themselves for arrest. They need to know the cause for which they are supposed to be arrested.
A lack of vision from the political parties is a common complaint amongst all Nepalis. Ironically, this is one point upon which the king and many democrats agree that the parties failed to deliver for their people.
GAGAN THAPA: In 1990 we achieved multiparty democracy, but after that, what? We didn't have any agendas, we didn't have any programs. But we were in urgent need of social, economic, political programs and transformation. For eight years Congress was in government and in those eight years, that was the time when the Maoist insurgency broke out.
Isn't it time for Congress to reassess these past 14 years, the economic policies, the social policies of Congress? They failed, there was a huge failure.
As the king and the political parties tussle for power, the third player, the Maoists, enter the scene. This huge traffic jam on the road out of Kathmandu, is because the Nepalese military is stopping traffic venturing outside the capital. The Maoists have declared a 10-day nationwide strike, meaning they'll attack anyone who drives or tries to do business. Drivers who come from the countryside describe what's going on out there.
By suspending democracy in the name of restoring peace the king's team has staked everything on being able to deliver.
REPORTER: What's your strategy for bringing peace to Nepal?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: No, I don't want to discuss about the strategy. But I would like to tell you that in the last two months, the situation has improved.
REPORTER: Which situation has improved?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: The law and order situation, just go, drive your car anywhere you wants. All the major districts are peaceful, secure. People are going there, coming back to their areas.
REPORTER: Not at the moment they can't because the Maoists have got a 10-day blockade on?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: No. This is the fourth time the Maoists deliver the blockade and every time they are failed.
REPORTER: So you're saying that the blockade at the moment is not successful?
RAMESH NATH PANDEY: Like the previous three times, this is not, it has failed completely. And that is the way the people are. When the people starts defying the threat of the terrorism, that is the beginning of the success of war against terrorism.
We leave Kathmandu by plane, to see what's really going on outside the capital. We're heading for the town of Pokhara in western Nepal. As soon as we arrive it's obvious something is wrong.
When I was last here five years ago Pokhara was a busy tourist town, crowded with trekkers heading off to explore the Himalayas. Now, the streets are nearly deserted of traffic.
Our taxi driver tells us most people aren't driving because they're scared of defying the Maoist strike.
TAXI DRIVER (Translation): The army commands us to run our taxis, otherwise they seize all our documents. Without our documents we can't drive our taxis and our vehicles become government vehicles. If we drive the Maoists take our cars. If we don't drive the army takes our cars. So were caught in the middle. What can we do?
Compared to normal, parts of Pokhara resemble a ghost town. This area is normally a thriving shopping district yet today, most businesses have their shutters down.
Maoist retaliation against anyone defying the ban is a real threat, as this other taxidriver found out, he picked up two passengers who turned out to be Maoists.
TAXI DRIVER 2 (Translation): They both grabbed my arm and told me to get out and said we are Maoists and we came to torch this vehicle.
He was lucky to escape with his life, but his livelihood is now gone. Despite being an eyewitness to that particular taxi burning, a newspaper editor couldn't write about it.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): We couldn't report what was happening next door, that a taxi was burning next door and the assaults on villagers by the Maoists. Also we couldn't report abuses by the defence forces, or the unnecessary questioning or ordinary people.
Since the king's takeover on February 1 all news about the conflict has to be checked with the army.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): The military don't want us to report any Maoist activities because they want to demoralise the Maoists. If we publish anything without their permission the military come the next day and interrogate us. They threaten us.
It only takes about 20 minutes to drive from downtown Pokhara to the outskirts, where state control ends. Up this street is Maoist-controlled territory.
Sita runs this shop literally on the front line, it is dangerous to open during a Maoist called strike, but feels she has no choice.
SITA (Translation): We are working class people. How many days can we keep our shop closed? We have no choice, I will face whatever comes. We have to feed our children. I'm afraid a little bit. For instance, if vehicles aren't running and people start moving about and strangers suddenly appear, that all makes us scared. But what can I do?
The Maoists also have incredible reach right into the very heart of Pokhara. Today, this family is mourning the death of their husband and father. Mahesh K.C. was a deputy superintendent of police, shot dead by the Maoists 10 days ago.
Maoists have a strategy of targeting police and security forces but this was a particularly audacious attack. He was shot in broad daylight, outside his own home. As the Maoists rampage around town, the security forces are cracking down and arresting local democratic politicians.
NEWSPAPER EDITOR (Translation): The way they imposed the state of emergency was aimed at curbing the insurgents but instead they're focusing more on controlling the activities of the political parties that exist under the current constitution and arresting their members. Because of that, they haven't been able to mount a defence against the Maoists. They haven't been able to concentrate on them.
Wearing a secret camera we visit one of the detention centres. We manage to convince a policeman to let us inside for a short visit. It's almost the who's who of the local political scene, we meet a number of senior leaders including a former parliamentarian and President of the District Development Committee. There are around 40 people here.
DETAINEE: If the government will not change their policies we will not be released.
REPORTER: You think you'll stay here?
DETAINEE: Yes.
There is an air of futility here. These once active politicians are conscious of the fact that as they sit here, the Maoist insurgency rages about their town.
The day we leave Pokhara, we stop to see the damage of the night before. A bomb exploded on one of the busiest streets injuring at least half a dozen. Another blow for a frightened population.
Back in Kathmandu, King Gyanendra watches the Royal Nepalese Military demonstrate their equestrian prowess. Just how he plans on bringing peace to this troubled nation is unclear. But as he won't talk to the Maoists, and they won't talk to him, it appears a military solution is his only option.
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: It's actually quite difficult for the army to make a major offensive I mean look at the terrain here, this is terrain like Afghanistan but with forests, it's ideal guerilla warfare, and also it is very densely populated, so even if the army wants, it would need 3, 4, 5 times more troop strength and logistics to be able to mount a major offensive.
REPORTER: Can the Maoists be destroyed by military might?
JOURNALIST/PUBLISHER: No, I think if you speak to most rational military analysts it's very, very difficult.
GAGAN THAPA: What I think is that peace and democracy cannot be isolated.
Gagan is planning to undertake his riskiest strategy yet. And it's the message of peace through democracy he's hoping to send.
REPORTER: How you feeling Gagan?
GAGAN THAPA: I'm excited. In fact I'm scared also, but it's not due to the fact that I might be arrested, but today around near 40 student leaders will be assembled there and if anything happens, a large number of prominent leaders will be arrested and that will affect the future programs.
Gagan is going to make a public speech. No pro-democracy politician has pulled off such a stunt since February 1. I wait with some local journalists who've also been told about the plan. Everyone keeps their cameras hidden so as not to draw attention to the fact something is about to happen.
Gagan appears and the cameras come out.
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): We would like to again tell the king that this is the 21st century. If were not willing to accept God's slavery we can't accept a worthless king's slavery. Therefore, we'd like to remind our brothers and sisters living in Kathmandu that you've been living in a false peace for the last two months. The guns can never bring peace. Peace can only be brought by democracy. We know that our target is a long way off. On the way to achieving it I might not get a chance to give a speech like this again. Let's fight for democracy!
I ask a local TV journalist who's filming the speech whether it will appear on his TV station. He laughs and says "Of course not."
GAGAN THAPA (Translation): Democracy! Long live Democracy! Democracy! Long live Democracy!