Kathmandu, Dec 29: The Nepalese capital was mostly calm today after leftwing students called off a fifth day of protests against film star Hrithik Roshan out of respect for the king's birthday.In isolated incidents, the offices of the pro-India Nepal Sadbhavana Party were set on fire, and a few vehicles belonging to Indian businessmen in Kathmandu were damaged this morning, witnesses said.But there were no reports of any major clashes.Today was a national holiday in the Himalayan kingdom to mark the 56th birthday of King Birendra.Calm fell for the first time in more than 72 hours, after anger swelled following mysterious allegations that Roshan said earlier this month that he loathed Nepal.Both Roshan and the Star satellite television have denied he said he "hated Nepal and the Nepalese people" in an interview two weeks ago.But violence has continued despite the denials, claiming five lives including two children killed when police opened fire on an angry crowd on Tuesday.Some 135 people were arrested on Thursday during a day-long national strike which paralysed the capital. Forty people were injured and properties and businesses belonging to Indian nationals were damaged.Indian businesses said they would be closing down for the next four days in a bid to avoid any further trouble.Meanwhile, nine leftwing factions including the Nepal Communist Party-Marxist and Leninist (NCP-ML) have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.They also called a two-day strike from New Year's Day saying the Premier had failed to keep pledges to maintain law and order, mend the economy, control corruption and help the people.Meanwhile, Nepalese Ambassador Bhekh Bahadur Thapa told reporters in Delhi, that the current disturbances were triggered by a "media fabrication" of the alleged remarks by Hrithik Roshan and asserted that it would not allow its territory to be used against India.He said Nepal would "take to task" the elements responsible for the anti-India disturbances in his country."If there is any evidence (of anti-India activities), we will pursue the matter vigorously," he said when asked whether ISI was involved in the outbreak of violence."If there are elements pushing the case from beyond the region, we will take them to task," he said and promised that his government would first ascertain the facts and then punish the culprits the moment they were identified. "An inquiry has been ordered", he said.IA flights normalNew Delhi: The Indian Airlines today operated flights from all three sectors to Nepal. IA sources said the flight bound for Kathmandu left with 88 passengers and returned with as many as 202 passengers. Similarly, the Calcutta-Kathmandu flight carried 48 passengers and returned with 248 passengers. The air service on the Varanasi-Kathmandu sector also showed 81 passengers going to Kathmandu and 134 passengers returning from there.
