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Journalism of Courage
Nepalese police shot dead two men today after crowds attacked a mosque in Kathmandu and charged through the streets ‘‘Down with Islam’’ to protest against the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq.
Protesters stormed inside the city’s main mosque, set furniture and carpets on fire and tore up a copy of the Koran, before police drove them out.
Authorities clamped an indefinite curfew on the capital and later fired on a group who gathered in downtown Kathmandu despite the ban, killing one man, an official said.
Another man was killed and three wounded when police fired to break a mob trying to storm the Egyptian embassy in Kathmandu before curfew was imposed, the Interior Ministry said.
Calm gradually returned after the curfew took effect at 2 pm and most of the capital’s streets emptied.
King Gyanendra urged people of different faiths to stay calm. ‘‘We must ensure this tragic incident does not weaken the age-old fraternal ties, unity and mutual tolerance that exists among the Nepalese people,’’ the Royal Palace said in a statement.
(Mobs also attacked the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) office in Kathmandu. In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said ‘‘there is no justification for that, this is misdirected anger.’’ Following the attacks, PIA cancelled tomorrow’s flight to Kathmandu, adds PTI)
Earlier, crowds of people burst into the offices of Saudi Arabian Airlines and Qatar Airways, smashing windows and taking papers and furniture on to the street to burn.
For much of the day, a pall of smoke hung over the kingdom’s capital after tyres were set on fire on most major street corner. Crowds fed the flames with logs and firewood.
There is no history of significant anti-Muslim protests or riots in Nepal, which is overwhelmingly Hindu but has a small Muslim minority. About 3.5 percent of Nepal’s 27 million people are Muslim. — (Reuters)
