At least 2 dead in Nepal after pro-monarchy supporters clash with police during rally

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A television cameraman was among two people who died on Friday when supporters of Nepal 's former king clashed with police during a rally in the capital to demand restoration of the Himalayan nation's abolished monarchy.

Several protesters and police officers were injured in the clashes. The Home Ministry said an injured protester died while getting treatment at a hospital, while a local TV station said one of its staff was killed when a building he was filming from was set on fire.

The government imposed a curfew in the areas where the clashes happened in Kathmandu after the police in riot gear used tear gas, batons and water canon against the protesters.

Thousands of supporters of former king Gyanendra Shah had gathered at the eastern edge of Kathmandu for the rally organized by an alliance of groups supporting the ex-monarch.

The gathering near the airport had been planned as a peaceful rally, but trouble began when some protesters in a white pickup drove at a police barricade, colliding with several officers. Police responded by shooting tear gas shells and spraying the crowd with water canon.

On the other side of the capital, thousands of people who support the present republican system of government gathered Friday for a counter rally. The rally participants were from the opposition parties led by the Maoists, a group that fought an armed rebellion from 1996-2006 to oust the monarchy.

“It is impossible for the monarchy to come back. It is ridiculous to even think that something that is already dead and cremated could come back to life,” said Ram Kumar Shrestha, a Maoist supporter.

There has been growing demand in recent months for Shah to be reinstated as king and Hinduism to be brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.

“We need the country to return to monarchy and the king to come back, because the political parties and system have failed in the country," said Rajendra Bahadur Khati, one of the participants at the pro-monarchy rally. “When the source is so polluted the entire system has gotten rotten.”

Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.

Gyanendra, who left the Royal Palace to live as commoner, has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support, the former king has little chance of immediately returning to power.