Security forces have killed three protesters, including one in the gunfire yesterday, and have thrown more than 800 in jail during four days of demonstrations that for the first time delivered thousands of workers, professionals, and business people into the streets alongside students and political activists.
''Even the parties didn't expect such a massive public participation across the country," said Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies and a retired diplomat.
Across the country and throughout the day, Nepalis protested in defiance of the curfew and official orders to shoot violators on sight.
Protests were held in at least four parts of the capital, Katmandu. Some demonstrators threw stones at police before being forced back by tear gas. The private Kantipur television station broadcast footage of police shooting rubber-coated bullets, hitting at least one protester.
The station also showed protesters burning cars in Katmandu and looting city council buildings in a suburb.
The protests, part of a four-day nationwide strike, were to end yesterday but the king's opponents announced that they would continue, with no end in sight.
The Maoist rebels were supporting a strike by the political opposition for the first time; the two sides struck an alliance late last year. The rebels' leader, Prachanda, yesterday unveiled a nationwide campaign to defy curfew orders, blockade highways, break royal statues, and punish all those who pay taxes.
''I can't say how this will end," said Ram Sharan Mahat of the country's largest party, the Nepali Congress, one of seven factions that have banded together to oppose Gyanendra. ''The king must restore democracy."
Saturday was the 16th anniversary of the introduction of democracy in Nepal, which began after dozens of prodemocracy demonstrators were shot by police, prompting a surge of antimonarchy sentiment and forcing the late King Birendra to yield much of his authority.
Gyanendra abruptly ended the democratic experiment last year when he reclaimed absolute power, arguing that he needed to bring order to a chaotic and corrupt political scene and end the communist insurgency, which has killed nearly 13,000 people in the past decade.
Many Nepalis at first welcomed the king's move. But the insurgency has only worsened and the economy has faltered.
The latest death occurred in Banepa when security forces fired on protesters hurling stones, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
