His Majesty\'s Government of Nepal Palace Secretariat Narayanhiti Royal Palace Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal We, the signatories of this petition, are writing to protest His Majesty King Gyanendra\'s February 1, 2005 declaration of emergency suspending the Nepali people\'s right to free speech, freedom of movement and peaceful assembly, and protections afforded by the constitution against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of individuals. While we understand Nepal is going through a difficult situation, we strongly believe that the step the king has taken not only undermines the democratic norms and institutions of the country, it also makes the task of finding a solution to the insurgency all the more intractable. Instead of dismissing Prime Minister Deuba led government, the king could have used his considerable influence to bring parliamentary political parties together. The argument that one has to destroy democracy in order to protect democracy does not sound credible in this context. The king