That the Home Ministry has lost its cool and control was evident in the press statements it issued on one recent day. On 16 January the Ministry came out with several statements that suggested that it did not know what it was actually doing. The first one concerned asking people to stay indoors at night. Then came a notice that a curfew had been imposed from 10 pm to 4 am. The next statement was about urging the people not to take part in the showdown the opposition parties had planned to hold in Kathmandu's Basantapur on 20 January. The same night the Home Ministry issued a fourth statement banning all kinds of demonstrations within the Ring Road of the Kathmandu Valley. Before the Ministry's flip-flop, Home Minister Kamal Thapa had reached Itahari to receive instructions from the king. Understandably, the monarch reminded him that it was the home minister who was entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of such things. It was after those words from the king that Thapa went ahead with the curfew and ban on demos.