Sunday, February 27, 2005

Ideological Overture To The Nepali Maoists


Maoism, or for that matter, Marxism, or Leninism, if followed like a dogma, leads one to a dead end. It has to be seen as a guidepost at most, and as one might apply it to one's local conditions, as the Nepali Maoists have tried to do, one has always to be taking into account the facts on the ground, as they stand and as they emerge, as well as lessons that can be drawn when Maoism was applied in other parts of the world, mostly to bloody, inhuman conclusions, like in Peru and Cambodia. If the Nepali Maoists were to ignore all facts on the ground, as well as those from distant lands, they end up being a closed cult, a dictatorial organization that leads its followers to disaster, and self-destructs its "movement" after the "fuel" might have run out, like that of a forest fire, taking a life of its own, coming to an end on its own, leaving little, if anything, in the form of legacy.

On the other hand, the Nepali Maoists can claim the theory of Maoism as their guidepost and inspiration that they have tried to apply to Nepali conditions out of a deep sense of patriotism as well as a non-compromising allegiance to social justice. And as they constantly seek empirical evidence to support their claims and goals, always keeping an open mind, not only to members of their organization, but also to those from other organizations with different ideologies, there is a possibility these Nepali Maoists could make major contributions to Nepali society, and help herald a new era of social justice, but only if they learn to harness the power of peace, compromise, and coalition-building, as they have harnessed the power of armed insurgency, and repeated statements that echo each other, only if they finally come around to the idea of co-existence with other political parties within a peaceful multi-party framework.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica Online: "Maoism has clearly represented a revolutionary method based on a distinct revolutionary outlook not necessarily dependent on a Chinese or Marxist-Leninist context ..... The young Mao was a nationalist, and his sentiments had been strongly anti-Western and anti-imperialist even before he became attracted to Marxism-Leninism about 1919–20...... Mao's nationalism combined with a personal trait of combativeness to make him admire the martial spirit, which became a cornerstone of Maoism...... Mao's political ideas crystallized slowly. He had a mentality that was opportunistic and wary of ideological niceties...... China's hundreds of millions of peasants, for he saw potential energy in them by the very fact that they were “poor and blank” ..... For a time after the creation of the Chinese Communist state in 1949, Mao Zedong attempted to conform to the Stalinist model of “building Socialism.” In the mid-1950s, however, he and his advisers reacted against the results of this policy, which included the growth of a rigid and bureaucratic Communist Party, and the emergence of managerial and technocratic elites—accepted in other countries, especially the Soviet Union, as concomitants of industrial growth...... Maoism's alternative to growth led by elites and bureaucracies was to be growth brought about by revolutionary enthusiasm and mass struggle. Maoism undertook to pit the collective will of human beings against the customary and rational dictates of economics and industrial management. The violent excesses of Maoism and its inability to achieve sustained economic growth led after the Chairman's death to a new emphasis on education and management professionalism, and by the 1980s Maoism appeared to be celebrated mainly as a relic of the late leader."

Also here: "His thought was complex, a Marxist type of analysis combined with the permanent fundamentals of Chinese thought and culture...... and the necessity of struggling against bureaucracy, wastage, and corruption in a country of 600,000,000 to 700,000,000 inhabitants, where very old civilizations and cultures still permeated both the bourgeois classes and the peasantry, where bureaucracy was thoroughly entrenched, and where the previous society was extremely corrupt..... In his effort to remain close to the Chinese peasant masses, Mao drew upon an idea of nature and a symbolism found in popular Chinese Taoism, though transformed by his Marxism. It can be seen in his many poems, which were written in the classical Chinese style."

Like Mao broke with the Soviets, the Nepali Maoists should have the guts to break with Mao himself, the most important might be to do with violence. Real social change ultimately exists in a realm of peace. That peace has to be part of the Maoists' vision. It has to be added to their portfolio.

The first step could be an aggressive overture on their part to the Nepali parties with a vision of a Democratic Republic, with a Constituent Assembly as a first step, with a clear willingness to accept the verdict of the people, even if it might come in the form not of a Democratic Republic, but in the form of a reformed Constitutinoal Monarchy, and Multi-Party Democracy. They could still hope to mobilize the public opinion in some later referendum to turn the country into a Democratic Republic.

The second step could be to work within the multi-party framework to create a Nepal that (1) abolishes the army, just as the Maoists disband their own armed units, (2) dramatically increases state expenditures on education upto the secondary level, and primary health care, making both free of cost and universal, and letting the poor have universal access to micro-credit to start small businesses, and (3) bans fund-raising by political parties, and instead the parties get funds for party building and election campaigns from the state that is directly proportional to the number of votes they might have earned in the last held national elections.

The vision becomes one of attempting to create a classism-less society through peaceful, democratic means, the way of the ballot box. Classism-less, as different from classless. Classism-less allows for diversity in income due to the fundamental role of the market in wealth creation, but it does its very best to make sure no person's socio-economic background prevents that person from reaching his or her maximum potential.

I urge the Nepali Maoists to take their ideology to the next level by breaking up with Mao himself so as to no longer be a slave to a way of thinking that necessarily depends on unending violence, as if it were a group addiction, and not an intermediate step to liberation.

Paramendra's Reading Lists: Maoism
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In The News



March 4, 2005
  • PeaceJournalism.com ...... Nepali democracy had not worked for sometime ..... solution should have been sought through further democratizing by addressing the problems that had been encountered in the last one and half decades ..... Until and unless major democratic political reforms are conducted, the problems Nepal has faced will not be solved. We have to address the underlying problems, not symptoms of those problems like corruption, Maoist insurgency, or even the King's intervention...... the attitudes of the cabinet, the capability of the State and the increased power concentration does not provide much hope ..... how can we establish a system whereby corrupt and irresponsible leaders are pushed aside democratically ...... the negative consequences of extreme centralization may take place at a faster rate now ..... could lead to an explosive situation ..... they do not consider a country democratic that is governed by a single party for a long time ..... support to the Maoist by some Nepalis and to the monarch by others is an indication that the Nepali people are seeking alternatives that they did not get from the political parties in them last decade and half ..... The solution is to accommodate them through institutional reforms. We must not forget that the Maoist have popular support as well ..... if genuine reforms are carried out, even if the Maoists do not agree to a settlement, their support base could erode ..... no democrat can question the issue of election for a constituent assembly ...... The king should not be too worried about the constituent assembly...... The longer he is involved directly, the more threat to the crown. The possibility of a coalition among the Maoists and the political parties increases as well...... polity should be reformed to diffuse power among different level of governments and different branches of government ...... In between the elections, other mechanisms are necessary to hold public officials accountable...... Many governments have objected to UN's mediation because they perceive that it could lead to the formal recognition of the rebels. In such cases, other international agencies or countries have mediated...... a substantial section of the Nepalis support them ..... a substantial population is not happy with the status quo of extreme inequality and discrimination they are facing and would even support groups that promise radical transformation through violent means ..... the Nepali mainstream media has totally failed to represent the perspectives of the marginalized groups like the indigenous nationalities, dalit, madhesi, Muslim, and women
  • India firm on Nepal democracy Calcutta Telegraph, India .....India was in touch with the international community over the developments in Nepal in an effort to evolve a coordinated response
  • Nepal tightens grip, extends detention of Opposition leaders Economic Times, India .....
  • Nepal regime cracks down on college teachers: New Kerala, India ..... Security forces Thursday marched inside the campus of Kathmandu's Trichandra College where about 20 to 25 college teachers had assembled at the office of Nepal Professors' Association to celebrate the release of fellow lecturer Shoubhagyajan Karki......being released Thursday after his family moved the district court.....They made some of the teachers sit in the van for nearly half an hour and then allowed them to go."It was a naked show of might to intimidate teachers," the association said...... the administration is trying to harass teachers ..... 58-year-old mathematics teacher Man Bahadur Bishwakarma, still continues to be detained in a prison in Bhaktapur
March 2, 2005
  • Nepal army flushing out rebels: New Kerala, India ..... track down rebels who escaped following a major battle with government troops ...... 70 rebels and four members of the security forces died ..... Bloodshed in Nepal has continued, despite King Gyanendra's takeover of direct power a month ago, which he said would help contain violence.
  • Crackdown on rebels in Nepal continues Times of India Information and Communications Minister Tanka Dhakal defended the action and called on the media to restrain itself. "This measure is not censorship," he said
  • US, India working together to restore democracy in Nepal Malayala Manorama, India "India, in our view, plays an absolutely critical role. As far as Nepal is concerned India is a major power. The United States is far away. India is right next door" ....."India has been very, very firm in its conviction that the King must move very quickly." New Delhi has taken the position, like the US has, that what the King has done is "not in the interests of Nepal," he added.
  • US may suspend military assistance to Nepal: New Kerala ..... the Feb. 1 dismissal of Nepal's government by King Gyanendra was a "serious setback" for democracy and risks eroding Kathmandu's ability to fight the Maoist insurgency .....
  • US Faces Dilemma Over Nepal Security Aid -Official Reuters ..... the king "probably emboldened the Maoists and made it more likely that the Maoists have a stronger position than they did before February 1." ..... New York-based Human Rights Watch said this week that many of the hundreds of Nepalis who have disappeared since the insurgency began in 1996 were probably victims of extrajudicial execution by security forces...... The United States was thinking seriously about whether to push for censure of Nepal by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights
  • US ambassador prevented from meeting detained Nepal leader Daily Times, Pakistan Moriarty had sought a meeting with Nepal Congress president and ex-prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala at his house in Maharajgunj, on the outskirts of Kathmandu ..... the second time Moriarty has been denied access to Koirala
  • Nepal prevents US envoy from meeting Koirala: New Kerala .....several envoys, including Moriarty and Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, India's ambassador to Nepal, had tried to meet Koirala but had been turned away .....The refusal comes even as the US State Department released its reports on human rights practices in nearly 200 countries, including Nepal. The report on Nepal called the Nepalese government's human rights record poor with continuation of serious abuses...... It also came down on the Maoist insurgents, saying they have continued their campaign of torturing, killing and forcibly conscripting children.
  • New Nepal rebels brutalize old friends Seattle Post Intelligencer ......Armed with guns, iron rods and carpenters' tools, militants swarmed through a Nepalese village and banged at one door. Inside, they threw a woman to the floor, beat her and drilled holes into her legs...... They beat 40-year-old Pun with iron rods for hours, kicked her and attacked her with a hand-powered drill. Then they fled, leaving her to die...... "The only cure for fear is to not to fear" .....in 1996, the ragtag Maoist rebels began their armed campaign. They began to sweep through the country, taking control of vast swaths of remote terrain where there had been no roads or government presence, setting up kangaroo courts and instilling fear among poor villagers...... In August, Thapa met the Maoist top brass when they came to Katmandu for peace talks with the government...... some 70 rebels raided their home and broke open the door. The women fighters said: "Take off her clothes!" ..... Naked from the waist down, Pun was beaten and tortured until she fainted. Electrical wires from a solar power panel were rigged to her arms...... Today, she lives in constant pain, able to walk only with assistance.
  • ADB distances itself from reports on Nepal aid: New Kerala, India Contrary to government-run media reports that the ADB had pledged to continue its assistance to Nepal, Rahman said: "In view of the recent political and security developments in Nepal, ADB is reviewing the implications for its operation in Nepal." ..... Newly appointed Nepalese Finance Minister Madhukar Shumshere J.B. Rana last month confronted reports of aid suspensions by saying though bilateral donors could be influenced by political considerations, global donors like the ADB and the World Bank were likely to continue assistance.
  • Nepal official denies reports of secret mission: New Kerala, India ......The present regime has been trying to woo the support of New Delhi, saying it should support the king since the Communist insurgency is a problem shared by both India and Nepal. ..... Sharad Chandra Shaha ...... Shaha, who was advisor to the previous government headed by Lokendra Bahadur Chand and was considered close to the present king's father, late king Mahendra, said he had gone to India to attend a two-day conclave hosted by India Today.
  • Censorship in Nepal enters second phase Statesman ....asking journalists to write only what the security forces told them about the Maoists or face punishment
  • Fidel Castro supports Nepal king Times of India, India ..... After China, Russia and Pakistan, a fourth country has expressed support for Nepal's beleaguered King Gyanendra - Cuba.
February 28, 2005
  • Nepal's king under pressure inside and out The Japan Times
  • Nepal royal takeover raises risk of disappearancesReuters India, India ....."Even before the coup, the army was more likely to terrorise Nepali civilians rather than fight the Maoists. They had complete impunity," Saman Zarifi, Human Rights Watch's Asia deputy director, told Reuters. "After the coup, there's even less accountability for the army. The fear is that the army is going to go on the rampage."
  • NEPAL: Focus on the impact of the conflict on rural healthReuters AlertNet, UK ..... Health facilities in rural Nepal have been contracting as the nine-year rebellion has left up to 80 percent of the country in the hands of the Maoists. Most government-employed health workers are afraid to make field visits to regions controlled by the rebels in case they are abducted and forced to work for the insurgents. If they do offer health care in Maoist regions, they are at risk of being targeted by security forces and accused of "helping the terrorists"...... An estimated 48,000 female health care volunteers (FHCVs) play a key role in reaching out to people in the rural areas. But most of them are now reluctant to go to the villages ..... pressure from both sides of the conflict made the work impossible
  • Nepal rebels vow to keep up resistanceTaipei Times, Taiwan ..... lifted the blockade but are now threatening a military campaign and a`mass movement of the people' against the king ..... "We are lifting the indefinite blockade of transportation to show our deep responsibility toward the people" ..... The monarch, who says he was forced to act because of the insurgency, has ignored repeated calls from the international community that he restore democracy
  • Declaration by the European Union on the situation in NepalReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland ..... the action taken by the King is a serious setback to the prospects for a negotiated and democratically based solution to the conflict in Nepal .....
  • Nepal Maoists find support in ChhattisgarhIndo-Asian News Service, India ..... "In February, the Maoists have held over 35 rallies and more than 72 meetings in Dantewada district of Bastar that borders Andhra Pradesh" ..... the Maoists had flooded the rural areas of Dantewada with banners and posters pledging support to the rebels in Nepal ..... some of the banners vowed to hit government installations in Bastar as what they called a "punishment for the Indian government for not acting tough against the Nepal king
  • Nepal: The King Says Terrorism No Longer AcceptedScoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand ..... King Gyanendra said ... we are fighting for democracy and against terrorism..... "When we have chosen to uphold democracy and fight against terrorism, why are they shying away from helping us? I can see one thing clearly emerging out of it. Our objectives are the same. We are going to meet somewhere. But we have chosen may be different paths in attaining that objective" ..... "They must say what they must say and we must do what we must do" ..... "There is so much work to be done and that work has to be done together"
  • 5 Nepal parties to launch stir from Mar.8:- Webindia123 ..... protest meetings, flag demonstrations ..... Balbahadur Rai of Nepali Congress, Jhalanath Khanal of CPN-UML, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar of NC (Democratic), Chitra Bahadur Ale of Janamorcha Nepal and Bharat Bimal Yadav of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A).
February 27, 2005
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Saturday, February 26, 2005

3 Months Or 3 Years


If King G and his yes-men do not change course and do not restore fundamental rights, how long do you see them lasting. 3 months? 3 years?

They have been in denial regarding the major global backlash they have generated.

The Koirala Congress and the Deuba Congress have actually come under the same umbrella to organize protests, as have a few others.

On another note, as a Buddhist I am deeply, deeply, deeply offended the king shut down the Dalai Lama's office in Kathmandu.

The king is giving clear hints he will not be able to stand the backlash, but he is not acting upon it. It is like, he ousted Deuba, then got him back into the saddle after massive street protests. He will have to perform a repeat act on the emergency. He will have to restore all fundamental rights before he can even think of other alternatives.
  • Dozens of Maoists killed in Nepal violence Daily Times, Pakistan ....guerrillas raided a TV station ..... 400 rebels attacked forces in the village of Hasulia ..... hundreds of suspected Maoist rebels attacked a state-run Nepalese TV station in the remote southwest, forcing the outlet to suspend broadcasting .....
  • Nepal Maoists withdraw blockade but graver measures on cards: New Kerala .....would call an indefinite countrywide shutdown soon ..... would start "from another month" ..... next Nepalese month of Chait that begins March 14...... rumours of the guerrillas planning 1,000-hour shutdowns along the lines of the Gorkha National Liberation Front-led struggle for a separatist Gorkhaland in the hill areas of eastern Indian West Bengal state. ..... The guerrillas would be undergoing a review of their strategy in view of India and Britain, two of Nepal's largest donors for military supplies, announcing a suspension in the aid to show their disapproval of the royal takeover...... Prachanda's statement suggests that the Maoists are trying to network with likeminded forces outside Nepal. They are already said to have close links with two outlawed Indian organisations branded as terrorists - People's War of Andhra Pradesh and Maoist Communist Centre of Bihar.
  • Singhal backs emergency in Nepal Indian Express, India Gyanendra seems to be using his RSS and Hindutva connections in India .....Singhal said Maoists should be crushed militarily and the international community, including India, should support the King in his initiative ..... ‘‘I welcome the Emergency imposed by Nepal King Gyanendra and all the Hindu community in India supports the move by the world’s only Hindu king to save Hindus of Nepal from the Maoist terror"
  • EP for sanction against ruling elites in Nepal HindustanTimes.com UK edition The European Parliament (EP) has called on the European Union Council of Ministers to impose smart sanctions against the ruling elites in government and the military until democracy is restored in Nepal...... the campaign of arbitrary arrests, censorship and general repression...... called for a negotiated and democratically based solution, which it stressed, was the only "sustainable way to end the current conflict" ..... 732-member EP ..... The MEPs pressed the Nepalese Government to allow the Tibet Refugee Welfare Office (TRWO) and the representative office of the Dalai Lama in Kathmandu to resume operations, and expressed concern that the closure might be interpreted as a trade-off with China on the state of emergency.
  • EU for smart sanctions Times of India The European Parliament has called for its 25-member club to impose smart sanctions against Nepal, just hours after King Gyanendra adopted the shrugged shoulder and raised eyebrow as a diplomatic strategy to face down international criticism of his bloodless coup. India, the UK and the US, it said, could do much to stop the world simply rolling over and accepting the King's coup...... "the chances of greater violence and even a Maoist victory will only increase" if the world took a "wait and see" position. ..... "Nepal needs immediate, coordinated international action" .....emphasized the importance of a negotiated and democratic solution.
  • World Bank suspends monetary aid to Nepal Deccan Herald, India .....the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also indicated that it will follow the WB's line ..... As per the current budget, the government needs to mobilise nearly 450 million USD foreign loans and grants to meet its expenditures.
  • US rejects Nepal King's 3-yr timetable for restoring democracy Economic Times, India .....the US was in constant touch with India and Britain
  • Nepal Govt release seven people, including former ministers Press Trust of India, India .....Homnath Dahal, Agriculture Minister in the dissolved government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba; Khagendra Bhattarai, former President of Nepal University Teacher's Association and Lokraj Baral, former Nepalese Ambassador to India ..... Pradip Nepal ...... Bishnu Nishthuri and two other journalists ..... The release comes a day after King Gyanendra told some reporters that the government has softened press censorship and called on the international community not to isolate Nepal.
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Friday, February 25, 2005

Sought eDialogue with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai


I wrote to info@cpnm.org a few days back seeking an eDialogue with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai for this blog. I have not heard from them, and likely will not. So I guess I will go ahead and write an open letter to him and send it to the same email address.

But before I go into that, I would like to quote from Prachanda's second statement after Nepal's "2/1" because I see plenty of room for common ground between the democrats and the Maoists.

".....new life style and banner of liberation for the people of every class, caste, tribe, region and gender who were oppressed in the past by the feudal brahmanical old state ..... This is the time of rigorous birth pang for all of us when the People’s Democratic Republic is taking shape. ..... The dictatorial rule of king was imposed on Nepalese people in 2017 by the feudal elements through military power, hijacking the limited achievements of Nepalese people’s democratic struggle which started in and around 2007 and thereafter as a protest against the then Rana clan’s rule. Because of the plunder, corruption, smuggling, killings and terror unleashed during thirty years long royal family regime in the shape of Panchayat , the country was pushed down to the level of world’s most impoverished and vagabond country. ...... take democratic struggle of Nepali people toward completion, in real sense of the word ..... the monopoly of feudal palace over arms and military force ..... achieved yet another epoch making feat by dismantling the unilateral structure of governance based on feudal Hindu chauvinism by granting the rights of self-determination to the people of oppressed class, caste, region and gender and by forming regional autonomous republican governments that work as a prototype of Union of States and paving the way for the same with Nepalese features and laid the foundation of new national unity...... Now, Nepal is no longer a birth place to mercenary soldiers ..... King Virendra who was comparatively liberal and patriotic ..... Subsequently, a coordinated attempt was made to systematically defame and marginalise parliamentary reformist political parties ..... we had appealed to all the parliamentary forces of country to forge a broad alliance for constituent assembly and republicanism ..... We once again repeat our commitment to jointly move ahead with all the forces, on the basis of common minimum goal of constituent assembly and democratic republic. ..... unconditional constituent assembly in order to complete the democracy and expressed its readiness to talk to the ringleaders of old state ..... the possibility and rationality of talk with Gyanendra Shahi has ended in the aftermath of murdering of achievements of 046 by him ..... we also appeal to the United Nations and international community to halt all kinds of aids ..... we are committed to the democratic values and ready to cooperate with these countries and organizations. ..... No one now can stop the birth of new democratic Nepal."

I observe a few things here:
  1. The Maoists have long sought common ground with the democrats for a Democratic Republic. It is the democrats who have so far not reciprocated.
  2. The totality of their ideology can not be used against them. The UML itself continues to be a party with a long term communist dream. But all we have needed to deal with the UML is its short term commitment to the multi-party democratic framework. I think the Maoists have to be given the same option. But for that to happen, the democrats will have to move and agree to the Constituent Assembly idea and the idea of a Democratic Republic.
  3. Curiously, only such a broad political front of the Maoists and the democrats will bring down the level of violence in the country. Right now, violence is the only option the Maoists have to express their uncompromising vision of a Democratic Republic. But a broad front will give them a purely political outlet and violence will become less necessary.
  4. I believe in non-violent politics. You can get pretty "militant" within the democratic process, depending on how hard you are willing to work with your message, organization and fund-raising. But then peace-making requires that you deal with hitherto warring parties so as to bring the violence to an end, and to bring the players into the political mainstream where people still compete for influence but now it is a framework of electoral politics, not gunpower anymore. Think Northern Ireland. Think IRA. The Maoists and their violence will have to be given a similar outlet. You address their politics so they have the option to put down their guns.
  5. I must admit I am a little distrusting of the violent ways of the Maoists. But then I am even more distrusting of King G and his commitment to the democratic ideal. And I am very distrusting of the social agenda of the Nepali Congres, the UML and the RPP. We do not need 100% trust between us to do business with each other. What you seek is a Common Minimum Program.
  6. It is legitimate for the democrats to fear the Maoists will create a front with them to oust the Monarchists and then turn on them to reach their goal of a communist dictatorship. That fear is legitimate but it does not have to be crippling. Step one, you create a front with the Maoists for a Common Minimum Program of a Constituent Assembly. That front would include democratic parties that are for a Democratic Republic, as well those that are for a Constitutional Monarchy. Once that front gathers steam, step two, the monarch will have two options, to agree to such an Assembly, or be totally washed away. But you ensure mechanisms to guarantee all parties' acceptance of the Assembly's outcome, especially from the Maoists and the Monarchists, step three.
  7. The king himself offered a Constituent Assembly after taking over. It is sad the likes of Girija and Deuba never came to offering the same when they had the option to. As if the likes of Girija and Deuba are more Monarchists than the monarch himself. That is a sad state of affairs.
  8. I think the biggest reason the likes of the Nepali Congress and the UML do not want an alliance with the Maosts is that they do not like the Maoists' challenge to the high caste domination of the country that the Congress and the UML symbolize. That is despicable.
  9. I mean, what I like about Badri Mandal is he is the Sadbhavana's best hope to kick the Koiralas out of Morang. And I would like to see that happen. But for the short term, I am okay with a Sadbhavana-Congress alliance, as long as it is for a Constituent Assembly.

An Open Letter To Dr. Baburam Bhattarai

Dr. Bhattarai, hello. I watched a few video clips of you at your party's website, and there you are with your trademark cap. And I think I have seen you in person once, during the early 1990s. You were walking on your own, near what they now call the Democracy Wall in Kathmandu. I think it was you, I am pretty sure it was you, but I can't be sure. You looked pensive, and had a briefcase in your hand, no cap though, just the beard.

Most politicians, be they in Nepal, India, or the US, spend most of their time talking, no time listening, and even less time reading. But you are an exceptionally smart, well-read person. I respect your intellectual prowess.

Let me first state where I am coming from, ideologically speaking. I am a free marketeer, a one person one vote democrat, and a social progressive. And a Sadbhavana alumn now living in the US.

You and your party envision a federal structure for Nepal. And that speaks to the Sadbhavana alum in me a lot. You have taken the cause of Dalit and Janajati empowerment, something the Monarchists have been against, and the democrats have only paid lip service to. So I see common ground between you and me, the social progressive. I am for a Constituent Assembly, with or without the Maoists. So that is common ground between you and me, the one person one vote democrat. That is a lot of common ground.

As for the free marketeer, let me explain. I hope you will not mind if I said Gorbachev knows more about communit theory than you and Prachanda. After all, he was in a direct line of succession from Lenin himself. And he has said the market is it. The command economy does not deliver the goods.

But I must make it clear that I see a lot of deficiencies in the so-called free market economies of the world. There are basically three components to any economic unit, be it micro or macro. (1) Physical capital. (2) Financial capital. (3) Human capital.

My criticism of the market economies is that it has so far refused to put Human Capital on par with the other two. For example, there should be a creative partnership between the public and the private sectors to ensure lifelong education for everybody on the planet. Without that, there is no free market. Free trade can not be only about goods and services, it also has to apply to movements of labor.

Because of my major emphasis on Human Capital within a market concept, I think you and I can seek common ground there also.

And you will allow for the market. Lenin himself reintroduced limited markets after the 1917 takeover throught the NEP, New Economic Policy, because he immediately realized the command economy did not work. But he died an early death, and someone Lenin would have preferred did not succeed him ended up succeeding him. And out went the market, totally.

And the one person one vote concept can be expanded to have total campaign finance reform in the Nepali context, in a way that perhaps exists nowhere else. How about making it illegal for any politician or party to raise money? Instead, all political work, like party building and elections, are funded publicly through a democratic formula. Say the state gives each party an annual sum that is directly proportional to the number of votes that that party received in the last national elections. That would make multi-party democracy pretty classless, don't you think?

I can imagine collaborating with someone like you on further developing the concepts of Human Capital and Campaign Finance Reform, both in the national and global contexts.

But all that will have to be later.

I believe the need of the hour is for the democrats and the Maoists to forge a common front against the autocracy imposed in the country. For that the Maoists need to reassure the democrats that peaceful co-existence with the non-Maoists within a multi-party framework is something you and your party are capable of. I urge you to take steps to that effect. Please seize the moment.
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Three Years: Too Long A Wait


The king keeps saying he needs three years to restore democracy, to put down the Maoists. The only people he has gone after really since his takeover are the democrats, as if the Maoists have given him a good excuse to do something he has wanted to do all along.

Three years for what? To keep clamping down the people? To keep up with the human rights abuses? To keep gagging the press? More not less democracy is the answer to the Maoist threat. After all, is not the "Maoist threat" that they might take over, declare a communist republic, and take away all fundamental rights?

The king should just face the reality that a Constituent Assembly is the only way out and act in ways that will make many parties want to campaign for a continued monarchy within such an Assembly.

And a question to Americans: You got rid of your King G, G for George, why can't you see a Nepal without its King G?
  • Nepalese king pleads for foreign help Independent Online, South Africa ....dozens of heavily armed guerrillas stormed a local station of state-owned television in Kohalpur, 500km west of Kathmandu, and ransacked the office as well as the studios.....
  • Global Imperialist Designs The Royal Coup in Nepal CounterPunch, CA The immediate internal options are perfectly clear ­ the continuity of a democratic delusion under Monarchy or a full-fledged democratic republic with Maoists being on the negotiating table...... The Indians and others have consistently shown their preference for monarchy with a democratic tinge....... they prefer a democratic façade rather than a full-fledged parliamentary democracy in Nepal...... finding a suitable internal power bloc with which they can negotiate, and their interest to sustain a particular hierarchical relationship with Nepal..... forces the foreign capital ­ Indian and others - to negotiate with rentier interests in Nepal, whose main motive is to capitalise on their role as intermediaries, on their capacity to rent out the local market and resources ..... their preference is for a monarch that symbolises a grand negotiator. But on the other hand, the grand rentier can create grand hurdles to gain grand favours, too. Hence, a limited 'democracy' would provide a safety valve ..... leads to the foreign preference for a façade of democracy in Nepal under monarchy ..... It is not that the Nepali rentiers and political elite will ever shift their allegiance, but the continuous presence of China definitely allows them to use this fact to gain favours from the only organized imperialist coalition present in the region ­ the Indo-US Imperialism...... Some "security" intellectuals have started proposing that India must not insist on any immediate restoration of democracy...... Till recently, the trick of calling the Maoist revolutionaries Chinese agents (or even Pakistani/ISI agents) and faking evidences to prove this ..... seven countries account "for over four fifths of cumulative FDI [in Nepal]. India alone accounted for one third [owning 35% of the enterprises with FDI and 35.8% share in the total FDI], followed by the United States and then China." ..... considering its need for a political stability in Nepal to derive sustainable economic gains from there, and thwart any rival interest from evolving ..... the amount of political support for the Nepali "democrats", at least within the ranks and leadership of the parliamentary left ..... They might help in stopping the evolution of a united front of the democrats and the Maoist peasant revolutionaries in Nepal, and hence by effect not allowing the full-fledged republic to come up. .....
  • King says he'll restore democracy in Nepal International Herald Tribune, France .....urged Maoist rebels to join peace talks and shrugged off the suspension of military aid by India and Britain ..... pleaded for international support to crush the Maoist revolt ..... "We want our friends to help us by word and by deed. If that is not the agenda they want to go along with, then they should tell us what their agenda is. ....."You have given me something that is badly infested. ....."They must say what they must say," he said, "and we must do what we must do." ..... The rebels, meanwhile, have blockaded roads to disrupt food and fuel supplies since the takeover. They have focused on the 200-kilometer, or 125-mile, highway that connects Katmandu to the country's interior and leads to India. ..... On Friday, traffic piled up at checkpoints around the country, waiting for security forces to escort civilian convoys.......
  • Nepal: Responding to the Royal Coup Reuters AlertNet ..... the immediate policy steps needed to pull Nepal back from the brink. A unified international response is critical, and the best mechanism for that would be a contact group comprising key countries and organisations involved in Nepal: India, the U.S., the UK and the UN. "If the world simply rolls over and accepts this coup, the chances of greater violence and even a Maoist victory will only increase", says Crisis Group President Gareth Evans. "This is not the time for 'wait and see'. Nepal needs immediate, co-ordinated international action"....... a politically broad-based effort to address not only the insurgency but also the underlying issues that have fuelled it. ..... suspending all direct bilateral and multilateral budgetary support to the government; and initiating a review of all current development assistance programs and preparing plans for their phased suspension and withdrawal...... further measures, including complete suspension of all aid; sanctions; a ban on Nepalese troops from their lucrative involvement in UN peacekeeping operations; and encouraging the UN Security Council to investigate and prosecute both government and Maoist war crimes suspects.
  • Nepal stops intelligentsia from flying abroad Hindustan Times ..... includes about 200 people...... Gurung, a professor at the prestigious university as well as general secretary of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, was flying to India for the regional preparatory meeting of the fourth conference of the Permanent Forum of the UN on Indigenous Nationalities in Shillong from Friday to Sunday...... include former Supreme Court judge Laxman Arryal, who is also one of the drafters of Nepal's current constitution, and former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Chitralekha Yadav..... Lokraj Baral, political scientist and former ambassador to India, was arrested while returning from India. The 70-year-old who suffers from heart problems, is still in detention.
  • Ties with Nepal to receive high priority: Kalam Sify, India President A P J Abdul Kalam told a joint sitting of Parliament.
  • US asked to freeze military aid to Nepal Hindustan Times, India .....King's power grab, which has reportedly led to increasing human rights abuses. ..... T Kumar, the US-based advocacy director for Amnesty International, told a congressional human rights forum in Washington ..... The United States, which has branded the Nepalese Maoist rebels as terrorists .....
  • Nepali King considers peace as Nepal's prime agenda Xinhua
  • The Calculus Of Failure Outlookindia.com
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Thursday, February 24, 2005

King G, Active Politics, and Media Interviews


King G really should get off the throne and come into active politics. The guy so loves giving media interviews. Maybe he is right, he is incapable of being a Constitutional Monarch. He is too restive.

Even after his said three year period, he has Panchayat in mind. He intends to "Nepalise" democracy. That is codeword for Panchayat.

Ashok Mehta's article throws a lot of light on the RNA.
  • Nepal king criticises military aid freeze after power grabChannel News Asia, Singapore King Gyanendra, in his first meeting with journalists since his power grab on February 1, said the aid-freeze was sending out the wrong signal about the country's battle against "terrorism".
  • Is EU preparing to do business with Nepal Maoists?: New Kerala ..... a coordinated international response to the suspension of democracy and civil rights in this Himalayan kingdom is taking shape. ..... soon Kathmandu and other towns will face severe food and fuel shortages that could erupt in street riots. ..... now finds himself caught in a pincer move by two unrelated forces opposed to his "royal coup". ..... India, Britain and the US, which have been shoring up Nepal's security, are loath to rescue King Gyanendra from the political mess in which he finds himself. ..... the Maoists, making full use of the king's isolation, are trying to make the best use of the situation to their advantage. ..... European diplomats posted in Nepal have been increasingly interacting with the Maoists ..... "The European Union has generally been well received by the Maoists ..... if push comes to shove, the European Union and its member states will not hesitate to do business with the Maoists - better the far-left insurgents than a king who believes in absolute monarchy, seems to be the message. ..... The Royal Nepal Army lacks the capacity to maintain military rule and wage a successful campaign against the Maoists. It could never be the alternative state that the military has become in Pakistan. ..... Political parties still have considerable support. ..... about a third of Nepalese maintain an affiliation with a party. ..... Peace is unlikely without a broad national consensus on the problems of poverty, ethnic and caste exclusion and corruption ..... the king has little political experience and few solid international connections ..... a rather bleak scenario for King Gyanendra and the "military leadership", who according to the ICG report, "pressed the king into taking this step". ..... Gyanendra lacks the wherewithal, material and political, to take on the Maoists and defeat them ..... India is believed to have conveyed to the emergency regime in Kathmandu that it is willing to initiate back channel discussions with the Maoists for a peaceful settlement ..... Nepal's Maoists are irrevocably opposed to what they describe as "Indian expansionism" and have been actively promoting an alliance with far-left Maoists in several Indian states who pose a serious internal security threat to India ..... Prachanda .. has on more than one occasion promised to turn on India after seizing Nepal. ..... Pushed to the wall, especially by India, King Gyanendra may just decide to go for broke. Claiming that India has violated the letter and spirit of the 1950 and 1965 treaties that impose restrictions on Nepal seeking arms from another country, he may turn to China and Pakistan who have refused to comment on the "palace coup"...... The "royal coup" and its political fallout provide an excellent opportunity for Beijing and Islamabad to shore up their relations with Kathmandu. .....
  • Nepal's Dalits: Fodder for the Maoist machineTimes of India, India He is a dalit in Nepal and nobody sells milk to dalits here. ..... Even in Kathmandu, a city full of hip dance bars, Versace showrooms and mind-numbing stream of foreign cars, no one will let out houses to dalits. ..... Maoists came in, turning a community into a fearsome death force ..... Maoists got a ready-made army. "Any one could sense that dalits were a force, imploding with centuries of hurt, waiting to be tapped. ..... Dalits in Nepal constitute 20% of its population, but own just 2% of its land. ..... the per capita income in Nepal is $210, for a dalit it is just $39 .... The upper castes still believe dalits are beneath involvement in cash transactions. ..... "You hand a gun to our people and they suddenly feel a surge of empowerment. The gun is a powerful metaphor of power," says a dalit student. ..... Though figures of dalit and tribals in the roughly 7,000 Maoist fighters and one lakh active supporters is not known, most analysts say it could be anything between 30-40% — a lot of representation for a community who have no officers, judges or bureaucrats and are still not allowed into Hindu temples or into restaurants.
  • Nepali Congress demands new democratic constitution: New Kerala ..... the Nepali Congress (Democratic) today demanded drafting a new democratic constitution, incorporating the main political demand of the maoists after intensive negotiations with the rebel leaders ..... Arjun Thapa said that the drafting of the constitution should be carried out through an elected constitutional assembly.....
  • Army and the King Delhi Pioneer Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who later threw a glass of hot water into the lieutenant's face ..... aircraft dropped leaflets over different district headquarters, explaining that the King's action was to save the nation..... Nehru was livid. He called the King's coup a "complete reversal of the democratic process"..... the RNA killed more than 300 Nepalese during this second revolution ..... With such an anti-people record, it was paradoxical that King Birendra would not allow RNA to be employed against the Maoists till its post at Dang had been attacked in 2001 as the RNA could not be "used against its own people"...... With the promulgation of Emergency the RNA was immediately empowered to act against its own people...... The modern RNA was trained and reorganised by the Indian Military Mission in Kathmandu from 1952 to 1970 when it was squeezed out. The Palace ensured the RNA became the King's Army in letter and spirit...... Surendra Bahadur Shah, who translated it into Nepali, inserted the word "Naresh" (King) alongside Desh (country). This meant the King's safety, honour and welfare, the primary task for the RNA, was at par with the nation..... the RNSA could not protect the King during the palace massacre of June 1, 2001. Inside the 1 km x 1 km Narayanhity Palace are crammed the elite Royal Palace Guard brigade, air defence and artillery batteries, military police and armoured personnel carriers. It is the most fortified complex in all of Nepal...... The RNA is ferociously loyal and faithful to its supreme commander and has virtually refused to take orders from the elected political authority which it holds in utter contempt. ..... The class and caste composition of the senior echelons in the RNA shows Rana, Shah, Thapa, the erstwhile feudal combine's continued monopoly of Higher Command and Staff appointments. This clique swears by the "Sarkar" and worships the Royal family...... Barring its experience in anti-democracy movements and a brief brush with Khampa rebels in 1976-77, the RNA has no combat experience ..... an impeccable UNPKO record. It has not missed any UNPKO since 1978..... But for the lure of UNPKO which accounts for the Rs 9 billion Army Welfare Fund, not many would join the RNA. In fact, UNPKO is what is keeping the RNA together...... Nearly 40,000 soldiers are in Kathmandu valley alone...... the RNA which took a hammering from the Maoists till end 2002 when it emerged shaken out of the "Duffers-Drift" syndrome ..... By the year 2010, RNA is expected to become a modern 100,000 Army...... shown little evidence of its ability to force the Maoists back to the negotiating table, leave alone bringing them down to their knees, a feat many RNA Generals have frequently boasted about..... from where will Gen Pyar Jung Thapa find soldiers to fight the Maoists who control 80 per cent of sovereign territory..... where will the will to fight come from..... Talks are on between some of these groups and the Maoists to form a front...... The Nepal Maoists are not a major threat to India; they are only an irritant. That the Maoists of India and Nepal will together forge a red corridor from Amlekhgunj to Adilabad is an exaggerated fear. The two movements are different in composition and character. ..... One of the key demands of the Maoists has been weaning away the RNA from the palace and putting it under civilian control. Only when that happens will RNA become a normal people's army putting national interest before the Naresh's.
  • Indian companies wilt under new regime in NepalEconomic Times, India ..... the likes of ITC, Dabur, Coke, and Berger Paints ..... Surya Nepal Tobacco is one of the largest companies in Nepal with a turnover of over Rs 500 crore...... a policy of wait and watch for big companies. Most companies are keeping their fingers crossed that the situation will improve soon.
  • UN envoy offers mediation in Nepal again:New Kerala, India ... Kul Chandra Gautam, the UN assistant secretary general, has told BBC Radio's Nepalese Service that the UN, with its experience in mediating in international disputes, could help establish an accord between the two sides based on international laws and democratic values...... no evidence to suppose that if a third round of dialogue could be started between the new government and the rebels, it would be successful..... both sides were displaying extreme positions..... The king is seen as wanting to strengthen monarchy while expressing commitment towards multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy. The Maoists, on the other hand, are killing people and resorting to violence while saying they are not against the democratic system.
  • Nepal's 'Ranvir Sena' takes on Maoists:New Kerala, India .... Pandey was training about 500 young men in armed combat and boasted that his outfit possessed AK-47s, shotguns and explosives..... Pandey's group, reports from Kapilavastu say, has been setting fire to houses belonging to hills people, raising fears of ethnic tension between hills people and the plains people, pejoratively called Madhesias..... The private army has raised Maoist hackles. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, former MP and spokesman of the Maoists, issued a statement from underground Wednesday, condemning the band..... Pandey and his band apparently shot back this month, killing 21 Maoists in different areas in Kapilavastu.
  • Rebels face rebellion Calcutta Telegraph .. the Royal Nepal Army, which is yet to penetrate the rural belt in its mission against the Maoist rebels..... the grim story of the rise of a private army which is trying to whip up local anger against the Maoist rebels..... “The ferocity of Maoist attacks, especially targeting the Madese people, provoked anger and I had to use this to defend the people here,” he said. ..... Last night, villagers in Sheopur burnt at least 350 houses of hill settlers suspecting them of harbouring Maoists.
  • Terrorism vs peace, no third force left: His Majesty Nepalnews.com Talking to a group of Nepali journalists at Fohara Garden of the Narayanhiti palace ..... If their agenda is one party communist type of rule, it is unacceptable ..... democracy must flourish, but we must pursue a democratic dispensation that is suited to the genius of the people of Nepal and the soil of Nepal. “We all value democratic norms, democratic values. What do we understand by this. We understand features like open society, transparency, mass participation, mass communicating of ideas. But we have to Nepalise them. We need to make it suit for this country and for the people of Nepal,” His Majesty said. ..... “We felt that the nation was also in a process of fragmentation, not the physical fragmentation. But the harmony among ethnic communities .....
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Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Indo-US Alliance For Democracy In Nepal Needed


The US is the world's oldest democracy, and India its largest. A total expansion of democracy is America's officially stated goal, with most of the remaining work in the countries of the Global South where India, for cultural reasons, might be in a better position to understand the local realities and contribute.

I laud the India-UK-US alliance that has emerged as a counter to the king's autocratic move and think the cutting of military aid was a great first step. And I also think it wise that the three powers have thought India should take the lead on the issue because of its proximity. That makes a lot of common sense.

But now the king has countered by suggesting he will instead go and deal with China and Pakistan. India alone might not be in the best position to counter that move, but the US is. The US has seen an ally in China on the North Korea issue, and is a close partner with Pakistan in its stated War On Terror, of Cold War proportions.

And so I urge the US to make diplomatic moves to deny the king the so-called Pakistan and China cards. In this greatest hour of need, the Nepali people should be able to expect help from democracies like the US and India. The king has to agree to the idea of a negotiated settlement with the rebels with possible international mediation. There is no better way.



I am sending this blog thread to the US Embassy in Delhi, and to the Foreign Ministry of India at their email addresses: ndcentral@state.gov, usxps@mea.gov.in. I hope Ambassador Mulford will look into this.

Some news I skimmed through a few minutes back, as I do on a near daily basis.
  • UN Security Council condemns use of child soldiers Reuters India, India ..... called for sanctions and political measures against governments and groups that continue the abuses, saying "carefully calibrated and targeted measures" are effective ..... Abductions were common in countries like Uganda, Nepal and Burundi ..... A report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan listed 42 armed groups in 11 nations that should be punished for recruiting or using children in war. On the list are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Colombia.
  • Nepal Military Aid Suspension Will Assist Rebels, Army Says Bloomberg An estimated 1,000 political and student leaders and other officials were detained under emergency rule, Agence France-Presse reported earlier this month. Some leaders remain in hiding and others have crossed into India. ..... The political changes in Nepal shouldn't prompt international donors to cut off aid, Finance Minister Madhukar Shumsher Rana said ..... The U.K. and India have returned their ambassadors to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to call for a restoration of democracy.
  • NDA lauds military aid cut to Nepal: New Kerala The main Opposition alliance, the NDA, today lauded the Centre government's decision to stop military aid to Nepal ..... The Opposition alliance said this after a meeting with several Nepalese political parties in the Capital. ..... We have to snap relations of any kind with them. They should take up this issue in the international community, not only with the immediate neighbours. We are with the government on whatever steps the federal government decides to take on the issue. Rather we all are one on the entire situation," NDA Convenor George Fernandes told reporters .....
  • Blow to business along Indo-Nepal border The Tribune, India Trade along the border has been a way of life for the traders over the generations ..... nearly six trade posts along the Indo-Nepal border that boast of a total business to the tune of Rs 50 crore annually ..... business has been slack due to an increase Maoist activities along the border but the emergency in Nepal has led to a trade collapse..... Odd traders in Nepal’s Jullaghat play cards and carom board while many others remain compulsively glued to the tea stall for want of anything better to do...... it’s the daily foodstuff, including foodgrains, jaggery, sugar and oil, among other things that people from Nepal depend on this market for ..... traders cross over to the Indian side every night ..... But the alcohol shop owners do a "no pain, no gain" business. The Maoists do not like this business and to drive the point home a few months ago they drained out bottles of liquor worth lakhs of rupees from the shops here ..... Last year the Maoists had banned Indian goods after the governments of the two countries were in dialogue over added military aid. But the ban was soon lifted .
  • Five Editors in Nepal summoned over blank editorial pages: New Kerala, India ..... authorities here today summoned Editors of five Nepalese weeklies seeking explanation over blank editorial pages in their publications since the imposition of press censorship ..... Gopal Budhathoki of 'Sanghu' weekly, Kabir Rana of 'Deshantar', Rajendra Vaid of 'Bimarsha', Nawaraj Timilsina of 'Prakash' and Shashidhar Bhandari of 'Hank' ..... A team of senior advocates led by Nepal Bar Association Chairman Shambhu Thapa has provided legal consultancy to the scribes free of cost. ..... Seven Nepalese journalists, including General Secretary of Federation of Nepalse Journalists (FNJ) Bishnu Nishthuri, have been detained
  • 'Nepal committed, India should reciprocate': New Kerala Nepal says it will honour all commitments made to the Indian government and expects the same from New Delhi.
  • Nepal's political bosses hide, plan political movement against ... China Post Decades ago, Khadga Prasad Oli rebelled against the king and was sent to jail for 14 years. Then he became home minister. This month, the top communist leader was imprisoned again, in his own house, for 14 days..... Nepal's political roulette wheel has spun again, and politicians who dominated the country for 15 years are now detainees, fugitives or in hiding, with the rest plotting a political movement against King Gyanendra's regime that has yet to take off...... dozens of political bosses, student leaders, journalists, professors and other possible opinion leaders have been detained ..... To the 53-year-old Oli, it is a throwback to the 30-year "Panchayat" rule, the era of the Shah kings' authoritarian regime, when political parties were banned and civil liberties limited..... "It seems like those days again, when we could not raise our voice," said Oli, sitting at his home outside Katmandu. Until a couple days ago, it was surrounded by 15 armed police officers who built sandbagged positions and refused to let him out or anyone come in. The house arrest ended without explanation over the weekend...... Ram Saran Mahat, the top leader of the country's largest party, the Nepali Congress, sits on his sunny lawn sipping tea and meeting the rare visitor. Mahat, a former foreign and finance minister, is the most senior Nepali opposition leader currently not in custody. But he knows he is being watched. ..... "I will go and make a public speech only when I am prepared to be jailed," he said. ..... "We are not underground like the Maoists. Our protests will be on the streets," said Mahat. ..... "In the past, when mobile phones were working, it would take us just 10 minutes to arrange a crowd of 4,000 or 5,000 people. Not any more," said Keshav Singh, president of the Nepal Students Union ..... His group has hundreds of thousands of members across 300 colleges. .... "I haven't slept in the same place for 18 days now. ..... Singh's home was raided last week, and security forces took away his telephone diary, his photographs and documents related to the students union, the country's largest. ...... "We are trying to build up a movement against the royal move. We are going door to door, distributing flyers, organizing low key awareness programs," said Singh. "We can't forever remain underground. Students have to be on the streets."
  • Nepal says no information on military aid cut Tehran Times The king's move has triggered a global outcry but domestic public protests have been muted because of a heavy presence of security personnel...... The Maoists have imposed a nationwide transport blockade to protest the royal power grab disrupting road transport and supplies of foodgrains and vegetables in the mountainous nation for the past 11 days.
  • Nepal: Civil War Atrocities Follow Royal Takeover Reuters AlertNet, UK ..... both Maoist insurgents and the Royal Nepali Army continue to attack civilians ... violating the laws of war ..... the lives of some 11,000 people, mostly civilians ..... Maoist fighters have attacked civilian cargo trucks and passenger buses, and threatened to cut off the hands of drivers who defy the bandh. ..... "There is a real danger that war crimes in Nepal will spiral out of control." ..... The Maoist insurgents' bandh has stopped nearly all motor traffic on the Mahendra highway and nearby roads, cut the flow of commerce, including scarce petrochemical products, and closed down schools. Meanwhile, government security forces heavily censor all local press and monitor the activity of local human rights monitors. ..... Maoist forces on February 22 stopped and blew up an ambulance at a roadblock on the Mahendra highway near Kohalpur village, 18 kilometers from Nepalgunj and about a kilometer and a half from the Kohalpur Army Barracks...... Under the laws of war, medical transport is protected at all times from attack. ..... including the bride and groom, who were walking past an army checkpoint at approximately 7 p.m. Troops manning the checkpoint demanded they stop and put their hands in the air. Nearly immediately, some of the troops fired between five to ten rounds at the group. ..... The army has not claimed, as it has in some similar circumstances in the past, that its actions were in self-defense or otherwise justified. Nor has the army announced any investigation of the troops responsible for shooting at the group. ..... "Both sides claim to be fighting on the side of the people, but in fact their main targets have been Nepal's civilians."
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Burma Option Or Pakistan Option


I skim through the news today, and looks like the king is actively looking at both options. I think he would have preferred the Pakistan option whereby he makes hay in Nepal and the international community largely supports him, or turns a blind eye at the least. That not forthcoming, he has been touting the Burma option today. That is a tough stance for a country that is essentially India-locked. This withdrawal symptom only adds to the image of the autocrat he has been garnering. The Burma option is not an option for any faction in Nepal.

Looks to me like the democrats have their organizational work cut out for them. As I have said earlier, the two-word mantra of Democratic Republic to bring all forces except the Monarchists together. And if the Monarchists keep acting up, then skip the second phase two-word mantra of a Constituent Assembly, and just stick to the Democratic Repubic until it is realized.

The Nepali people will have to earn their democracy plain and simple. It is an uphill climb, but worth it. The seeds of freedom reside in every heart.
  • Nepal 'can solve' Maoist crisis Hindustan Times, India Gyanendra seemed intrepidly unmindful of possible international sanctions while disbanding democracy ..... the present cabinet set-up that he surveys has, it seems, completely ignored India, and in the process the UK and the US ..... Nepal on Tuesday ruled out 'international mediation' to resolve the Maoists crisis. It also said that it is capable to meet its defence needs...... asserted that 70 per cent of its defence procurement and spending was financed by internal sources......
  • Nepal says arms cut unfortunate, could help rebels San Diego Union Tribune ....poorly-equipped Nepali army..... "We are the ones fighting for democracy in Nepal. If they don't provide us with military aid, it will indirectly benefit the Maoists," he said...... the vice-chairman of the ruling council, Tulsi Giri, and Gurung said they had no information on the suspension of arms supplies...... The Maoists have imposed a nationwide transport blockade to mark their protest against the royal power grab, disrupting road transport and supplies of foodgrains and vegetables in the mountainous nation for the past 11 days.
  • External powers must act to save Nepal Financial Times ..... in crushing fledgling democratic institutions and locking up mainstream politicians, journalists and human rights activists, it is the king who has strengthened the rebels' hand......
  • Maoists rule Nepal highways Calcutta Telegraph Maoists have crippled Mahendra Raj Marg, Nepal’s main highway and link to India..... last week, 65 tankers carrying petroleum products from Gonda and Allahabad in India took 11 days to cover 10 km along Rupardih-Nepalgunj road in western Nepal..... Over 18 trucks on way to Kathmandu with food and other essentials offloaded their material after seven days of waiting near Nepalgunj..... Last night, Maoists detonated a bomb at the Kohalpur-based power substation of the Nepal Electricity Authority and disrupted power supply to four adjoining districts — Banke, Bardia, Surkhet and Dailekh...... the Nepalgunj-Kohalpur and Nepalgunj-Surkhet roads are eerily deserted..... Nowhere does the Mahendra highway look so desolate as when it leaves behind the mini industrial zone of Nepalgunj and enters the hilly jungle terrain.
  • Nepal defiant on military aid cut BBC News Nepal says it will approach other countries for military supplies if India and the United Kingdom stopped such assistance...... Nepal could approach its giant communist neighbour China and India's traditional rival, Pakistan......
  • Uneasy days ahead for Nepal's crown Times of India, India Growing international pressure, the regrouping of democratic forces and renewed protests and blockades by Maoist insurgents have imperilled the survival of the institution of monarchy in Nepal. ..... public opinion in Nepal is sharply polarised on the issue ..... the continuation of monarchy is being openly questioned for the first time in the country's history. ...... the Nepali Congress (is) publicly demanding the abolition of monarchy ..... Nepali political leaders who fled to India in the wake of the king's action have demanded convening of a constituent assembly elected by the people to decide the future of monarchy ..... Pradeep Giri of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) also stressed on the creation of an elected constituent assembly as the top priority of the political parties. ..... The acceptability of a constituent assembly has kindled the possibility of a grand alliance of the Maoists with political parties, though fundamental ideological differences between them persist. ..... the Maoists are said to have extended their control to over 60 of the country's 75 districts where their writ is supreme...... Chaos and instability work to the advantage of Maoist insurgents who are shrewdly moving into the space previously occupied by notoriously fractious political parties. ...... "If the king is adamant on using Royal Nepalese Army as a tool in dealing with the Maoists, he runs the risk of a popular uprising," warned security expert Major General (retd) Ashok Mehta. ..... "The only way to deal with the Maoists is through a legitimate political authority. This could take the shape of an all-party government. Let's face the fact: the king is not a legitimate political authority," Mehta said...... the political parties have already formed a broad political front ..... The international isolation of the king is near complete ..... there are reports of France, Denmark, Norway and Germany doing likewise...... Unless he changes course, he will be dumped into the dustbin of history
  • Nepali parties decide to launch united fight Sify five political parties of Nepal have decided to launch a united agitation for restoration of democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom as they sought to mobilise the support of Indian parties in this respect...... The Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (Democratic), Sadbhavna (Anandi), Janmorcha and the MCP (United) have passed a resolution, deciding to work under the leadership of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala for ending emergency in their country..... efforts were on to bring other parties in the fold...... leaders who attended these meetings included Sujata Koirala, daughter of G P Koirala, and her cousin Shekhar Koirala (both Nepali Congress), Pradeep Giri (Nepali Congress-D) and Rajendra Mahto of Sadbhavna (A)
  • Journalists slip information out of Nepal International Journalist's Network One example is a Web site named Radio Free Nepal: http://freenepal.blogspot.com/. ..... the king has begun shutting off Internet sites .....
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