News Clips March 21,23,25

March 25

• Forces seek tighter control over Indo-Nepal border traffic Times of India, India With Nepalese Maoists and Pakistan's ISI agents increasingly taking advantage of the visa-free regime between India and Nepal to slip into the Indian side, the security force guarding the Indo-Nepalese frontier has proposed introduction of an identification document for border crossings..... there had been "some sort of exodus" of Maoists ...... six Maoists, four of them senior functionaries, had been arrested ...... Pakistani intelligence agents have been using Nepal as "a launching pad" for anti-India activities. Active in Nepal for over 10 years now, they are involved in counterfeit currency, subversion and espionage rackets.
• Maoist threat still looming large: DGP:- Webindia123 .... some prominent maoist leaders have been taken into custody while trying to sneak into India ..... He added that the Maoists in both Nepal and India are trying to develop a nexus and the Nepalese ultras are coming to India for training. He, however, added that there is no evidence of any joint operation between Maoists of both countries..... The Union government had raised the budgetary allocation for the para-military force by a whopping 30 percent to Rs 946 crore. The enhanced funds will help in fencing the Indo Nepal border and acquiring modern weapons to check infiltration by the Maoists.
  
• Nepal draws most fire at UN meet New Kerala, India Nepal has drawn the heaviest fire at the general debate in the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva, though China, Iran and Myanmar were also criticised over alleged rights violations...... New Zealand said it was dismayed at the recent suspension of civil and political rights in Nepal and the culture of impunity there ...... in the past two years, Nepal has recorded the highest number of new cases of disappearances in the world, as well as torture and extra-judicial executions ...... sign an international accord that would allow the investigation of violations..... rights organisations and NGOs were more aggressive, asking for international intervention in Nepal and the appointment of a special rapporteur
• Nepal drifting towards China? India planning economic sanction? India Daily The King of Nepal is adamant about maintaining the monarchy without democracy in Nepal...... Desperate and frustrated India is slowly thinking about economic sanctions against Nepal. ..... King Gyanendra may be actually a shrewd politician..... Royal Nepal may drift towards China
  
• Another Nepal envoy to India Business Standard Field Marshal Meen Bahadur Rana ..... Chairman of Nepal's State Council Parashu Narayan Chaudhary .... Delhi maintains that nothing short of complete restoration of democratic processes in the Himalayan kingdom will be acceptable ...... The six were Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, Agriculture Minister Homnath Dahal, Land Reform Minister Jog Meher Shrestha, Local Development Minister Yuvraj Gyawali, Information and Communication minister Mohammad Mohsin and Forest Minister Badri Mandal. They are due to appear again before the commission on March 31...... The RCCC has the authority to confiscate property, award jail term and levy fine if the accused is found guilty.
  
• Nepal's royal watchdog nabs judge taking bribe New Kerala ... arrested Birendra Kumar Karna ... for allegedly taking Nepali Rs. 20,000 to free two men involved in a robbery three years ago ..... Though Kathmandu's lawyers and judges are yet to comment on his arrest, the judiciary is dogged by allegations of bribery. The charges came out in the open last year after two Supreme Court judges had to resign over a scandal involving an overseas druglord...... The formation of the new commission has triggered fears that it might be used by the new regime to settle political scores...... six former ministers charging them with distributing the NRs. 4 million from the PM's Welfare Fund among party cadre and cronies ...... got a new twist with lawyers questioning the legality of the summons, saying the case is already being heard by the Supreme Court.
  
• Nepal: Dealing with a Human Rights Crisis Reuters AlertNet, UK .... latest report, describes the appalling situation, especially since the royal coup of 1 February, offers practical policy recommendations for tackling it by all relevant players, and explains how such measures would contribute to the longer-term conflict resolution effort...... a no-party state that has decimated democracy and kills people at will ..... Using extortion and coercion, the Maoists are imposing a violent authoritarian regime on steadily increasing swathes of the countryside. State forces are engaged in well-documented, systematic violations from extra-judicial executions to illegal detentions, disappearances, and torture..... the international community needs to speak with one voice on human rights ...... restoration of basic freedoms and establishes robust enforcement mechanisms and clearly defined benchmarks, including an effective, on-the-ground UN human rights monitoring mission ...... demand that both the government and the Maoists sign a Human Rights Accord as an initial confidence-building measure toward a resumed peace process ..... Human rights would thus become integrated with efforts to create a wider, coordinated international push for peace, ideally led by a contact group of key powers and the UN, supported by donor nations working on the development and rights tracks....... "Without concrete action on human rights, any return to the pre-coup situation would be little more than a return to the unsatisfactory status quo ante", says Templer. "Nepal's people would be condemned to further erosion of their rights and to the gross violations that feed the brutal insurgency".
• ICG hue and cry over worsening rights scenario Himalayan Times ICG said the ongoing 61st Commission on Human Rights in Geneva gives “Nepal’s friends their best opportunity to begin to reverse the trends by establishing a strong UN human rights monitoring mission that could form the core of action towards peace.” ..... exert leverage to end the culture of impunity by “preparing to suspend RNA from the UN peacekeeping operations if it does not improve its record.”
  
• Nepal: Dealing with a Human Rights Crisis International Crisis Group
• Nepal has enough arms to fight anti-government guerrillas ... Xinhua, China We are also capable of manufacturing ammunition for small arms including Self-Loading Rifles, M-16 rifle and Infantry Small Arms System ..... Gurung said that the US and Indian governments have not stopped military aid to Nepal completely, but have only kept the subject under review and constant watch. He ruled out the possibilities of buying arms from Nepal's neighboring countries.
• Army hails rift in rebel ranks in insurgency-ravaged Nepal Japan Today ....gained an edge over warring Maoist guerrillas amid reports of a rift in the rebel ranks .... punished more than 100 soldiers for rights violations ..... 44 soldiers, including senior officers, have been jailed
  
• Nepal says it is self-sufficient as far as its military ... Webindia123 "All the rank and file of the Royal Nepal Army dedicate themselves for the safeguard of the country, crown and democracy even at the stake of their lives. Each division has been carrying out the operation independently in their regions. We were self sufficient in small arms and ammunitions since quite long. Therefore, it is not a big deal, and that's why there won't be any problem so far as small arms and ammunitions are concerned" ..... "Army had to stay standby (before emergency) because of the various rallies staged by students and different parties often causing damages and ransacking etc. Now, since the Home Ministry and police force are controlling the situation (after the emergency), we are concentrating on the Maoist issue only" .....
  
• Nepal Punishes 108 Soldiers for Rights Abuses ABC News .... those guilty of rights violations were being punished with penalties ranging from warnings to imprisonment...... "Forty-four soldiers have been jailed for up to seven years for abuses like excessive use of force and forcibly collecting donations from the people" ..... 31 soldiers had been dismissed from the service and 12 others demoted. The rest had been warned or lost their annual increment in pay or been denied promotion..... Human rights groups say more than 1,200 people are missing
  
• Asia ; India blocks transport of oil to Nepal: Keralanext, India
• Indian crackdown halts Nepal's petroleum imports Express Newsline
• Delegates at IT meet apprised of Nepal’s situation: Dhakal Gorkhapatra, Nepal
• Dhakal seeks to bridge digital divide Gorkhapatra
• Ex-PM falls sick at Indian envoy's dinner New Kerala, India ...Thapa, 77, had suffered a heart attack .... Thapa, a six-time former prime minister .... has called King Gyanendra's takeover of the government and the imposition of a state of emergency "ill-advised"...... Tulsi Giri, a former prime minister himself and vice-chairman of the new council of ministers, has criticised Thapa's statement in public, saying only history would decide whether the royal move was "ill-advised".
• Festival of colours turns bleak for Nepal's politicians New Kerala, India the government's strongest critic and four-time prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala continued to be under house arrest ....... deputy prime minister and finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari - Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narsingh KC and others continue to be under detention along with a large number of student leaders
• Nepal's Anti-Corruption Panel Questions Government Ministers The ministers have denied any wrongdoing and say they are victims of a ``political vendetta'' ...... Homnath Dahal, one of the officials questioned by the panel, said he will challenge any charges against him in Nepal's Supreme Court ..... An all-party government that includes opposition parties should be formed, Deuba told the BBC...... Nepal depends on international donations that fund 62 percent of its development budget.
• Nepal's Royal anti-graft Commission to grill 21 more people New Kerala, India
  
• Probe into Dashain allowance case proceeds Royal Commission fixes ... Gorkhapatra, Nepal ..... on the recommendation of then minister Jogmehar Shrestha, Dilip Rai of Jhapa, Chettra Bahadur Gurung of Parbat, Amir Bikram Rana of Kathmandu and Toran Bahadur Gurung of Syangja had each received Rs. 162,000 .......on the recommendation of then minister Homnath Dahal, Dhruva Wagle of Tanahu, Indramani Adhikari of Kavrepalanchok, ex-MP Bhikhari Mansoor of Sarlahi, Dipak Bahadur Bista of Doti, Chet Raj Bajal of Bhajang, Manav Sejuwal of Jumla and Him Bahadur Shahi of Dailekh had received Rs. 150,000 each ...... Yubaraj Gyawali had recommended Rs. 140,000 each to Ranadwaj Kandangwa of Makwanpur, JB Tuhure of Morang, Maya Gyawali of Gulmi, Dilli Khatiwada of Morang, advocate Rudra Nepal of Kathmandu, Chattra Bahadur Bohara of Sindhupalchok and Dutta Bahadur Rokaya of Dolpa ....... Nepal Telecom Employee Narayahari Aryal Rs. 150,000 on the recommendation of then minister Dr Mohammad Mohasin, advocate Khadga Bahadur Sijapati of Dailekh received Rs. 75,000 on the recommendation of then minister Purna Bahadur Khadka while Ramnarayan Yadav of Morang had received Rs. 125,000 on the recommendation of then minister Badri Mandal ..... Dahal had also recommended Rs. 150,000 each for Chetman Shrestha of Gorkha, Tulasi Prasad Khanal of Paanchthar and Kumar Rai of Bhojpur ..... On the eve of Bada Dashain Festival-2004, the then Deuba government had on the recommendation of then six Ministers released Rs. 3860,000 from the Prime Minister’s relief fund to various individuals.
  
• Royal graft panel floats Dashain dole details Himalayan Times
  
• Two ex-ministers released on bail Gorkhapatra ....released two ex-ministers - Yubaraj Gyanwali and Jog Mehar Shrestha - on bail ..... Dr. Mohammad Mohsin, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Badri Prasad Mandal and Homnath Dahal – were released Monday after depositing the bail amount..... The six ministers are accused of wrongly distributing the government funds to brokers and affluent individuals to celebrate Dashain. The fund from which they had distributed the money was set up to provide relief assistance to the people affected by natural calamities and others who are poor and needy.
  
• Nepal's ex-ministers to contest graft charges New Kerala, India While the Prime Minister's Welfare Fund is meant for victims displaced by the Maoist insurgency and the economically disadvantaged, the six ministers are alleged to have approved the disbursement of about Nepali Rs.4.5 million among party cadre...... They were allowed to go only after posting bonds for double the amount each minister had sanctioned...... Badri Prasad Mandal NRs.2.5 million ...... Deuba's Nepali Congress (Democratic) party called the summons politically motivated. ...... It said the fund is disbursed in accordance with cabinet regulations and was a regular proceeding in the previous democratic governments. Dahal, who had been arrested after the imposition of emergency and was released only recently, called the investigation "extra judicial" and aimed at "political character assassination"......... The testimony of the former ministers will be assessed by the six-member commission, with the verdict expected on April 1........"We will fight a 'guilty' verdict in the Supreme Court," Dahal said. "It is nothing but a ploy to harass political opponents." ...... Since Nepal already has a Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority approved by parliament, the formation of a new monitoring body, headed by the king himself, has been regarded with distrust by the opposition parties, which feel it could be used to carry out a political vendetta. ....... Five major parliamentary parties, which have been waging a joint protest against the royal coup, are expressing fears that the royal commission would be used to rein in protesters and settle scores with political leaders, many of whom are still under detention for criticising the king. ...... Dahal said the accused ministers had made recommendations only and not taken the money themselves....... Legal sources said ousted premier Deuba, too, could be hauled up on the same charge.
• Nepali anti-graft panel grills 4 ex-ministers Xinhua, China The four former ministers were freed Monday evening after submitting a bail equivalent to the amount they had recommended the cabinet to distribute to their near and dear ones
• New watchdog summons five ex-ministers for probe New Kerala, India Since Nepal already has a Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority approved by parliament, opposition parties have regarded with distrust the formation of a new monitoring body, headed by the king himself...... They were the first ones to be summoned out of the nearly 600 complaints the commission reportedly received since its inception. The complainants' identity can be kept confidential and the commission can also reward them........ It has been given the right to confiscate the property of an accused found guilty and levy a fine or jail term of six months to anyone it considers has shown contempt or has been trying to obstruct its investigation. ....... The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had earlier asked the Deuba government for clarifications regarding reports that it had distributed about 4.5 million rupees to its party cadre from the Prime Minister's Assistance Fund before Dashain, Nepal's largest festival. The fund is meant to help the needy and distressed.
• Govt dissolves high-level peace committee Himalayan Times, Nepal One of the main objectives of the HPC was to develop the peace committee as a resource centre which would provide logistical support to the government during the peace process, rehabilitation of displaced people and reconstruction of damaged public infrastructure countrywide........ The HPC was set up with a ten-year-plan in mind. Other members of the HPC were top leaders of coalition — CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Pashupati Shumsher Rana, Dr Mohsin and president of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party and minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, Badri Prasad Mandal.

March 23

• Nepal scribes evade censors with blogs Calcutta Telegraph, India www.blog.com.np Hits have rocketed: from fewer than 13,000 in January to 65,000 in February and more than 80,000 in the first three weeks of March......
  
• Nepali reporters take democracy fight to cyberspace Reuters India freenepal.blogspot.com ..... some Internet sites remain blocked, including Maoist sites and news sites www.newslookmag.com and www.nepalipost.com .... "Our government is relatively new to the Internet and they don't have high-tech surveillance capability like in China. I don't think, but I'm not sure, they are even reading us."
  
• Nepal king snubs India, Britain Hindustan Times, India Miffed by criticism over his royal coup ...... The royal rebuff to Britain and India was underlined when the king met the US Ambassador to Nepal, James Francis Moriarty, this month but declined to give an appointment to Indian ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee and British envoy Keith George Bloomfield..... Gyanendra has been able to make time for outgoing Pakistani ambassador Zamir Akram, who he met March ..... also met India's Hindu nationalist leader Ashok Singhal .....
• Nepal: The Royal Regression And The Question Of Democratic ... CounterCurrents.org By Baburam Bhattarai 23 March, 2005 Krishna Sen News Agency
• Nepal’s tourism hit by wrong reporting Gorkhapatra, Nepal A gap between reality and communication and the negative connotation of the term ‘state of emergency’ in the international community have battered the image of Nepalese tourism..... blamed the political parties, human rights activists and travel advisories issued by different nations for distorting Nepal’s image ..... If the concerned authority had sent the messages including reasons and limitations of the state of emergency, the tourist arrival rate would not have gone down by 43 per cent in April, he added...... “Though the state of emergency has positive impact in tourism sector, we failed to take advantage of the improving situation of peace and order because of the wrong message sent to the world community,” he added. He said that the tourist arrival rate has decreased by 60 per cent in Lukla...... Mahat said the government has to use foreign media to disseminate the correct information.... the domestic passengers have increased by almost twofold
• TAAN refutes news report Gorkhapatra
  
• Asia ; India stops oil supply to Nepal: Keralanext, India In a move reminiscent of India’s 1989 economic blockade of Nepal, India stopped at least 71 oil tankers from bringing petroleum products into Nepal from Indian oil depots ..... An additional 55 tankers headed for the Barauni Supply Depot were returned empty after they were not allowed to proceed to the depot .... other Indian state governments bordering Nepal are also likely to hinder the movement of Nepalese oil tankers on one pretext or another
• Indian crackdown halts Nepal's petroleum imports Express Newsline
  
• NOC team in Patna to ensure smooth oil supply from Barauni Himalayan Times Nepal Oil Corporation .... has stocks to last just another week .... Each of the 140 oil tankers associated with ECEA is paying IRs 2,400 to the Kathmandu-based Indian embassy every three months for plying on Indian roads
  
• UNHCR urged to aid Bhutanese refugees in Nepal ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland The UNHCR announced last year it would gradually phase out its direct involvement in the camps by the end of 2005.... About 100,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in eastern Nepal for more than 10 years
• 'Jailed Nepal leaders denied medicare' Rediff, India former Deputy Prime Minister and Nepali Congress Central Committee member Ramchandra Poudyal, who has been in Tanahu Prison .. suffers from chest pain and a toothache ......Nepal People's Front .. chairman Amik Sherchan and vice-chairman Lilamani Pokhrel ..... gall-stone, kidney and nerve problems ........ Girija Prasad Koirala's family members had also complained that the ailing leader was not allowed to see his personal physician or meet family members
• ‘Political change not to affect Nepal-Japan ties’ Gorkhapatra, Nepal
• Sexually Exploited Women In Conflict Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand "Women have to suffer torture if they are not ready for physical contact with commanders or guerillas"....... "Thousands of women were forced to join the insurgency and exploited sexually"....... "I was beaten, raped, forced to go with them. Three men raped me"....... "Women's bodies have become a battleground over which opposing forces struggle"....... "Presently my husband is no more and I was sexually exploited"...... "I am homeless, where can I get help to take care of my unborn child"? ....... reaffirmed gender paradigms ....... thousands of women and girls of all ages were subjected to widespread and systematic sexual violence ....... Baburam Bhattarai has also stated that 50 per cent cadres at the lower level, 30 per cent soldiers and 10 per cent members of the central committee of the party are women. ....... women had to carry guns and satisfy sexual appetites of the insurgents...... Killing of male members of the family by both parties (the Maoist and the police) is another way of women being victimized ...... "Recent history has seen sexual violence and rape being used deliberately and strategically as weapons of war. If you see in Rwanda, Somalia Peru and Congo, HIV/AIDS has been called a weapon of war. Women who are already pregnant are forced to miscarry through violent attacks. Women are kidnapped and used as sexual slaves to service them and they are purposefully infected with HIV/AIDS. Even the areas of the country where civil rights were suspended and where the security forces found they could act with impunity, and took advantage of the situation to rape. The gender perspective argues that men and women have diverse experiences in conflict and peacetime, due to the heterosexual hierarchical hegemony....... marital rape to pre-natal sex selection in favour of male babies, female infanticide, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation, including trafficking and forced prostitution ....... a climate of impunity persists ...... by both enemy and "friendly" forces, including: Mass rape, military sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced "marriages" and forced pregnancies. Multiple rapes, sexual assault, resurgence of female genital mutilation ..... The program for Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration must emphasize the protection of women's rights as an integral part. We should know that in the context of war, rape and other forms of sexual violence are considered war crimes. Women always express fear that the war would not end and that they would experience future attacks and abuse...... support effective and culturally appropriate psychosocial programs for those who suffered sexual violence and should ensure that women are included in all aspects of planning for peace, demobilization, reintegration and rebuilding and support local organizations working to promote women's full participation and rights ...... For women who survive conflict, widowhood and the loss of family support, for these women, peace brings no peace..... the lack of safe spaces for women to recover and defend themselves ...... Physical consequences which range from contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and the damage of reproductive organ there are also the psychosocial consequences which if not addressed could prove even more damaging. ....... Pre-birth: Sex-selective abortion, Physical, sexual and psychological abuse, prostitution and pornography. Incest; sexual abuse in the workplace; rape; sexual harassment; forced prostitution and pornography; trafficking in women; partner violence; marital rape; partner homicide; forced pregnancy among others...... War has displaced 35 million people worldwide; 70 percent of these refugees and displaced persons are women
• Kamala Sarup: Security Of Life Scoop.co.nz (press release) ''My children and I fled to Kathmandu. I don't ever want to go back to our village. We are too scared.'' .... Conflict traumatize children for years..... Survival has become a daily challenge as people flee violence risking their lives and losing their livelihoods in the process...... "The humanized security approach to human security recognizes that states can be both sources of violence, and central to the ability to control violence".Security analyst Peter, from International University in New Jersey says. "Security is best achieved through development, not through the use of force". ...... Increasing crime is linked to breakdown in social cohesion, difficulties in finding employment, hunger, increased migration, drugs and drug trafficking ....... One fact that is key to the spread of violence is the availability of small arms and light weapons ....... Development strategies which emphasize the foundations of good governance therefore offer the best chance for sustainable human development under peaceful conditions ...... We should emphasize the importance of peace and democracy as a key concept. ....... all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated....... Warring parties require assistance not only in negotiating peace agreements but also in sustaining and consolidating the peace. There are three main components of peace building: strengthening political institutions, reforming internal and external security arrangements, and revitalizing the economy and the nation's social fabric ....... Threats to individual security come not only in the form of direct violence killing, war, attack, assault, abuse, rape but also in the form of structural violence denial of basic human needs, exploitation, marginalisation, suppression, and structural violations of human rights....... conflict, crime and repression - should be given equal attention in the human security agenda ...... economic security, financial security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, gender security, community security and political security ...... The challenge is to go beyond, to see: how do we deal with the root the conflict?
  
• Amid war, Nepal's Maoists build road to win hearts Reuters AlertNet, UK A steady stream of women and girls plod up from the riverbed, each balancing a heavy stone on her head. Above them, teams of workmen chip away at a rockface with pick-axes....... They are building what Nepal's Maoist rebels are calling "Martyrs' Road," a 90 km (55 mile) dirt road winding through the Himalayan foothills deep in rebel territory...... A "historic" case of revolutionary development, undertaken by a rebel movement even as they fight a bitter civil war? Or a sinister example of forced labour on a massive scale? ..... None of the people working on this road are paid or even fed. Some are Maoist cadres who have "volunteered" their labour. Many are locals who are simply expected to contribute to the cause....... "The government calls us terrorists but we want to prove we are capable of mobilising hundreds of thousands of people in a cause that benefits them," said a leading regional official, using his party name Comrade Surya, or Sun...... Comrade Surya said the rebels were making history by being the first to undertake large-scale development while still fighting a war. This he credited to rebel leader Prachanda ..... "We are proud we have created a new thinking while implementing Marxism-Leninism-Maoism in Nepal," he said, his two bodyguards close by, red cloth stuffed in their rifle barrels to keep out the dust...... "This new ideology that we have developed we call 'Prachanda Path'." ..... As he spoke, a blast rang out through the valley, explosives doing what pick-axes could not. ....... This is the Maoist heartland of Nepal, the desperately poor Himalayan foothills of the mid-west, a region the army scarcely dares to penetrate. There are hardly any roads here, just trails snaking through pine and rhododendrum forests. ...... In just nine years the rebels have gone from a small band of unarmed militants to a force that runs much of Nepal's countryside....... An army helicopter buzzes far overhead, scanning this "enemy" road, a calculated insult to the fading power of Nepal's state. Shortly after construction began last November, there was a lone raid. Since then the army has left the Maoist labour teams alone....... The rebel authorities in Rolpa district have asked every family to contribute one person's labour for 10 days to help build the road. So far, 60,000 people have taken part .....At the end of a hard day's work, dozens sit by the roadside to watch a three-hour video about the "People's War". Before they finally return to their villages, they will also be treated to a cultural programme and political discussions. ...... It could take three years to reach the road's final destination at Thawang, a small village the rebels consider their symbolic capital..... Many, though, are scared the army could one day mount a major attack, and some have fled. .... Others are unhappy to be treated as forced labour...... "People are scared," said the keeper of a barely stocked local shop. "People are forced to work. They cannot say no. They cannot oppose the Maoists." There is a suffocating atmosphere in the small villages of Triveni and Nuwagaon. Fear fills the air over the uncompromising rebels whose rule is law. As the day drew on, a child shouted noisily. "Keep quiet," his mother scolded. "Otherwise the Maoists will come and take you away."
• Fight `head-on with king' Bangkok Post Import of petroleum products by Nepal has come to a halt after oil tankers from here were stopped in Bihar ..... Authorities in the Indian state have taken drivers of 16 tankers belonging to Nepal Oil Corp. (NOC), Nepal's state-owned distributor of fuel, to court over non-payment of road tax..... The Bihar police have filed a case against them in the Bhagalpur district court ..... The depot currently has supplies for only two days ....... Nepalese authorities are blaming the Bihar government for the snag. According to them, the tankers carry permits issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu exempting them from taxes. .....However, the embassy said the permits only authorised the vehicles to ply in India for three months. They did not exempt them from prevailing state tolls such as road taxes.

March 21

• Nepal's Maoists take heart from king's power grab Reuters India, India This is the Maoist heartland of mid-western Nepal, where the narrow mountain trails buzz with rebel activity...... In public at least, the Maoists have taken it all in their stride..... "After the king's move it has become easier... Before, the political parties were creating all sorts of confusion. But now they are not there. Our fight is now head-on with the king and we think we can win it." ... Throughout Maoist-controlled areas, banners proclaim the start of a strategic offensive, the final phase of the "People's War"......Nepal's Maoists also hope to raise an insurrection from within the cities themselves....... Militarily, the rebels are almost impossible to dislodge from their remote rural strongholds. But they lack the firepower to challenge Nepal's army directly or take a district capital for more than a few hours....... Neither the king nor the Maoists seem ready for talks or for compromise at the moment ...... Both seem to think the military tide is running in their favour, and are playing for a stronger hand .... The first is whether the army can foil the rebels' call for a countrywide blockade for 11 days from April 2...... The second is whether the Maoists can win a significant military victory before rains come in June
• Nepal may sign arms pact with Beijing Times of India, India ....the RNA has stocks of ammunition to last only a few months and badly needs to replenish supplies ... most of the weapons it uses is Indian, including the Insas rifles carried by its infantry
• Nepal wants China's help for hydropower New Kerala "China is not one of Nepal's biggest donors like Germany or Japan but it has consistently regarded Nepal as a sovereign independent country," Bista said ..... the two countries had not yet identified the districts or the rivers where joint venture projects could be set up .......India's National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC), which has an understanding with Nepal to jointly start a 300 MW project on the Karnali, put off a visit to Kathmandu last month in the wake of the royal coup.......India also has indirect involvement in the 750 MW West Seti Hydroelectric Project being developed by Australian SMEC West Seti Hydroelectric Corp Ltd. The different state electricity boards of India are negotiating with the developer to buy power...... USAID has been instrumental in leveraging several hundred million dollars of private and other donor investments in hydropower development like the 60 MW, $138 million Khimti Khola Project and the 144 MW, $250 million Kaligandaki A Project......Of the $ 98 million required for the 36 MW Bhote Koshi Project, a majority of the equity investment is being provided by Americans, representing the single largest American investment in Nepal.
  
• Nepal's note to missions over meetings with political leaders Press Trust of India .....upset over foreign diplomats meetings pro-democracy leaders, the Royal government in Nepal has sent a note to foreign missions, including India, asking them to abide by the provisions of the Vienna convention..... American Ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty tried to meet former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba while he was under house arrest...... Tulasi Giri recently expressed displeasure over the activities of the foreign diplomats, saying even he was not invited by some diplomatic chiefs, who host dinner parties for the leaders of political parties ......"Nepalese people would not die if foreign donors stopped assistance", said Vice Chairman of the Cabinet Kirtinidhi Bista said
  
• Nepal could soon end state of emergency Kansas City Star "We are trying to lift the state of emergency as soon as we can," said Kirtinidhi Bista ...... refused to say when .....131 anti-monarch protesters were arrested ..... Several journalists have been arrested for articles critical of the monarch in the past two months.
  
• Nepal opposition activists 'held' BBC News, UK two former ministers were amongst those detained
• Nepal army claims success in operation against rebels Hi Pakistan The troops found and destroyed at least two bomb-making factories and several of the Maoist rebels’ bases .....hundreds of troops combed mountainous remote in Nepal’s remote western region, believed to be a rebel stronghold.
  
• Parliamentarians for restoration of democracy in Nepal Deepika Members in Lok Sabha, cutting across party line, today urged the Government to exert its influence for restoration of multi-party democracy in Nepal
  
• Chinese FM to visit Nepal from March 31 Gorkhapatra, Nepal March 31st to April 1st .....China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1993-95, and China’s Ambassador to the United States from 1998-2001
• Pandey in Doha Gorkhapatra

The Junta Is Defiant: Is It The Burma Option They Have In Mind?

A regime that has imposed a total blackout of democracy and human rights in the country through sheer threat of force has managed to challenge virtually every power on the global stage. This is a total mockery of democracy as a way of life. Is democracy a great idea, but one that is weak? Are democratic governments weaker than autocratic ones? If democracies are not weak, let the democracies show some teeth. Will they go beyond statements of condemnation? Because that obviously is not working.

Now that the regime has been totally isolated - the so-called Pakistan and China cards do not exist, thank you US and others - its continued defiance means it will keep on keeping on, and in desperation it might end up inflicting a lot of harm on the common Nepalis before it sees its sunset. One has to make room for the key figures in the regime being out of touch with reality. The goal is not only to bring down the regime, but to do so in ways that bring the least interim discomfort and worse for the Nepalis.

The noose has to be tightened. The protests inside the country will have to get more effective. The foreign powers will have to get more specific with their threats. It might soon be time for Indian economic sanctions, like in 1989.

Royal Diktat
Hindustan Times, 21 March 2005

Nepal has handed over a note verbale to India and other donor countries, asking them to keep away from pro democracy parties. It said foreign diplomats meetings with politicians violated the Vienna Convention.

China rejects Nepal aid plea
Nilova Roy Chaudhury
Hindustan Times, 21 March 2005

Contrary to the Nepalese monarch’s expectations, China has rebuffed requests for Beijing to step in to fill the arms supply deficit faced by the Royal Nepal Army in its war against the Maoists. According to diplomatic sources, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has refuse to visit Kathmandu during his forthcoming visit to South Asia in April, despite Nepalese request.

Such visit would have lent a some acceptability to the royal coup and made in India’s position more difficult. Faced with a monarch who refuses to even meet the Indian envoy in Kathmandu, Shiv Shankar Mukherje, or listen to "fraternal" Indian advice, New Delhi’s options have been limited to steadfastly adhering to the pro-democracy line.

Official sources also indicated that there has been no rethink on the part of the Indian government on suspending military aid to Nepal until the emergency is revoked and multi-party democracy restored.

Indian venture gets a rude wake-up call from Kathmandu The gloves are off. Far from trying to pacify New Delhi, King Gynanendra seems to be going out of his way to infuriate it. After he refused to meet Indian envoy Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, his government has rubbed salt into the wounds by imposing fresh restrictions on an Indian business venture.

• Nepal journalist's killing comes to light 22 months later New Kerala, India Nepal ranked with China, Cuba and Eritrea as being the deadliest countries for journalists ...... The most publicised case of the security agencies killing journalists was the arrest, torture and death of Krishna Sen, editor of the Maoists mouthpiece, Janadish.
• Fear Rules in Nepal's Maoist Heartland ABC News A boy in green combat fatigues emerges at the trailhead. The child, scarcely taller than the rustic rifle he is carrying, stops to take a rest. Around his head, a scarf from the movie Titanic...... among the ripening wheat fields, remote mountain terraces and forests, there is no sign of his army, only rebels and their guns..... "They want to send their children away before they are taken by the Maoists." ..... The rebels, who control much of Nepal's countryside, demand at least one person per household work for the party....... "Anyone who is 14 could be asked to go." ..... Some work as porters and messengers ...... The Royal Nepal Army scarcely ever sets foot here, and when it does it is usually to harass and arrest people indiscriminately. Locals say the Maoists are more disciplined ..... "Maybe only 30 or 40 percent of people here support them" ...... Rebel soldiers demand food, shelter and taxes from people who have scarcely enough to survive. Several days a month, villagers are forced to leave their fields and attend unpopular indoctrination sessions...... Maoists are polite, but feared and unloved in the town, he said, his voice little above a whisper..... "They ask for money to support the fighters and for the welfare of the people, but the way they live is extravagant." ..... Alcohol, gambling and prostitution are outlawed in Maoist-controlled Nepal, crime rare....... "We only execute people who inform on us to the police and army and get our people killed," said Comrade Current, a local area chief. "If they get 30 or 40 of us killed, then what is wrong with executing two or three of them?"
• Grinding poverty, oppression fuel Nepal's civil war Stuff.co.nz Here, the king and his army seem a world away......Six years ago, he sat with four friends in his desperately poor mountain village of Gumchal, bemoaning the lack of development, electricity, opportunity. The police burst in, accused them of being Maoists and beat them with rifle butts. The next day he ran away to join the "People's Army". ...... "The government has no interest in the problems of ethnic minorities and the poor. If the government was sincere in providing health, education and transport, we would have no need to shed our blood." ....... Four girls walk past in the opposite direction, on their way to rejoin the rebel army after their week's leave. Their hair freshly cut in bobs, some with fresh nail polish, the only give-away a pistol which one conceals beneath her T-shirt...... Development money almost never reaches the remote mountain villages where the minority ethnic Magar group make their homes..... The army and police rarely set foot outside Liwang, and when they do it is usually to harrass and arrest people ...... Comrade Darvin said rebel soldiers went without pay, just receiving food, clothes, shelter and medical care.
• Nepal government working to lift emergency rule soon Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates Bista, however, did not elaborate on a timetable for the change.
• Nepal army claims success against rebels Daily Times The troops found and destroyed at least two bomb-making factories and several of the Maoist rebels’ base ...... claimed the operation had foiled attacks being planned by the rebels. ..... hundreds of troops combed mountainous remote in Nepal’s remote western region, believed to be a rebel stronghold..... Prachanda said a week ago that his forces would step up attacks on government troops and set up roadblocks, then call for an 11-day nationwide anti-monarchy strike beginning April 2.
• Nepal arrests scores of activists Aljazeera.net Gyanendra's transition from constitutional to absolute monarch
• At least 149 arrested for holding anti-king protests across Nepal Channel News Asia The demonstrators distributed leaflets in the streets and shouted slogans .....
  
• Twelve political activists arrested in Nepal New Kerala, India
  
• Nepali parties to work for a new Consitution Hindustan Times Hrithesh Tripathi, leader of the Sadbhavana Party, was of the opinion that Nepal could be compared to a "mother in her labour pain" and a new constitution to "an able nurse" that can help in the birth of a "new Nepal with total democracy." ...... "The earlier Constitution was granted by the King. We want a Constitution that would be framed by the people," Tripathi said, adding that this was the most oppurtune time for a "united, do or die struggle for restoration of democracy."
• India says it position on Nepal is unchanged Hindustan Times, India the government was not much amused by the mere release of some political prisoners and wanted urgent restoration of complete democratic processes.....India is also not perturbed by the decision of Pakistan to supply arms to Nepal with officials maintaining "it is unlikely to influence our policy"........ US is believed to be mounting influence on Pakistan not to go ahead with its decision of supplying arms.
• Asia ; New watchdog summons five ex-ministers for probe : Keralanext Since Nepal already has a Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority approved by parliament, opposition parties have regarded with distrust the formation of a new monitoring body, headed by the king himself. ....... the royal commission would be used to rein in protesters and settle scores with political leaders....... They are: former home minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, agriculture minister Hom Nath Dahal, both of who belong to Deuba's Nepali Congress Party, Yubaraj Gyawali, former minister for local development who belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, Jog Meyer Shrestha, former land reforms minister, and Badri Prasad Mandal, a former deputy prime minister and forest minister in Deuba's cabinet....... It has been given the right to confiscate the property of an accused found guilty and levy a fine or jail term of six months to anyone it considers has shown contempt or has been trying to obstruct its investigation. ..... The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had earlier asked the Deuba government for clarifications regarding reports that it had distributed about 4.5 million rupees to its party cadre from the Prime Minister's Assistance Fund before Dashain, Nepal's largest festival.
  
• China’s stand on Nepal not to change: Envoy Gorkhapatra, Nepal ..... no matter what changes come to the international and regional circumstances.
  
• Economic aid to Nepal to go on, says China Himalayan Times ....the inaugural function of the Sino-Nepal Mutual Support Society..... Pointing to the changed opinion of India, America and Britain after the royal move of February 1 ...... The envoy hoped that rapid social and economic development and economic restoration and social stability would further consolidate the exchange of support.
• Nepal-China cooperation group set up in western Nepal People's Daily Online, China Nepal-China Mutual Cooperation Society has 10,000 members at present. It is a non-profit, non-political and non-governmental organization
• China grants sewing machines to Nepal People's Daily Online All China Women's Federation handed over 60 sewing machines as gift to the Women's Association of Royal Nepal Army at army officers' club .......
  
• Major parties reject Nepal govt's offer of talks New Kerala, India Tulasi Giri's offer of a dialogue on Thursday with political parties if they were ready to cooperate with the government in tackling insurgency, controlling corruption, economic reforms and strengthening bureaucracy ..... "Much of the issues raised by Giri on Thursday, including controlling corruption and curbing Maoist terror have already been taken up by us long before Giri landed here."
  
• Nepalese politician says Royal Nepalese Army committing violence ... New Kerala, India ....perpetrating violence to help King Gyanendra get foreign military aid ...... "On one side there is army and on the other there are Maoists. Right now the Maoists are not indulging in violence, but the army is conducting all violence there because the king does not want to solve the Maoist problems so that he can keep getting arms supply and become more powerful," Sujata Koirala, a prominent politician and daughter of a former Nepalese Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, said in an interview in northern Gorakhpur city of where she is presently residing after she fled from Kathmandu last month.
  
• Rise in extra judicial killings in Nepal: rights group: New Kerala, India A rights group based in India says extra judicial killings in Nepal have gone up "exponentially" since the Feb 1 royal takeover, claiming security forces on an average have been killing eight people a day...... urged for the freezing of assets of the royal family as well as senior officials and army top brass
  

Prime Minister-Elect Prasain: "You Have The Power!"

(I am posting again this article that I wrote when Dinesh Prasain, my high school roommate for three years, got beat up by the Royal Nepali Army early last year.)

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Prime Minister-Elect Dinesh Prasain: "You Have The Power!"

The Kathmandu Post
November 4, 2010

By A Post Reporter

Speaking from his homevillage of Mugitar (pronounced Mujitar), Prime Minister-elect Dinesh Prasain has said that he is but a vehicle for the people to express their legitimate wishes, concerns and aspirations, and he will do the best he can to fulfill the promises he made on the campaign trail. He reportedly returned immediately to his symblic roots after winning the necessary votes in the Pratinidhi Sabha.

"Satta tapain haroo to haat maa chha, mero haina!" he said in Nepali, which is a loose paraphrase of the most famous line of the US presidential candidate Howard Dean who fizzled out in 2004 and again in 2008.

Some foreign correpondents were quick to point out that Prasain is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the world, having beat Benazir Bhutto's record of 35. But Prasain's Defense Minister designate Kiran Sitoula informed the press in a conference call from Washington DC where he has been working as USA Today's bureau chief for the Chesapeake Bay region that such claims might not be warranted.

"Please don't go by Dinesh' official birthdate. It might be misleading. As is mine and those of a host of others who graduated high school together," Sitoula reportedly said.

He attributed it to cultural differences not immediately comprehended by the western eyes. "We celebrate festivals not birthdays where we come from," he added.

Some in Nepal wondered if Sitoula were referring to Prasain's eyes, but Sitoula made it clear that was not so. Sitoula acted utterly surprised such conclusions could have been drawn from his words.

Dilip Parajuli, Nuru Lama, and Swarnim Wagle are some of the other names floated for several top jobs in the government. Diwaskar Adhikari has said he will be an informal advisor to the Premier like he has always been, and that he will continue to stay abroad. He was last thought to be in Brazil.

CNN, Fox, and Drudge Report television cameras have supposedly descended on Pawan Adhikari's apartment in Manhattan and media helicopters are in the air.

"This is OJ-style fame for being Kiran Sitoula's roommate at high," Adhikari said.

It was later found out Adhikari never was Sitoula's roommate but they were in the same hostel twice.

The national media is abuzz with stories about the rapid rise of the Janata Dal. Dinesh Prasain rode a wave of support for him from his COCAP days as a skilled human rights activist after he got beat up by some members of the Royal Nepal Army early in 2004. The incident brought home an international and, followingly, a national outcry. The first result was that it became hard for anyone in Kathmandu to cast an evil eye on Prasain again. The second outcome was that COCAP saw a record number of volunteers to its causes nationwide. But the most dramatic and unexpected impact was on national politics.

The right wing got exposed to the point international pressure made King Gyanendra declare a referendum, conducted by an all party government headed by Madhav Nepal, to bring the civil war to an end. And the people voted to keep a multi-party democracy, but chose to discard the monarchy, and instead have a republic, which the Maoists accepted, as they had vowed to accept the outcome of the referendum, and had laid down their arms before it could take place.

King Gyanendra has gone back to the world of business and is expected to continue producing cigarettes for the domestic and the international markets.

Prasain reportedly held talks a few days back with Paramendra Bhagat in Hawaii offering him the presidency, since his party has the necessary number of votes, but Bhagat declined saying it might be too sexist for two men to hold the two top jobs in the country. And so Prasain has declared he will throw his support behind Renuka Devi Yadav from Birgunj, his colleague from his days in human rights activism. Bhagat also said he needed to stay on with his rapidly expanding global online marketing business that looks like will take over Walmart as the largest company in the world.

"I hope I can help Nepal on the global stage, especially on trade issues," Bhagat said, hoping to offer his vast global contacts, including those in India, his motherland, since his mother is Indian.

Bhagat also suggested he will instead focus on getting the United Nations reorganized, for which Prasain's role in the Global South would be indispensable.

It is well documented that Prasain could not resist pressures to enter politics after the civil war came to an end. And when he did, he came forth with a progressive agenda that the party of his choice, the Nepali Congress, could not stomach. He was assured a ticket but nothing much else. To that he and his supporters responded by floating a new political party, the Janata Dal. The Dal grew fast enough that it was able to field a candidate in every constituency in the country. They surprisingly emerged the largest party in the country, but did not have the majority. The Nepali Congress, the UML, the RPP, the Sadbhavana, the NMKP, and the Maoist Party forged a coalition government that lasted three years, after which the Maoists split away from the coalition. And elections had to be held, to which the Janata Dal came up with a majority of seats in the Pratinidhi Sabha that many describe as Blairite: Janata Dal 130, Nepali Congress 40, UML 30, and the RPP 5. The other parties have lost their national status.

The average age of a Janata Dal MP is 32. When brought to attention Prasain responded, "That befits a country where more than 40% of the population is less than 14 years old."

Prasain has a Masters in Sociology from Tribhuvan University, and has taken several elective courses on Methodology, Economics, Environmental Science, Global Economics, Mass Psychology, French, and Bengali from the University Of Phoenix Online. He says he hopes to complete a few courses in Sanskrit while in office to "keep my mental muscles in shape, besides, we are in the computer age."

Although his political career got launched on the anti-corruption platform, aka V.P. Singh style, Prasain says the national economy is his number one priority. Second, the Dal will repeal every sexist law in the country. Third, the country will have the most progressive anti-corruption laws and law enforcement anywhere in the world, the Dal manifesto says. Fourth, three years into the term, the Dal will organize a nationwide referendum to see if the people want a federal form of government or not. The Dal reportedly got a huge boost from the Madhesi and the Janajati communities and has been seen as a major voice for social justice, both in the country and on the sub-continent.

"In India they elected Indira Gandhi Prime Minister several times. But they never really tackled legal and social sexism," Prasain opines. "We will be different."

"We are a strong voice for social justice. But let there be no misunderstanding, my first priority will be rapid economic growth. There is no reason whey a country like Nepal can not achieve the ecomic status of a Singapore within two decades of hard work," Prasain said in an interview to Time magazine. "China and India are about to surpass the U.S. in terms of size of GDP. Guess where that puts the center of gravity for the world economy!"

Major high tech multi-national companies have already offered to lay down a national fiber optic grid, "the very best in the world," on BOOT basis, Build-Own-Operate-Transfer. The executives seem to have the opinion it is easier to lay down such a grid in a country like Nepal where all work will have to be from scratch. "There is less confusion. You don't have technology from three different decades sharing the same space, on the ground and, worse, in people's minds. You are looking at literally everyone in the country having broadband internet access. If you can have Harvard and MIT lectures delivered right here, why would you want to fly over to Harvard? It gets cold there in Boston in winter. Geography truly is irrelevant."

"We will make massive investments in human capital, and we will open up to the global economy which will take care of the rest."

The Univesity of Phoenix Online has decided to move over to Kathmandu to honor its most famous student.

"Who's next!" Prasain asked with a sly smile. The Premier's aide Jagadish Bhattarai failed to elaborate on the smile. And the Labor Minister designate Krishnanath Shah - not to be confused with the now gone royal clan - also refused.

The Dal General Secretary G.P. Singh is said to not go into the government so as to keep working full time to keep the party agile "because every major agenda on our platform will ask for a national campaign."

Laloo Yadav of Bihar is said to have said of Prasain, "Wo babhan hai, lekin honhaar ladka hai. Laloo ka aadmi nahin hai to kya hua!"

**********
AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin - Number 13, January 21, 2004
**********

NEWS FROM THE ADVOCACY PROJECT

NEPALESE HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER AND AP PARTNER BEATEN BY SECURITY FORCES

Washington, D.C., January 21, 2004: A leading Nepalese human rights activist and Advocacy Project partner has been severely beaten at his home in Kathmandu by a group of armed men from the Nepalese security forces, in an apparent attempt to intimidate Nepal's vocal human rights community at a time of growing insecurity in the country.

Dinesh Raj Prasain, coordinator of the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), was attacked at his home on January 13, and the event has triggered a major outcry among civil society in Nepal. In a press release issued January 15, twenty-seven prominent human rights activists appealed for international solidarity, and demanded a full and public investigation by the Royal Nepal Army and the National Human Rights Commission.

'(This attack) has exposed the insensitivity of the government towards the safety and protection of citizens,' states the release. 'It is a naked attack on all of us human rights activists who are always committed to advocate human rights of the people.'

COCAP is a community-based network of some 40 community-based groups working to rebuild Nepali society in the face of a bitter conflict between the central government and Maoist insurgents. The Advocacy Project arranged for Kate Kuo, a Georgetown student, to work with COCAP during the summer of 2003.

The attack on Mr. Prasain was clearly vicious and premeditated. According to Mr. Prasain's own account, about six men knocked on his door just after midnight on January 13, refused to provide identification, and then proceeded to break into his residence.

'One of the men pulled out a revolver and said he would shoot me if I did not open the door. I felt very fearful, and closed the door and latched it from inside. They started pulling and kicking the door. I did not know what to do, and in the frenzy, I ran towards the kitchen, planning to jump off the veranda. But within seconds, they broke the door, caught me and started beating me severely. They beat me up on my face, head, stomach, back and thighs with fists and kicks. I guess at least four of the six persons beat me. They beat me continuously, pulling me kitchen to corridor, corridor to kitchen.

'They asked why I tried to escape, if I had not some thing to hide. I told them that I was fearful that they were professional criminals, and kept on insisting that they show me their ID cards. One of them showed his ID but blocked his name.'

Mr. Prasain's 72-year-old father and nephew, who witnessed the search and assault, stated that one member of the group carried a 'long gun.'

Following the attack, COCAP commissioned a fact-finding team from seven COCAP member organizations. The team, which included the Vice President of the Nepal Bar Association, concluded that the assailants were from the security forces because according to eyewitnesses, they were led by an unidentified 'major.' Given that no other houses were searched in the area, the sole objective was clearly to assault Mr. Prasain.

Thousands of Nepalis have died since the Maoist insurgency erupted in Nepal in 1996. A brief ceasefire collapsed last August, leading to renewed violence and abuse. On 12 November 2003 the UN issued a press release in which three UN human rights monitors expressed 'profound concern over reports that dozens of individuals are being detained secretly in Nepal and are therefore at risk of suffering torture and other forms of ill-treatment.' Amnesty International has documented the disappearance of 250 persons by the security forces during the fighting. The Maoist rebels have also been blamed for disappearances and abuses.

While the recent attack on Mr. Prasain would seem to be a blatant attempt to intimidate one of the country's leading peace activists, it may also be linked to Mr. Prasain's own forthright stand against NGO corruption. Several local NGO leaders objected strongly to a December 2003 article in which Mr. Prasain criticized Nepalese NGOs.

After the article was published, Mr. Prasain received threats on his life. He feels it is possible that the security forces were falsely told that he was harboring Maoists, and were even bribed to attack him.

In the view of COCAP members, such a possibility only increases the need for a full and public investigation.

* For more information contact Laura Stein at info@advocacynet.org
* For a report of the COCAP fact-finding mission into Dinesh Prasain's beating, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/resource_view/link_389.html
* For Dinesh Prasain's account of his beating, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/resource_view/link_390.html
* Email or contact the Nepalese government, calling for an inquiry. For a complete list of embassies and consulates, with contact details, visit: http://www.immi.gov.np/location.php
* For a report of Kate Kuo's internship with COCAP, including her blogs, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/interns03_COCAP_22_48.html

*

The Advocacy Project is based in Washington D.C. Phone: +1 202 332 3900;
fax: +1 202 332 4600. Visit the AP web site for information about current projects: www.advocacynet.org. For more information please e-mail info@advocacynet.org

Doing Business With Baburam Bhattarai

This article in The Tribune sheds some light on Bhattarai's mindset. But we also have to listen to him speak directly in his recent communication. Refer to Baburam Bhattarai On A Democratic Republic.

Some observations I would like to make:

1. The goal is to end the violence in the most peaceful way possible from a position of strength. The goal is democracy. That means engaging with the Maoists politically through dialogues. Back channel communications are where you start. There is no military solution. There has to be a political solution through respectful dialogue, especially since that is also the preferred of the two options.
2. I am for a Democratic Republic with or without the Maoists. In his recent communication Bhattarai has said the Maoists are for a Democratic Republic with or without the democrats. That is what they want on their own. Maybe a communist republic five decades from now. But it is their "scientific, objective" determination, judgment call, that what they want at this point for Nepal, owing to the socio-economic conditions, is a Democratic Republic.
   
3. And they do not want a Democratic Republic through an armed revolution. They want it through a Constituent Assembly. That is what I want.
4. And so it is for the democrats to do their homework. And form a coaltion with the Maoists. Got to engage them politically, and got to stay engaged with them. You have to do that if you are for the democratic process and are against violence. Meaning, if you do not, you are indirectly for violence, and continued civil war.
   
5. I feel the political platform has been gelling. It has been taking shape.
   
6. Next question has to do with disarming the Maoists. I want UN mediation. That is what the Maoists want. It can not be India, or some other state. It can not be bilateral, because the warring factions within Nepal have demonstrated time and again we can not do it on our own. If it is okay to take external military assistance for the fight, it is okay to take external assistance for peace. The UN is the most neutral, respected party I can think of for the purpose.
   
7. There will be many details, and many disagreements along the way. I expect some posturing by various factions along the way. But peacemaking is a process, it is work, it is a delicate process, like heart surgery. Let the UN professionals do the work. The process will be transparent for the most part.
   
8. The end result: an all-party government that has Maoist participation, that has the sole mandate of holding elections to a Constituent Assembly at the earliest, with the Maoists disarming before they become part of the government. In the process, I expect the RNA to get renamed, and reorganized in a major way. Personally I want it disbanded for good, but I am open to the possibility others might disagree. Mechanisms will have to be put in place to make sure the disarmed Maoist fighters do not have options to rearm quickly, at a moment's notice. And the state will have to provide extra pesonal security to the Maoist leadership as they participate in the government and the democratic process.
   
9. It is possible for the Maoists to emerge as one of the largest political parties within the democratic process. I am fine with that. And it is just fine if, in their internal deliberations, they continue to dream of a socialist utopia that they might be able to achieve in, say, five decades. I would not even mind their anti-India, anti-US, anti-UML rants. As long as they get disarmed, and stay disarmed, as long as they accept peaceful co-existence with other parties, as long as they accept the multi-party democratic framework, their internal deliberations and ideology are their private matter.
   
10. The whole idea is to move them from "Power flows through the barrel of a gun" to "Power flows through the ballot box."
    

In The News

• Power eludes Maoists in Nepal Chief ideologue and No. 2 in the Maoist hierarchy Babu Ram Bhattarai (BRB) comes from Gorkha .... He learnt the ropes at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi ...... On April 11, 2003, he made this offer to King Gyanendra: “Our basic agenda is to form a Republican state. If the King abdicates voluntarily, we will offer him some position. It will be good if he agrees to play the role of Norodom Sihanouk”. King Norodom Sihanouk, we all know, abdicated the throne on October 6, 2004....... The King is equally adamant about not rolling back...... it is instructive to study the recent thoughts of BRB, nom de plume Jit Bahadur, Commander of the newly formed Central Command, in interaction with his cadres sometime in October 2004. The dialogue recorded on four audio-cassettes and translated from Nepali to English, was captured by the RNA in their biggest military operation in Baglung from October 7 to 14 last year .... BRB was lucky to escape capture. Like the LTTE, Maoists are crazy about filming and recording their activities. The two previous prize catches by the RNA were films of a high-power training conference in 2001 and the famous attack on Beni. ...... all is not well with the revolution because the ultimate goal of capturing power in Kathmandu has eluded the Maoists. BRB maintains and correctly, that the High Command is united under the leadership of its supremo Prachanda, though there are differences between those who favour a negotiated settlement and others preferring to launch the so-called strategic offensive...... “as of now, we have lost at least 10,000 comrades but our party has achieved new heights” ....... Dominating the discussion are two themes: military power and India. The obsession with military power is evident from repeated references to “reaching Kathmandu” and the inescapable reality that “wars cannot be won without ammunition and weapons”. It is well known that Maoists are short of weapons and ammunition. Only 40 per cent of their fighting company of 130 cadres carry weapons....... Nepalese diaspora and the internal revolutionary tax regime have together contributed cash and jewellery worth $150 million, some of it looted from banks ....... The Maoists pay the highest attention to physical fitness. The speed of attack and dispersal carrying their casualties are given the highest priority...... BRB is reassuring comrades that though Kathmandu is far, “we will reach it step by step”.......The obsession to seize Kathmandu is deep-rooted..... capturing Kathmandu even for a day was vital for the morale of the movement and to justify the sacrifices made by the people ..... The road to Kathmandu, warns BRB, is difficult. We will need to improve our attack techniques at new heights, stock grain, interdict RNA supply lines, neutralise enemy air attacks and prepare for attacks on a very large scale....... No longer are Maoists able to dislodge the RNA from their defences. The last successful Maoist attack was in March 2004 at Beni and that too, against the police and not the RNA....... the biggest problem of this war for the Maoists is the lack of defence against air assault which is responsible for 70 per cent of their casualties..... The RNA have perfected a technique called Tora Bora which is free-fall delivery of mortar bombs from helicopters...... The Maoists have no anti-aircraft weapons. They are also unable to organise and mobilise large-scale attacks as they were able to throughout 2002 against the RNA....... BRB was counselling comrades on recourse to tunnel and mine warfare and espionage ...... Maoists have made villages dig trenches in some border areas so as to fight “expansionist India”, BRB’s obsession no. 2. He realises that the capture of power in Kathmandu is related to resisting India, organising Nepalese living in India and eventually overcoming the Indian Army......... He admits that the people were not happy with the ideology framed by them. It had to be reviewed. These remarks were made presumably in the aftermath of grave brutality and indiscipline by Maoists in Dailekh and Baglung where all the villages revolted against their cadres and punished them. Nepal’s human rights groups have catalogued in gruesome detail, some of these excesses........ Under no circumstances would Maoists allow the holding of elections or joining the government for what he calls “the drama of peace talks”. He is probably on the side of that section in his party that wishes to undertake the strategic offensive ...... He has also reiterated his party’s determination to fight the King and CPN UML, the two other class enemies after India and the US. His admission that in this day and age, no one is 100 per cent Communist, must be comforting for the illiterate but revolutionary cadres........ The illusions of a Maoist military victory are comparable with the miscalculation of the Royal game plan of defeating the Maoists. The ground situation in Nepal is still in a strategic stalemate. Only a political process will open a door. King Gyanendra is hardly likely to do a Sihanouk anytime soon.
• Maoist deal to sideline Nepal’s king
  
• US jittery over Nepal President [George W] Bush's declaration of the United States's support for freedom around the world very much extends to Nepal ..... Camp stated, "We are concerned about abuses and atrocities by Maoists and human rights abuses by government security forces including extra-judicial killings and 'disappearances'. We continue to vet units receiving US assistance to ensure that none is implicated in human rights violations. An amendment to the FY 2005 Senate Appropriations bill stipulated that Foreign Military financing could be made available to Nepal if the secretary of state determined that Nepal was taking a number of steps to improve the human rights practices of the security forces. We have made it clear to the government of Nepal that we expect to see appropriate, timely and transparent investigations of any credible allegations of abuse and that failure to do so could jeopardize our ability to continue assistance. We will continue to convey our strong concern about human rights violations by the security forces to the highest levels of the Nepal government and urge swift investigation and punishment." on February 20, met Royal Nepali Army (RNA) chief General Pyar Jung Thapa in his Kathmandu headquarters soon after the royal takeover, Thapa hinted at invoking the 1950 India-Nepal Friendship Treaty to seek Indian troops to deal with the Maoist insurgency...... The Indian position, as it was eventually communicated, was that India could not deny troops if asked....... Gyanendra forced the Nepali cabinet to shut down the Tibetan cultural center affiliated to the Dalai Lama following the Christmas weekend visit to Hong Kong of King Gyanendra's son, Crown Prince Paras, and the fact that the coup itself took place after his second trip to Hong Kong in January...... the king's decision to open the Lhasa-Kathmandu Road. This road had been built but never opened....... Pakistan never really condemned the Maoist movement within Nepal. China, by contrast, was always categorical in condemning the Nepali Maoists and supporting the royalty..... General Pyar Jung Thapa ... In Beijing for a week, Thapa held talks with top military officials such as Defense Minister General Cao Gangchuan and General Liang Guanglie, chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army.......... US legislators Frank Wolf and Mark Udall in a letter to colleagues criticizing the harassment of Tibetans in Nepal........ The US has also become a major provider of military assistance to Nepal, allocating over US$29 million in grants to pay for US weapons, services and training from October 2001 to October 2004....... For fiscal 2004, the Bush administration asked Congress for $10.6 million financing....... Washington has a series of military arrangements with countries bordering China, stretching from its new bases in the Central Asian republics through Southeast Asia to its formal allies in northeast Asia: Japan and South Korea....... the US was threatening to raise the issue of human rights in Nepal in the United Nations and other world forums. Nepal was threatened with expulsion from the UN, the World Trade Organization, and so on. According to Indian intelligence, Nepal has approached China to veto any such threat.