The Monarchists, Not The Maoists, Are Like The Al Qaeda

In Iraq, the Al Qaeda did everything in its powers to disrupt the elections to that country's Constituent Assembly held early this year. They failed, and rightly so. In Nepal, the Monarchists are doing everything in their powers to deny Nepal its elections to a Constituent Assembly. And these Nepali Monarchists are succeeding. So the Nepali Monarchists are the Nepali Al Qaeda, only much more vicious and entrenched.

In The News

• China aims to boost ties with isolated Nepal Reuters AlertNet, UK ....by turning down Nepal's request for a visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, China had also shown it did not want to antagonise India, which has condemned the king's actions and urged democracy be restored ...... royal government was reaching out to China and Pakistan to show that it was not isolated ..... expected to invite Gyanendra to visit China ..... Political parties have vowed to launch a nationwide protests against the monarch on April 8, the anniversary of the establishment of multi-party democracy in 1990...... Islamabad would consider supplying arms to Nepal if Kathmandu were to make a formal request
• China minister in key Nepal visit BBC News ... the Nepalese authorities are attaching a lot of importance to the visit ..... Mr Li's visit follows trips by junior ministers from Pakistan and Cuba..... Pokhara, a police officer died from bullet injuries after being shot
  
• Barun Roy: Nobody gains from a weak Nepal Business Standard, India Foreign tourists, who, like non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are the mainstay of the Nepalese economy, are staying away from the country for now...... My flight to Kathmandu from Kolkata was two-thirds empty. At the height of the tourist season, Soaltee is reporting no more than 25 per cent occupancy. Hoteliers at the Chitwan National Park have started laying off staff. Wood carvers and tankha painters of Bhaktapur say they seldom had it so bad........ The political oligarchs totally misused the opportunity that was given them, doing nothing but consolidating their individual wealth....... there hasn’t been a single case of bombing in the valley in the two months that the King has been in absolute power ...... If the pollution in the valley is brought under control and roads, water supplies, electricity, and health services in the interiors are developed to acceptable standards, it can be an attractive nursery for many industries and services, software being one of them. The retirement industry can be another, given the degree of sympathy that a lot of outsiders — Americans, Japanese, Europeans, even Indians — have for this lovely country........ What the country needs is real money for real investments, and that can come only from the global private sector, provided the policies and inducements are right.
• LOSING KATHMANDU Calcutta Telegraph .... crisis is a product of deep-seated structural issues in Nepalese society ...... Gyanendra, whose paranoia makes them immune to both the interests of their own people and international pressure ...... a result of our encasing Nepal in a relationship of subordination ..... matters from building hydro projects to roads required India’s tacit approval. Even though we were in many ways a benign power, we were ultimately paternalist. The overall structure of the relationship lent itself to creating a politics of resentment in Nepal. And this relationship was driven by our conception of security, not by the imperatives of development in Nepal......... the king’s policies had little to do with effectively dealing with the Maoists. As reprehensible as their methods are, they draw upon legitimate grievances and are a viable political movement. Indeed, the present conjuncture is a unique opportunity to bring many of them into the political mainstream. Some of the Maoists realize that their long-term goals require them to gain broader political legitimacy. Democracy itself can be a path to power. The Maoists have, for the first time, allowed regular political parties to operate in areas under their control...... the Indian government is not doing enough to establish political links with the Maoists. A great failing of our policy is that we often let the intelligence establishment define our political objectives........ Now that there is an opportunity for them to be part of the political dialogue, we want someone to destroy them. ...... The king .. apparently believes that India and the United States of America will not put maximum pressure for fear of sending him closer to China....even our ambassador can be sent away without an audience. ........ impress upon the king that now is his last opportunity ...... a groundswell of republicanism inside Nepal ...... The international community will have to think of a decent exit strategy for the king ...... What India needs in the Nepal crisis is deep links with the important actors, the Royal Nepal Army, the Maoists and others. Foreign offices are not good at cultivating these links....... in the past we have attenuated Nepal’s sovereignty based on our security concerns. Now we should perform a constructive role in maintaining democracy in Nepal....... It is about time that Nepalese society writes a constitution for itself, rather than being handed one by the king....
  
• Bangladesh, Nepal among world’s leading disaster hot spots New Kerala, India
• India, Nepal discuss bilateral issues Economic Times, India Nepal ... continues to receive economic assistance from India.
• Nepal General Strike Protests King's Power Grab Scotland on Sunday, UK Streets were largely deserted ..... The strike today comes two days ahead of an 11-day nationwide strike ..... Biratnagar... factories remained closed and streets deserted today ... Business and schools also remained closed .....security forces were escorting some vehicles along local highways but only a few were willing to take the risk..... Eastern Nepal has two key border points with India, which hundreds of trucks use daily to deliver goods between the two nations. There was no traffic movement on either border points
• Nepal’s political parties to step up protests Daily Times The demonstrations on April 8 will coincide with an 11-day general strike starting Saturday that Maoist rebels called ....... We are working on strategies to be bring out the mass protest next week. It will be joint rallies organised by the five major political parties ..... the protests haven’t gained momentum because their top leaders are either in detention, exile or hiding
  
• Chinese foreign minister arrives in Nepal Xinhua, China "I believe my visit will help to further promote friendship and mutual understanding of our two peoples." ..... visit is on the eve of the golden jubilee of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nepal
• China is Nepal's reliable friend: Nepali King Xinhua, China "Nepal firmly supports the one-China policy of your government and will never allow any anti-China activities in Nepal's territory" .....
  
• India expects China will give "right" advice to Nepal Press Trust of India, India "I expressed the hope that China as a good friend of Nepal will give the right kind of advice to the Nepalese," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran ..... Saran, who called on Li here today prior to his departure for Nepal .... Li said that just as India is very much concerned about instability in Nepal, so is China. .... The Chinese Foreign Minister, who recalled that Saran had been earlier India's Ambassador to Nepal, asked for India's assessment of the situation in Nepal...... "I said that the steps taken by His Majesty, the King has not led to either an improvement in the security situation in the country nor had led to any economic recovery in the country. In fact, our sense is that in both these areas, the situation has become somewhat worse", Saran said.

King Gyanendra: A Profile

A Profile

"The days of royalty being seen and not heard are over," he says. "And the monarchy is not going to allow anyone to usurp the fundamental rights of the people. All I'm saying is stop saying 'me.' Say 'us.' Stop saying 'party.' Say 'people.'"

I think this statement from King G sums it up. Stop saying party, say people. I guess the guy is the ultimate Panche. Political leaders in a democracy are, by definition, going to disagree and disagree a lot. He finds that offensive. It is the mindset of an aristocrat, an autocrat. His gameplan is to stay, and to stay a little more. If he gets his three years - not likely - he will bring in a Musharraf democracy. Elections will be held, but the drama will be just his way of "hiring" a new face, to be dismissed at whim.

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyanendra_Bir_Bikram_Shah_Dev
2. TIMEasia Magazine: King Gyanendra: Extended Interview
3. TIMEasia Magazine: Interview With The King
4. BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Profile: Nepal's King Gyanendra
5. BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepal king's biggest gamble
6. COVER STORY (Spotlight Weekly)
7. The Agonist | thoughtful, global, timely .... a man who believes in royalty, who believes that from his birth he has been "higher" than other people...After his father died, Gyanendra became a trusted adviser to his brother, King Birendra, but they fell out in 1990. That was when Birendra agreed to give up absolute power and become a constitutional monarch.Gyanendra opposed the constitutional monarchy from the start...So unpopular is Paras that at first Gyanendra did not dare name him as crown prince and heir, but waited until he had been on the throne a few months, and then rushed the announcement out during a holiday ...... In 2000, Paras allegedly killed a popular singer while drunk at the wheel. Half a million Nepalis signed a petition calling for him to be prosecuted......Most of Gyanendra's life has been devoted to preserving the absolute power of the kings of Nepal and, seen in that light, his decision this week to tear up the constitution and reimpose direct rule is not surprising. It was just the latest in a series of efforts to take back the powers his brother gave away in 1990.
8. TIMEasia Magazine: A Kingdom in Chaos January 26, 2004 As his servants take their leave with a series of silent bows, it becomes apparent that King Gyanendra spends much of his time in the company of ghosts..... "It is lonely," says Gyanendra, drawing deeply on a cigarette and flicking ash absently onto a tiger-skin rug. "I miss my brothers and sisters. I am a human being after all." ..... "I left this palace 30 years ago when I got married," says Gyanendra in his measured English. "I never thought I would have to occupy it again. It is difficult, but we do the best we can. It's people that change a house into a home, and that's what we've been trying to do." ..... Beset by enemies from within and without, with government control outside of the capital slipping away, Gyanendra alone rules a country that foreign diplomats and many Nepalese believe is verging on anarchy........ the Maoist uprising is currently the deadliest conflict in Asia ... also the most brutal. ...... crowds of Maoists would watch their leaders break every bone in a "class enemy's" body, then skin him and cut off his ears, lips, tongue and nose, before sawing the body in half or burning it ........ the "almost identical pattern" of such atrocities suggested this was "a policy coordinated at senior command levels." ...... the countryside, the majority of which is under the control of neither the Maoists nor the army ....... since 1996, Maoists have destroyed 1,321 village administration buildings and 440 post offices, while police have abandoned 895 stations and teachers have abandoned 700 schools...... "The smell of burning tires on the streets of the capital reeks of democracy in decay," writes Nepali Times commentator C.K. Lal. ....... Gyanendra says he will relinquish power and reinstate Parliament only if the parties unite to pull Nepal back from the abyss ...... in April 2003 the Maoists released a manifesto expressly welcoming "citizens of any foreign nation who were compelled to leave [their home countries] due to their involvement in revolutionary activities." ...... "The future of Nepal, yes, lies in constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy," he says. But he refuses to leave governance solely to them. "The days of royalty being seen and not heard are over," he says. "And the monarchy is not going to allow anyone to usurp the fundamental rights of the people. All I'm saying is stop saying 'me.' Say 'us.' Stop saying 'party.' Say 'people.'" ....... "He's an ambitious man," says sacked Prime Minister Deuba. "He just wants power." ...... "If some people do not understand me, if there is mistrust and a crisis of confidence, let's do something about it." ...... Gyanendra admits that he has reservations about the need to be known and demystified ...... "There is a human face to every King," he says, "but that does not mean he has to flaunt it." Asked about his sense of isolation, he grows defensive. "What makes you think I don't have friends?" he asks. But one such friend, Prabhakar Shunshere Rana, says that, for a King, relatives are the only true confidants. "You can have friends, advisers, all the experts you want," says Rana. "But without family, without brothers and sisters, monarchy is a very lonely place. The late King used to consult with Gyanendra all the time. If you look at Gyanendra now, he's really on his own." ........ Gyanendra says he still dreams of a time when "all of Nepal should have the opportunity to progress irrespective of color, caste and creed." He adds, "If the people are happy, the King is happy."
9. King Gyanendra: The absolute monarch :: KuraKani.tK :: Dedicated ... He was in favor of absolute monarchy since he was a kid. He was angry at his brother and late king Birendra for accepting to be a constitutional monarch....... Most of Gyanendra's life has been devoted to preserving the mystique and power of royalty. He even played a small part in the drama of Britain's own royal family. When Prince Charles came to Nepal in the late 1970s for some space to think about whether he should marry a young blonde called Lady Diana Spencer, it was Prince Gyanendra who took the English prince under his wing, playing host and devising the "royal trek", a route below Machhapuchhre mountain where Charles walked and meditated on his decision....... after those tumultuous events of his boyhood, Gyanendra had to learn to play the part of the dutiful younger brother. He developed his own business interests: a hotel in Kathmandu, a tea estate in eastern Nepal, and a cigarette factory. He also became a leading conservationist........ After his father died, Gyanendra became a trusted adviser to his brother, King Birendra, but they fell out in 1990. That was when Birendra agreed to give up absolute power and become a constitutional monarch.Gyanendra opposed the constitutional monarchy from the start....... Gyanendra might well get away with his gamble - but for the Maoists. He may have seized absolute power, but it extends only over Kathmandu and a few government-controlled towns outside the capital. ...... The front line is just 20 miles from Kathmandu. Across it, you are no longer in Gyanendra's Nepal, but in the Maoists' Nepal.