The Road To The White House Goes Through Nepal

(..... written for DFNYC, more specifically The Lower Manhattan Democracy For America MeetUp Group, whose meeting I attended a few days back in East Village. I also went to the after meeting of all the DFNYC MeetUp Organizers in the city ....posted at the Message Board ...)

The Republicans have the White House, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and a majority of the state governments. You have a Republican Governor in California on the "Left Coast" and a Repubican Mayor in the "Liberal Capital" New York City. If this is not a low point for the Democrats, I don't know what is. I recently read a LA Times article that compared the Democratic Party to General Motors, and the Republican Party to Toyota.

It is time for some reality check. Things are not okay as they are. And it is time for some fundamental reorientation.

I have toched upon this topic before: The Three Pillars. And I hope to elaborate upon that much more.

But something new has showed up that I am very closely involved with: the civil war in Nepal. I am involved for emotional reasons: I grew up in Nepal. But I also think Nepal offers a great opportunity to the American progressives.

John Kerry lost over Iraq.

The War On Terror is the same magnitude as the Cold War. If you are going to imitate the Labor in Britain during the Cold War, espousing unilateral disarmament, you are not going to win.

But then after that my disagreements with the neocons start.

The American progressives should be at the forefront of the idea of a total spread of democracy on the planet. That is the only thorough way to fight terror. Everything else, including spending upwards of 200 billion dollars and thousands of American lives, and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives, is half-hearted, and frankly a doleout to the military industrial complex. You end up with a corporatized war where the poor kids die and big "pharma" makes money.

I feel the American progressives need to adopt Nepal. To say, we are going to spread democracy but we are going to do it the sensible way. Instead of $200 billion in taxpayers' money, we will maybe spend a million or two raised in the private sector. Instead of sacrificing American lives, we are going to fund the local democrats in their non-violent agitation. Instead of military technology, we are going to bathe the country with communications technology so as to provide the maximum support to the movement for democracy in the country. And with blogs and digital photos, we are going to document everything online, all deliberations and actions, so as to inspire similar movements in the neighborhood.

Proposed Constitution
Reorganized UN, Methods
Wiki: Shape The Movement

The progressives need to become more "militant" about the idea of a total spread of democracy than the conservatives. You can not fight and win on domestic policy alone. You have to offer an alternate vision on both fronts.

I think without this fundamental reorientation, the Democrats do not much stand a chance. The 2006 Congressional elections, and the 2008 race for the top prize. Both could be lost all over again.

Summer is monsoon time in Nepal: heavy rains. But after that the movement for democracy is expected to snowball. Will the American progressives step in and help and do themselves a favor? That is the question.

Nepal can be turned into the Democrats' Iraq.

The tide can be turned.

In The News

• 21st century belongs to multiparty democracy: Crown Prince NepalNews .... both our countries recognise the people as the strength of the Institution of Monarchy and the Institution of Monarchy is totally devoted to the service of the people. We in Nepal know well that the twenty-first century belongs to peace, human rights and multiparty democracy, to serve in the interest of which we are committed and duty-bound...... rid the world of the ensuing socio-cultural problems and create a global society in which different cultures and civilisations can co-exist in peace and harmony ..... many companies involved in environment-friendly technologies.....
  
• Dr. Giri declares his property ..... has said he has no mobile and immobile property in the kingdom of Nepal..... he had left Nepal in the eighties after late King Birendra introduced reforms in the then partyless Panchayat system
• Ayodhya attackers came via Nepal: Report ... terrorists who attacked the famous Ram temple in the Indian holy city of Ayodhya on Tuesday .... During these four days, they were coming to Ayodhya every day from Kichuala for a recee of the area
  
• RNA To Manufacture Military Equipment Kantipur .... “additional efforts” were being made to manufacture necessary military equipment to make the army self-reliant
• People ultimate power of monarchy: Prince Paras Nepal and Japan recognized the fact that people were the ultimate power of the royal institutions in both the countries.
• Royal move for meaningful democracy: Army chief “The Maoists are weakening physically, mentally and morally each passing day,” he said “Because of their defeated mentality they have started targeting families of security personnel.”
• Battered Nepal Seeks Foreign Aid Hindustan Times .... foreign aid, tourism, and remittances having been badly hit after the royal takeover .... Gyanendra.. also faces a decline in his personal assets with the sliding economy..... his direct involvement in manifold business ventures had ‘considerably declined’ since he became king...he has large stakes in almost every sector of the country’s economy, including transport, tourism, hotels, power, tea, tobacco, FMCG, automobiles and construction, any in collaboration with Indian companies. He also heads numerous trusts, none of which have been audited ..... the Soaltee Hotel Ltd., Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd (tobacco), Himal Internaitonal Power Corp (the first privately funded power projects), Sirpadi Trading Pvt Ltd., Himalaya Goodricke Pvt Ltd., Maersk Nepal Pvt Ltd., Himalayan Helicopters, Amravati International Ltd. (consultancy in pharmaceuticals, chemicals) and Amravati Travels Private Ltd. His active business partner is Prabhakar Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana...... The palace has an annual budget of Nrs 60 crore, most of it spent on renovation and upkeep of palaces and lifestyle maintenance. The budget was hiked four-fold from Nrs 15 crore per annum in 2003.... Hotels reported that occupancy in peak tourist season dropped by over 50 per cent. Garment export, a big source of revenue, saw a year-on-year decline of 50 per cent. Domestic sales, especially FMCG and durables, are showing significant signs of decline and the leading ad agency reported a drop in revenue of 80 per cent in February 2005.
• Tulsi Giri: Monarchy Or Democracy NepalNews .... Strengthen either monarchy or democracy, not both: Dr. Giri .... “Even if the parties ignore the King’s call, the nation will move ahead” .... the multi-party system was not at all necessary for democracy ..... “Democracy means freedom. Freedom to speak, vote and expression and they are possible even without the multi-party system.” ....
  
• King Gyanendra's Royal Splurges Tribune News Service .... the luxurious splurges by the royal palace..... In 2002-03, the royal expenditure was 38.79 crore Nepalese rupees. Of this, around Rs 3.18 crore were spent on the King, the Queen and royal family members. A sum of around Rs 35.73 crore was spent on palace affairs, security and maintenance of the palace secretariate...... A royal ordinance was promulgated during the tenure of the Lal Bahadur Chand government (after the dismissal of the Deuba government on October 4, 2002) which amended an existing law..... This empowered the King to enjoy discretionary powers over making any changes on royal household budget on his own. The government had no control over such changes and thus the royal financial withdrawals remain beyond scrutiny...... In 2003-04, the royal palace took out Rs 14.2 crore from the state treasury to purchase three new luxury cars. This amount is over and above the government’s budgeted expenditure of Rs 32.9 crore allotted for the royal palace in 2003-04...... In 2002 also, the palace had withdrawn from the state treasury Rs 8.7 crore to buy two imported bulletproof cars..... In October, 2004, the Nepal government released 90,000 pounds (Rs 1.2 crore) to Princess Helen Shah for her medical treatment...... There have been many other instances of extra appropriations over and above the budgeted amount, including Crown Princess Prerna’s wedding in January, 2003, King’s health check-up in London and Crown Prince Paras purchasing a Harley Davidson motor cycle for $30,000...... King Gyanendra has no reason to be wholly solely dependent on the state treasury as he has wide-ranging well-oiled business interests in a number of hotels, banks and other industries. The flagship of the King’s business empire is Soaltee Group which has two investment companies - Soaltee Enterprises Private Ltd and Surya Enterprises Private Ltd. The other companies in his group are in hydropower, agriculture, transport, market research and shipping.
• Consensus Of A Deeper Convenience Rewati Sapkota, Delhi. INSN Deals were apparently struck in 1950 and 1965 in Delhi by kings Tribhuvan and Mahendra respectively, which set back the Nepali democratic movement by decades. Information about the latter deal became public only in 1980..... rumours were desperate attempts by the military to scuttle a possibility that they foresaw — an alliance between the mainstream parties and the Maoists .... the first time that the mainstream parties have accepted the possibility of working with the Maoists in an equal alliance ..... The Maoists also asked the seven parties to frame their slogan for the agitation, keeping in mind the needs of a Constituent Assembly, complete democracy, and multiparty democratic republic...... With the journalists, lawyers, students, workers, and other mass organisations already in protest against the regime in Nepal, the political atmosphere is charged. There is little possibility of those who ally with the palace being able to retain their legitimacy in the long run..... The coup of February 1 has drastically changed the complexion and grammar of politics in Nepal..... Till now, it has been customary for a handful of families and platoon of donors to assume that Nepal belonged to them. It will be difficult for these segments to give up habitual modes of thinking. They are left now with little option but to either throw in their lot with the king and his illegitimate rule, or swallow their reservations and accept political needs of the moment...... There are also hardliners among the Maoists who have been brought up on a diet of class enmity. These sections will find it equally difficult to give up their ingrained practices..... whether Nepal sinks under the burden of its feudal elite or stays afloat in a polity whose buoyancy is ensured by its inclusiveness.
• Printer's Devil Gets The King Anil Bhattarai HardNews news items exposing the financial scandals of the king’s family members and his cabinet members, and opinion pieces openly arguing for the questioning of the very relevance of monarchy in Nepal, among other critiques, have made their place in the print media nowadays.... fierce and remarkably creative resistance ..... almost all the print newspapers and magazines carry ‘Press Freedom for Peace and Democracy’ under their editorial page in every issue..... king’s rhetoric about “nationalist education” was nothing but an attempt to teach schoolkids the “glorious past” of the royal past...... “Without re-establishing the rule of law..freedom of the press is a mere chimera.” ... king does not seem to be in any mood to back down. And, more importantly, the resistance that political parties have put up has been a bit feeble.
• A 10-day Trek Across The Maoist Heartland Suman Pradhan Kantipur A lean middle-aged man with a baseball cap raised his hands to stop our jeep.... It was difficult to tell that this revolutionary was once the biggest businessman of Musikot, routinely trading lakhs of rupees in commodities and supplies..... Comrade Prashant, a central committee member .... was once a student of Govinda Raj Joshi in Tanahun .... “The Shining Path failed when Comrade Gonzalo misread the international situation. He could not take advantage of the contradictions in the international situation at that time. Without taking such advantage, he mounted a last-ditch attempt on Lima and failed. We are not making that mistake. We know the international situation and are determined to take advantage of it before we make the final push.” ...... whether other parties were allowed to contest, etc, etc. “Of course they can contest. Not as parties but as independents.” ..... despite all the rhetoric, parties could contest only if they accepted overall supremacy of the Maoists and their Janasatta. ....the similarities between the Panchayat-era elections and this election ..... the expression on the locals’ faces. It’s not fear or even concern, but rather stoic acceptance, even resignation. They all seem to say: The satta is here to stay. You can’t fight it, so accept it and carry on with your lives..... we have cooperative shops here, agricultural communes, Janabadi schools and now we are building the road .... As the local village chief, Inkar is also the judge in the local Janaadalat. “I have to combine many roles” ..... meeting with dozens of young men and women in the Maoist army, militia and party, the irony was stark. Very few we met had studied up to SLC. Most had dropped out in grades 5, 6, 7 or 8..... “I could not study in school because the police and army kept harassing me. So I joined the party to fight oppression.” ..... the party had asked each family from within Rolpa to send one member to work for 15 days on the road. It was the worker’s responsibility to bring his/her own food for the duration...... “A degree of forced labour is required if the road is ever to be constructed,” Ratna said as we kept trekking. “People won’t organize themselves until you force them to.” .....
  
• Recognizing The True Obstacle To Reconciliation by Madan Prasad Khanal Scoop ... Camp expressed Washington’s concern at reports that Nepalese Maoist leaders were meeting mainstream politicians from Nepal and India on Indian soil...... Despite the lifting of the emergency and the release of most detainees, many curbs on liberties remain in force...... his takeover is an unpleasant albeit temporary measure aimed at reactivating a democratic process eroded in large part by conflicts and contradictions within the political establishment...... the palace’s efforts to bolster internal cohesion and raise the kingdom’s international profile between 1960 and 1990 .... The contradictions are painfully obvious. The mainstream alliance demands the revival of the last House of Representatives, dissolved by the last elected prime minister exercising his constitutional prerogatives. The Supreme Court has upheld the legality of the dissolution. A political class whose endless bickering prevented a single House of Representatives since 1991 to complete its full five-year term is struggling to define how reviving the legislature would help end the conflict...... The two largest parties in the mainstream alliance simply want avoid facing a fresh popularity test because they recognize that realities on the ground have changed. The “democracy” excuse has come in handy to cover their real intentions: a return to power on the back of Indian intervention..... The mainstream alliance knows well how much violence and instability Nepalis would face when the Maoists infiltrate their movement and prompt a government crackdown.
• Constitutional Expert Dismayed At Generals Holding Forth On Constitution And Rule Of Law NepalNews ... quoted ancient Rig Veda as saying that law is the king of kings..... “Gone are the days when an individual would run the country through a decree” ..... Quoting Napoleon’s famous saying “He who thinks is my enemy” ... The emergency was imposed only to avoid protests from the political parties.... this government is afraid of an independent press
• Gov Bans Double Passenger Motorcycle Ride In Kathmandu UWB ...yet another public unfriendly decision... . not to allow second person sit on their machine
• Giri: I Have Not Resigned UWB A rumour has been circulating in Kathmandu since yesterday that has caught the capital city like a wild fire
• King Birthday Protests UWB ... some 5 hundred pro-democratic students converged in New Baneshwor and burned the effigy of the head of the state.... Prominent student leaders like Gagan Thapa and Ram Kumari Jhakri led a rally that was interrupted by the police at least three times ..... Jhakri was famously lathi charged by the police a year and half ago when she was participating in a rally organized against the regression. At that time, photographers caught her severely injured and blood flowing out from her head..... Krishna Pahadi, prominent human rights activist who was recently released after more than 5 months in detention warned the monarch to listen to the people. “Monarchy has deliberately chosen the path of self-immolation,” he said. As he was saying this, a police officer was keenly taking notes standing side by side with other reporters......
  
• Giri: Either Monarchy Or Democracy UWB .... among constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, only one can reign. .... choice between active monarchy and democracy .... Like all our political parties who despite loud voices from students leaders to go for republic have been maintaining the need of monarchy ..... India is saying that constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy is two pillars for Nepal (Giri questioned India’s stand saying if they can go with one, why can’t we)..... And as a man grown up reading ‘king is our god’ phrase, I can’t imagine what it would be like without the monarch. Maybe that’s because I have rarely thought of Nepal without monarchy..... I need to think from a new angle, I need to begin from the territory I have never been before
• Tulsi Giri, United We Blog And Bleak Future Of Nepal UWB .... waved them with three pages of documents: Printed form of a UWB post that appeared on this site on Monday. The post had mentioned about T Giri’s planned and semi-secret type of hobnobbing with journalists...... venue, Deepak Bohora’s house ..... Dr. Giri’s house, about 150 meters away from the Bohora residence..... Bohora, general secretary of Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP) .... effort to introduce two generations with each other..... Giri started his conversation stating that he couldn’t ignore request made by Deepak Bohora to meet journalists..... he asked for Dinesh Wagle. Is here Mr. Dinesh Wagle? ..... Then he read out the UWB blog, written by Wagle, refuting words after words, disagreeing with sentences after sentences, countering the essence of the blog and terming it “an unethical thing to do.” He said that the information should not have been revealed. “This is unethical” ..... “I am not a rhino,” he said. ..... “I am not doing a PR.” .... “I am not doing this to get favorable coverage in future.” “This is not necessary for me. I don’t care what media writes about me.” ..... after reading out the date, time and venue info, “Look, Dinesh Wagle does not know that the venue has changed.” .... “Hum…anyone of you who asks me lots of question, will be that person who revealed this meeting” to UWB. ..... I found scribes in a shocked and awed condition seeing Dr. Giri reading out the blog content. Many of them did not know what a blog was and had not heard about UWB...... he never left his hard-liner stand over the issues. He answered almost all questions, even the most difficult ones, with smile in his face..... “We are eagerly awaiting the day when you again become Prime Minister.” Then Giri replied, “Tapaiharu ko mukh ma dudh bhat jaos.” ..... He repeated that he was totally against democracy. But then he also said that RPP should be strengthened to counter democratic parties like Nepali Congress and CPN UML..... Tired Tulsi Giri Feels Plunged Into A Mess Tulsi Giri in PR Campaign Wagle responds: “Ma Gainda Hu. Alochana le malai kehi garna sakdaina.[I am a rhino. No criticism can do any harm to me.]” .... You changed the venue, at the last minute, from Deepak Bohora’s house to yours. Even those journalists who were invited there were keeping that as a secret. I somehow managed to know about that and instantly blogged....... Do you know that what you eat is bought by our money, Nepali taxpayers money? Do you know that the rent of the place where you lived is paid by Nepali people’s money...... You to the pillar of autocracy and I to the pillar of democracy. Transparency and dissemination of information are the key in democracy. I know your autocracy frowns upon them..... Rumor is that the anti-establishment faction within RPP is actively involved in forming a party in your leadership.....
  
• Tired Tulsi Giri Feels Plunged Into A Mess UWB .... forsook Bisheswor Prasad Koirala, founding president of the largest democratic party Nepali Congress and joined the partiless autocratic Panchayat system in 1960..... such person who had sacrificed so many years in strengthening and consolidating democracy in Nepal could mortgage his ideology for partiless autocratic system..... left Nepal in 1986, became a staunch christian and lived an apolitical life in Sri Lanka and Banglore...... Sita Ram Prasai’s house, where Dr. Giri has been living on rent ..... Dr. Giri’s residence was surrounded by barbed wire.... how insecure Dr. Giri feels.... Dr. Giri seems to have tired of pulling a heavy load of restoring partiless autocratic system after 12 years’ of democracy in Nepal. He said it was just an accident he came to Nepal when King Gyanendra took executive power in February 1 2005. “I was really happy and living a peaceful life in Banglore (India). Now I am plunged into a mess. I feel restless. But I am committed to fulfill the order of the king” ..... he left the country not because he was against the adult franchise. It was a difference on political system, he had with the then king Birendra ...... “It was a partiless democratic system, we were trying to experiment whether or not parties are required in democracy” ..... I thought partiless democratic system can’t function when there is adult franchise. I decided to leave the country so that I would not be an obstacle for the system. And my decision was proved right. Ultimately, the system collapsed because of that reason...... It was crystal clear for me, what Dr. Giri has in his sleeve. He is again trying to experiment that partiless “democracy” in Nepal....... there can’t be autocratic monarchy nor constitutional monarchy. “Both these forms of monarchy are the perverted forms of monarchy. Monarchy is monarchy” ..... Nepal should have only one pillar between constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy. “India has only pillar -it is multi-party democracy. We should also make our only one pillar strong. The conflict is on which pillar to make strong” ..... “The government is committed to hold elections for municipalities and the parliament election will also be held in three years period” ..... “NC has now 30 per cent of total vote whereas RPP has only 18 per cent. And my mission will be to secure 30 per cent of total vote to RPP and 18 per cent to Nepali Congress” ...... looked to have been bitterly hurt by The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur daily ..... “You know I can take any action against Kantipur and the Kathmandu Post through this letter. But I won’t do anything because the Jesus says vengeance is mine. So I have no any vengeance.” ..... “I wasn’t aware of the loan and now I am negotiating to settle it” ..... he said there are many pubs, many buildings and everything has changed .... I felt Dr. Giri is really tired and is fed up of the changes that have come as big obstacles for him to fulfill the king’s mandate. He wants to resume his happy and peaceful life once the king permits him. “But you know, I won’t return to India though Kantipur has already asked me to leave Nepal” ..... the UWB post stole the show

From Li Onesto

Li Onesto: I am sending you a recent piece I wrote in response to an article that appeared in Harper’s (a progressive magazine in the US). I think this is a very important because it takes on some of the main disinformation themes that have been put out there to attack the People’s War in Nepal. ......... I am also sending you information about my book, Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal.

From: Paramendra Kumar Bhagat paramendra@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 14 May 2005 12:24:25 -0700 (PDT)
To: LiO@lionesto.net
Subject: From a progressive Nepali blogger

Hello Li. I have read a lot of what you have written about Nepal. I commend your work. You might be the only person to have successfully thrown a positive light on some of the achievements of the Maoists.

I would really like to correspond with you. Can I eInterview you for my blog?

http://demrepubnepal.blogspot.com/

Are you in eContact with Prachanda? What about Baburam? I really would like to know where they stand on my proposed constitution.

http://demrepubnepal.blogspot.com/2005/05/proposed-constitution.html

http://www.paramendra.com

Refutation of Harper's Article on the Maoists in Nepal
Telling Lies in Kathmandu
by Li Onesto

Revolution #007, June 26, 2005, posted at revcom.us

Eliza Griswold's article, "It's Not Easy Here in Kathmandu--Caught between the Maoist rebels and the king's army" appeared in the May 2005 issue of Harper's magazine. I have traveled into the guerrilla zones in Nepal and closely follow developments in this conflict, and I'm constantly angered by this kind of journalism which contributes to a growing mountain of harmful disinformation.

The Lie of "Caught in the Middle"

People like Eliza Griswold are very disturbed by the reality that the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) now controls most of Nepal's countryside, their People's Liberation Army is able to mobilize thousands of guerrillas in battle against the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), and in areas run by new revolutionary governments, they are radically changing the economic, political, and cultural life of millions of poor peasants.1 The Maoists began their People's War in 1996 and, ever since, Nepal's ruling class has been in constant crisis over how to deal with this insurgency which is now threatening to seize power. But instead of a serious discussion about why the Maoists have grown so rapidly, Griswold's theme, indicated by her subtitle, is that the majority of people in Nepal are caught in the middle--between a brutal government guilty of horrendous human rights abuses, and Maoists who are even worse.

To paint this scenario, Griswold introduces: an 18-year-old girl in the RNA; an RNA Brigadier General trained at Fort Leavenworth; the editor of a conservative Kathmandu newspaper; the U.S. ambassador to Nepal; a doctor and several people at a center set up only for "victims of Maoist torture" (no victims of the RNA); villagers in a contested area in the Terai; two girls and the principal at Kathmandu Valley school who say they were "abducted by Maoists"; a human rights researcher who says "no one wants to abandon Nepal to the Maoists."

Almost all of these two dozen or so people are by definition hostile to the Maoists and were in cities or other areas under government control. Sweeping censorship and systematic disinformation by the Nepalese government2 have had a huge impact on people's opinions and what they know and don't know about the Maoists, not only internationally but within Nepal itself, and this is especially true among many of the people Griswold quotes.

Griswold talks to three Maoists--two rebels she arranges to meet along the roadside and a journalist who left the Maoists, was imprisoned and tortured by the government and now writes for a Maoist newspaper. There is a quote from a leader in the CPN(M). But other than this, there are no views from Maoist supporters and no conversations with people living in Maoist base areas.

In Griswold's "caught in the middle" scenario, Maoist supporters are simply written off as if they are not part of the people. But the People's Liberation Army is made up of tens of thousands of common peasants who are not "caught in the middle" but have joined the insurgency. And many more are participating in the new revolutionary governments.

In Nepal over 85% of the people are peasants in the countryside, desperately poor, malnourished, and exploited by corrupt officials, landlords, and moneylenders. Lower castes and oppressed ethnic groups face systematic discrimination under a rigid caste system. Women are intensely suppressed and treated as inferior in every facet of society. A king controls the army and an oppressive monarchy is deeply embedded in the ruling structures of society. The whole country is subordinate to, dependent on, and dominated by India and imperialist countries like the U.S.

The Maoist revolution aims to get rid of all this. The Nepalese regime rules over, enforces and is fighting to preserve all this. Are the masses of people, as Griswold argues, caught between these two fires? No! The Maoists are organizing and providing leadership to millions who are brutally and systematically oppressed by the system AND who are inspired by and support the Maoists' vision and concrete program for building a new liberating society.

Nepal's ruling class has not and cannot solve the basic problems of food, water, sanitation, and health care because this requires tearing up the existing economic, social, and political relationships within Nepalese society and between Nepal and other countries. While Griswold acknowledges the dire situation of the masses, she wants us to believe the Maoists are cynically "taking advantage" of and manipulating this. In truth, the Maoists have support in Nepal exactly because they are addressing the deeply embedded oppression people face. In areas they control real changes are taking place: redistribution of land, equal rights for women, end to the caste system, autonomy for oppressed ethnic groups, healthcare, education and the building of roads and bridges. Even a young woman in the government's army tells Griswold: "The Maoists have high principles.so they attract everyone who is interested in struggling for equality. Some of my friends from my village have joined them. If I lived in the village, I'd be a Maoist, too."
When I was in the guerrilla zones in 1999, I was very struck by the composition of the PLA squads and platoons. They were overwhelmingly made up of those on the very bottom of society--lower castes, ethnic minorities, peasant youth and many, many young women. This says a lot about the nature of this revolution.

Revolutionary Authority

Let's get right down to it. People like Griswold may talk about government repression, deep poverty, and powerlessness among the poor. But they don't uphold the right of the people to really struggle against any of this. And what they hate a lot more than the oppressive status quo is revolutionary authority being exercised to actually transform the prevailing economic and social relations, as well as the culture and thinking that goes along with this oppressive setup. In effect, this is an argument that the people should just accept their horrible conditions and ends up justifying crushing the revolutionary struggle.

Griswold mentions that the Maoists hold power in 73 of the 75 political districts, but is content to stay in the disinformation zones and never goes into areas under Maoist control--which constitute most of Nepal! She doesn't even talk about what's happening in these areas. Instead, the view running through her article is that Maoist rule is a totalitarian and horrible thing.
But what is actually being accomplished under Maoist authority in Nepal? Another way to pose this is: What is the power the Maoists have achieved through armed struggle good for?
I could go into a lot of examples here. But just take the question of women--which revealingly Griswold doesn't talk about, even though the huge participation of women in this revolution is a fact widely acknowledged.

Feudal traditions like arranged marriages, dowries, and polygamy are enforced in many ways and under a mixture of feudal and capitalist rules; women's bodies are owned, controlled, and bargained over in everything from marriage to sex trafficking. Religious and cultural practices promote and perpetuate male domination. And everywhere a woman turns, her freedom and independence is policed and smothered. For women to be free of all this, the basic economic relations of land ownership in the countryside have to be upended. Control has to be taken out of the hands of the religious, political, and military forces which back up the tyranny of local landlords, corrupt politicians, and moneylenders. Social and cultural institutions which provide a foundation for the patriarchal control of fathers, brothers, and mother-in-laws have to be done away with. The whole education system has to be revolutionized.

And this is exactly what revolutionary authority and power is good for! In the Maoist base areas land is being redistributed, and for the first time women own land. Arranged marriages, polygamy, and other feudal traditions oppressive to women are no longer practiced. Wife beating and rape are severely punished by people's courts. Women are given the right to divorce, go to school, and fight in local militias as well as the People's Liberation Army. And women are equal participants in the new economic, political, and social life of the villages.
Extremely significant and liberating changes are taking place in the Maoist base areas, but Griswold cynically writes them off. When she sees men building the roof of a new school, her only response is to question why the Maoists charge a $3 tuition. For literally hundreds of millions of people around the world, life is dictated, ruined and suppressed by horrible caste distinctions. No amount of capitalist globalization and westernization has gotten rid of this. But Griswold doesn't even comment when she hears that in the Maoist areas caste distinctions have been abolished and intercaste marriages are common.

The Nepalese people need revolutionary change--not a "solution" within the present order which has as its foundation exploitative economic relations and intense social inequality, as well as an entrenched dependence on foreign powers. Daily life for the majority of people concretely and repeatedly demonstrates this--which is why the Maoists have real support.

Tales of Coercion and Terror

Griswold's analysis includes quoting a man who tells her, "99 percent of the country don't like the Maoists"--a ridiculous claim given the growth of the insurgency, which even those unsympathetic to the guerrillas admit. But this goes along with Griswold's claim that the Maoists only get support through coercion and terror. She says: "The Maoists have begun to demand that every family sacrifice one person to their cause."

A reporter in Nepal for the Maoist newspaper Janadesh responded to Griswold's charge, saying,
"The Maoists do not force anybody to fight. How can anyone force a man or woman to fire a gun? You need courage, dedication and spirit of sacrifice to become a fighter in the People's Liberation Army. It's not like playing video war games on a computer. It's a life and death struggle. Only the most courageous men and women can prepare themselves to fight for revolution. There is a saying in Nepal that 'a carried dog cannot hunt a deer.'"

Think for a moment. The guerrillas started off small and up against the brutal coercion of a regime backed by India and the U.S. How could the Maoists have achieved their current military and political strength without the genuine support and participation of thousands who believe in the goals of the revolution and on this basis are willing to go into battle and risk their lives?

There is video, photographs, and reports of massive Maoist rallies in the countryside.3 Reporters who have been in Maoist-controlled areas have written about the guerrillas organizing people to build roads, bridges, and schools.4 During the 2003 negotiations 30,000 people attended a Maoist rally in Kathmandu.5And the RNA has engaged in battles where they faced thousands of guerrilla fighters. Can anyone seriously explain this as just "coercion"?
Most of the poor peasants in Nepal's countryside are illiterate and uneducated-- but they are not stupid and childishly na‹ve. They have experienced one system and are now beginning to see and live under another, revolutionary, system and are siding with it. The tens of thousands fighting against the government and the millions living under Maoist control are fundamentally NOT doing this because they are "intimidated and coerced."

Tortured Arguments

Griswold quotes someone saying, "The Maoists torture roughly 60 percent of those in their custody, but the army tortures 80 percent."6 She talks with a doctor at a center for "victims of Maoist torture" who claims torture is increasing on both sides. She then writes, "His theory was that local Maoists and government forces were engaged in a game of one-upmanship over who could be more brutal. He cited the now familiar torture statistics for the Maoists and the government." (Note how Griswold gives a "now familiar" adjective to an unsubstantiated statistic.) This passes for "theory" about a serious conflict-- that the Maoists and RNA are having a contest over who can torture more?!

The Maoist guerrillas, unlike the RNA, do not believe "the ends justify the means." Their actions reflect their goal of bringing into being a new consciousness among the people that will lead to building a society aimed at getting rid of oppression and inequality.

One way this comes out is in how the Maoists treat prisoners of war in a humane manner along the lines of the Geneva Convention. The PLA has released many captured POWs in good health to the Red Cross or other human rights organizations.7 RNA soldiers and police captured by the Maoists have told reporters that while they had to listen to propaganda and were asked to join the revolution, they were not harmed. They were warned that if they were captured again, they would be severely punished, but they were given money and food so that they could go back to their village instead of returning to the RNA. This reflects the Maoists' policy of politically struggling with even those who are working with the government. I have heard numerous stories about the rebels giving such people at least three warnings, asking them to stop their counter-revolutionary activity, before administering any punishment.

The Kathmandu Post , reporting on 18 captured police, said, "Their release has a human ring about it. In fact the rebels had set them free only after handing out sums ranging from Rs 800 and Rs 1500 as expenses for their return journey... The freed hostages have said that the rebels did not misbehave with them throughout the period they were under their control. 'Don't involve in vile deeds. You would certainly have killed had you taken us under your control,' rebels have been quoted as saying. They also had sent two of their cadre to guide the cops out safely."8

Griswold paints a picture where "both sides" are killing innocent people. But let's compare the policy and practice of the RNA and the PLA. The vast majority of the 12,000 killed since the start of the war have been civilians murdered by the Royal Army, along with suspected revolutionaries also tortured and murdered. And like the U.S. policy, from Vietnam to Fallujah, of "destroying the village to save the village," the U.S.-trained RNA has carried out human rights abuses against a wide swath of the population, killing thousands suspected of "supporting the Maoists," which could mean simply providing food and shelter for the guerrillas. Human rights organizations have documented how the police and RNA have burned whole villages and rounded up, tortured, murdered and jailed thousands of people. In 2003 and 2004, Nepal recorded the highest number of new cases of disappearances by security forces in the world.9
On the other hand, the vast majority of people killed by the Maoists have been police and soldiers in combat. When others, like informants, have been targeted, this is because their actions have directly led to Maoists and others being jailed or killed.

The CPN(M) is leading a mass armed revolution which is unleashing thousands of poor, angry peasants. Their families were suffering and dying under "normal times." And now, the RNA and police are carrying out horrendous crimes against the people. When the people rise up against their oppression it isn't "nice and neat" and leadership is necessary for the struggle to go beyond bitter revenge. This is exactly what the CPN(M) is providing. On several occasions, the Maoists have issued criticisms of actions they felt were wrong and have even changed some policies after being criticized.10

An Argument for More Blood, More U.S. Intervention

Griswold quotes James Moriarty, the U.S. ambassador to Nepal, saying he is "appalled by how easily they [the Maoists] move through the country, how much terror they spread." And Griswold notes that "The United States has placed the Maoists on the State Department's terrorist watch list, one step below those groups that, in the ambassador's words, belong to 'The Great War on Terrorism.' " Moriarty says, "It's not Islamic fundamentalism, obviously. but it is a very fervent brand of Maoism that could cause great trouble in this area. They've said they're going to invade the United States. I'm not too worried about that, but you ignore what they say at your own peril. You can't pooh-pooh the Maoists and the threat that they represent."

I find it ludicrous that I even have to refute this ridiculous claim that the Maoists in Nepal have said they are going to invade the U.S. And I actually think Moriarty and probably Griswold know this is a lie. But this little lie is part of a bigger lie--that the Maoists in Nepal are terrorists, so backing the regime in Nepal is part of the "war on terror."

In 2002, Michael Malinowski, then U.S. ambassador to Nepal, stated that the Maoists in Nepal are "fundamentally the same as the globally recognized terrorists."11 And the 2002 proposal by Bush for $20 million in economic and military aid to Nepal said, "We currently do not have direct evidence of an al-Qaida presence in Nepal, but weak governance has already proved inviting to terrorists, criminals and intelligence services from surrounding countries."12 The Maoists in Nepal have nothing in common with groups like al-Qaida, but this has not stopped the U.S. from trying to fabricate some kind of comparison or arguing that if the "terrorists" are not stopped in Nepal, the country will become a "safe haven" for other terrorists.

Griswold goes on to fuel an argument for more U.S. military aid and intervention. She interviews an RNA General and writes, "Peace, the general thinks, will be forged only through more military spending, particularly by the United States. 'More troops and better weapons will reduce the loss of human life,' he said. 'If we're weak, the Maoists will keep fighting. Unless our American friends help us, the Maoist problem may not be solved. Whether it's in the name of politics or religion, terrorism is terrorism whether you like it or not.' "

Here sits Griswold, talking to a general of an incredibly vicious army, and she is not only totally uncritical of what he says, but actually provides a forum for him to argue his case for even more weapons of murder and torture!
*****
So now, in the page of liberal Harper's, we've come to this: From an article that begins with a premise that "the masses are caught in the middle" between "two evil" forces, we come to the conclusion: one side should be crushed--the Maoists. These arguments in Griswold's article are hardly original. They aim to convince people--including those who might support such a liberation struggle--that while the government may be bad, the Maoists are worse, so there is no other choice but to support the regime. And they are an outright apology and justification for the bloody U.S.-backed war against a genuine, mass struggle for liberation in Nepal.
Li Onesto traveled deep into the guerrilla zones of Nepal in 1999 and is the author of the book, Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal (Pluto Press and Insight Press 2005), available from: Pluto Press, www.plutobooks.com; University of Michigan Press, www.press.umich.edu; Insight Press, insight-press.com; amazon.com; Revolution Books stores and outlets. Go to lionesto.net for photos, updates on news, reviews, and speaking engagements.

NOTES:
1. See: "The people's War in Nepal: Taking the Strategic Offensive," A World To Win , #31, 2005
2. Under a state of emergency declared in November 2001, Maoist newspapers were raided and closed down, their staffs arrested. Editors and writers in the mainstream press were interrogated for simply quoting Maoist leaders in their publications. In the first nine months, 130 journalists were taken into custody. When King Gyanendra suspended parliament and grabbed total power again on February 1, 2005, soldiers were literally sent into newspaper offices to "edit" articles before they went to press.
3. The DVD "Eight Glorious Years of Nepalese People's War" is available from BM BOX 7970, London, WC1N- 3XX, England or e-mail lal_rpg@yahoo.co.uk
4. Reuters News Service, "Amid war, Nepal rebels build road to win hearts," March 2005.
5. BBC News, April 3, 2003.
6. An article in the Kathmandu Post (September 20, 2004) on the report by the Center for Victims of Torture reported different statistics saying, said, "In recent years, almost 60 percent of the people detained by the state, and 40 percent of those abducted by the Maoists have been physically tortured, inflicting a serious psychological blow on them besides causing them physical damage."
7. See International Committee of the Red Cross Web page http://icrc.org/eng
8. Kathmandu Post , November 26, 2002, "Freed cops say weapons let them down."
9. Human Rights Watch report: "Clear Culpability --Disappearances by Security Forces in Nepal" available at: hrw.org/reports/2005/nepal0205
10. See: "Nepal Rebels 'regret' bus deaths, launch probe," Reuters, June 7, 2005; "Nepal: Maoists offer self criticism after bus bombing," AWTWNS, June 13, 2005; and Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal by Li Onesto, the section on "Revolutionary Policies," pages 121-124.
11. Indiatimes news online, February 26, 2002.
12. FY 2002 Foreign Operations Emergency Supplemental Funding justifications available at http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/aid/aidindex.htm



NEW BOOK NOW AVAILABLE!

Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal
by Li Onesto

“This unique, intimate look into the People's War in Nepal provides invaluable background to the world's most vigorous Maoist movement, and insight into the theory and practice underlying contemporary Maoism elsewhere in South Asia and globally. Based on the author's reportage and interviews in guerrilla-controlled areas in 1999, Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal helps to explain why, five years later, the insurgency has acquired control over most of the Nepali countryside.”

Gary Leupp, Professor of History at Tufts University and Coordinator of the Asian Studies Program

“In her dispatches from the ongoing revolutionary war in Nepal, where she was the first, and longest-staying, foreign journalist to report from the Maoist-held areas, Li Onesto keeps up the committed, conscientious revolutionary journalism of John Reed, George Orwell, and Agnes Smedley. Building around the narratives of guerrilla soldiers and their families, of group leaders, farmers, local officials, teachers, and artists, she provides an intimate and sympathetic view of the early stages of the People's War while giving a sense of the arduous nature of fighting a war in the Himalayas. Hers is probably the best, if not only, account of how the Maoists built their organization and movement, and of how they operate and govern.”

Stephen Mikesell, author of Class, State and Struggle in Nepal: Writings 1989­1995

“This lively, exciting and enlightening presentation of the true portrait of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal will help people to understand the real state of affairs behind the ‘People's War’ waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to liberate the Nepalese people from all kinds of exploitation and repression. The most important value of this book lies in its serious analysis of several human features of the Maoist Revolution with on-the-spot descriptive facility.”

Padma Ratna Tuladhar, independent left leader, senior human rights leader and one of the facilitators in the peace talks between the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
*****
A Maoist revolution has been raging in Nepal since 1996. In 1999, Li Onesto became the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones of this Himalayan country. Allowed unprecedented access, she interviewed political leaders, guerrilla fighters, villagers in areas under Maoist control, and relatives of those killed by government forces.

This book is the result of her journey. Illustrated with photographs, it provides an invaluable analysis of the social and economic conditions that have fuelled the revolution and profiles some of the key people involved.

Millions in Nepal now live in areas under guerrilla control. Peasants are running grass-roots institutions, exercising what they call “people’s power.” Li Onesto describes these transformations – the establishment of new governing committees and courts, the confiscation and re-division of land, new cultural and social practices, and the emergence of a new outlook.

Increasingly, the UK and us have directly intervened to provide political and military support to the counter-insurgency efforts of the Nepalese regime. Onesto analyzes this in the context of the broader international situation and the “war on terrorism.”

Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal is available from:

Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and
839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
www.plutobooks.com

Insight Press, Inc.
4064 N. Lincoln Avenue, #264
Chicago, IL 60618
www.insight-press.com

University of Michigan Press
www.press.umich.edu

Dispatches is also available at amazon.com, Revolution Books and other bookstores and distributors. Go to lioneso.net for updates on availability, news, reviews, and speaking engagements.

*****

Li Onesto, author of Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal, is a reporter for the Revolutionary Worker and her writings on the People’s War in Nepal have been read internationally – translated into Nepali, Hindi, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Pashtun (in Afghanistan), and Chinese. In the years since her trip, Li Onesto has continued to study and write about the developing situation in Nepal – where the Maoists now have control of much of the countryside. In the fall of 2002, Li Onesto did a major speaking tour in Europe – traveling to Germany, Belgium, France, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands. Her photos have also been published and displayed around the world.

Dear Friend,

My book, Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal, is now available and I am working with the publishers, Pluto and Insight to promote this in a big way.

I believe there is a real need and basis to get this book out to a broad audience. The mainstream media in the U.S. has mainly kept the revolution in Nepal a hidden story. But as you may have seen, the New York Times recently ran a front page article about the situation in Nepal – which I think reflects the US’s growing concern over the possibility of the Maoists seizing power. The US, UK and India continue to give political, financial and military support to the monarchy while reiterating that the Maoists cannot be allowed to win. Meanwhile, on the ground, the King’s army still cannot defeat the Maoists guerrillas who control 80 percent of the countryside. As the situation intensifies there will likely be more coverage in the mainstream U.S. media, which will draw attention to the struggle, but spread disinformation as well. So I think there will be both opportunity as well as a great need to get Dispatches out very broadly. I’m hoping to get Dispatches out in the academic sphere and among progressive people, as well as to trekkers, artists and others who are increasingly having their eyes opened because of the disturbing situation in the world and would be interested in learning about the conflict in Nepal.

Any way you can help in this effort and any ideas you might have would of course be much appreciated. These are some things you can do to help promote Dispatches:

1. send a copy of this e-mail to your friends and colleagues
2. post this announcement on your web site
3. send this announcement to an internet discussion group
4. write a review on amazon.com
5. call your local bookstores and ask them to carry this book
6. arrange for a book signing
7. contact your local newspaper to do a book review
8. set up a speaking engagement for the author
9. contact a professor who could use this book in their class
10. set up a media interview
11. suggest this title to a book discussion group, women’s groups, Asian studies organizations or trekking club
12. donate money to help promote the book and provide travel expenses for the author

Thanks,

Li Onesto

In The News

• 10 tolas of gold is all Dr. Giri has as property Kantipur Online, Nepal
• Tamil Tigers Training Nepalese Rebels: An Interview Revealing All South Asia Tribune, VA
• UN team to visit Nepal from July 10 Himalayan Times, Nepal
• India delivers military equipment to Nepal India Monitor, UK
• 8 students arrested; 12 injured in Nepal Press Trust of India, India
• Non-lethal arms delivered to Nepal: Indian embassy Xinhua, China
• Doubts over SAFTA accord schedule Himalayan Times, Nepal

Maoist Suicide Bombers In The Offing?

This report in the Washington DC based South Asia Tribune that the Tamil Tigers are training the Nepali Maoists to have battalions of suicide bombers is alarming, to say the least. What could be the Tigers' motivation? That the Nepali Maoists are at the forefront of the ethnic grievances issue in the Nepali context? Or are these Tigers closet Maoists themselves?

Those who either do not see the growing threat, and those who see it but only espouse a military solution to it are both in denial. "Denial is not just the name of a river in Egypt," as Senator Hillary Clinton once said.

That the Nepali Maoists have brought Nepal to a political standstill must be a major morale booster to Maoists elsewhere, even France! And so the king of Nepal has to be reprimanded for his contribution to the political paralysis in the country.

The king is only interested in exploiting the insurgency to kick the democrats out of the equation. In doing so, he is playing with fire. For Nepal as well as for the region.

And it might not hurt for countries like India to embrace the concept of total, transparent democracy. You preserve democracy, you ensure peace, but you fundamentally reorient the democracy. You make it strictly one person, one vote. That is the way to steal the Maoist political and social thunder.

Proposed Constitution
Reorganized UN, Methods

India should be working to abolish the veto at the UN anyways. What is it doing trying to get a seat on the undemocratic Security Council?

In The News

• Nepal to begin wireless telephone service RedNova.com, TX
• Nepal third in terror attack list 2004 Himalayan Times, Nepal Iraq stood at the top with terrorists launching 866 attacks, India recorded 358 terror attacks in the same year.... Nepal saw 318 terror attacks in 2004 as the number of terror attacks across the globe jumped five fold last year..... Gaza Strip recorded 248 attacks to stood at the fourth place and Russia recorded 162 terror attacks.... terror attacks around the world jumped fivefold last year, to more than 32,00.
  
• Nepal proposes transport accord with Tibet PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal a transport agreement with Tibet Autonomous Region of China to transport food grains and cargo from one part of the kingdom to another.
• We’re awaiting Maoists’ response, says Koirala Himalayan Times “After we realised that the King was not serious in resolving the Maoist insurgency, I put the proposal before the Maoists to come for a dialogue on behalf of the seven agitating parties”..... Koirala said that the time has come for the party leadership to be handed over to second generation leaders..... Asked if he would file his nomination for the party’s presidentship in the upcoming general convention, Koirala replied that if the elections were held, it would certainly bring change in the leadership.
• Nepal offers special economic zones to Pakistan for investment Pakistan Times, Pakistan Ramesh Nath Pandey praised the vision and leadership of President Musharraf. "I am impressed by the conviction of President General Pervez Musharraf, his good gestures and body language whenever I met him or watched him on television, and his leadership role in restoring stability. I express my best wishes for him."
• Singh, Gandhi hopeful about dialogue in Nepal Kathmandu Post, Nepal Singh and Gandhi hoped that the political parties and the institution of monarchy would reconcile to take on the Maoist challenge .... Asked whether he also took the opportunity to talk with the Maoist emissaries, like the other visiting leaders did in recent weeks, Thapa exploded, "No, I didn't do that. Nor will I ever indulge in such cheap meetings." .... "It's become a kind of fashion for party leaders to brag about meeting Maoist leaders in India. I do not belong to that category. You have to have a clear agenda. They [other leaders] didn't have any .... The Maoists, at least, have a clear agenda", he added.
• NEPAL: Nepali press continues to face unprecedented restrictions Asia Pacific Media Network, CA Nepali media continues to face assaults from both the government and Maoist rebels...... nearly two dozen Nepali journalists were killed over the last six years while dozens of journalists faced threats, intimidations, physical harassment and were even forced to displace from their work stations..... A total of 28 journalists reported that they were interrogated by security forces and government authorities over the last year (mid-April 2004 until mid-April 2005). Four received death threats. At least 51 journalists were arrested and were subjected to harassment while in detention..... over one dozen incidences of seizure of publications and there are at least six reported cases of snatching of the equipment of journalists by Maoists and security forces...... During the state of emergency, local authorities forcibly closed over three dozens newspapers ..... hundreds of journalists working in 47 FM stations all over the country are believed to have been laid off..... said to be drafting a law to institutionalize restrictions upon the Nepali press imposed after the royal takeover .....
  
• Nepali women workers` share in remittance high PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal About 11 percent of the total remittance of Nepal is being collected through Nepali women migrant workers, but of the total 1, 200,086 Nepalese foreign workers in 2003 only 0.5 percent were women..... Large number of women are working in the third countries, but only 1,500 of them are working legally. United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Malaysia are the only countries that have been endorsed by the Nepali government for Nepalese women to work in
• Four Maoists killed in Dhanusha PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal during a search operation carried out by the Unified Command forces at Lablori area .... Karitoli Shah, Hari Yadav and Laxmi Yadav..... The dead rebels were members of the Maoist-affiliated Madhesi Liberation Front
• ANA convention concludes PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal with Deepak Bajracharya rocking the audience .... arguably the biggest gathering of Nepalis till date across the Atlantic.... Deepak surprised the audience by introducing a few guest artistes, including classical/flamenco style guitarist Bijay Adhikari from Denver, Nischal Shrestha on bass guitar, and an incredible percussionist/drummer - Raul Valdes - of Cuba, who mesmerized the crowd with dynamic Latin beats that drove the crowd into a frenzy. Bajracharya himself played rhythm guitar, and his Kathmandu-based band member, Jimron "Jeevan" Goff (originally from Dallas, USA), pounded out fast melodies on the keyboards..... the release of the dummy North American editions of Kantipur and supplementary Post weeklies. The two weekly editions of the largest-selling Nepali and English dailies, respectively, would be launched soon from North America. According to information received here, there was tremendous interest among the Nepalis about the upcoming weeklies.
• Tamil Tigers Training Nepalese Rebels South Asia Tribune, Washington DC the Maoist rebel said the Tamil Tigers were helping in formation of human bomb squads for suicidal missions. Women and teenage boys and girls were being recruited for these squads. They also carry cyanide capsules with them..... It is interesting to note that Indian sensitive agencies are entirely unable to cope with the situation despite having immense resources. The sensitive agencies are yet busy to malign these forces by propagating false information to the media about defections and divisions within the Indian Maoist forces..... the fact is that all Maoist rebels and parties, including People’s War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Center (MCC) had merged to form a new outfit namely Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) on October 15, 2004. Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi Rao has recently been elected its Secretary. They have agreed to an international proposal to develop a Red Zone (RZ) from Nepal to Sri Lanka..... “The decision to assist the Maoist rebels of Nepal was taken at a secret meeting of the Maoist activists of eight countries held in Kolkata in India. They also discussed the present status of rebellion in India.” .... “The Maoists of Peru, Netherlands, Norway, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India participated in the meeting. The Tamil Tigers and rebels of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) were present as special invitees” ..... the Coordination Committee of Maoists Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA)..... the Friends of Indian Revolution (FOIR) ..... the LTTE would provide full support to the Indian and Nepalese Maoists and Indian Maoists would provide shelter and training camps to the Maoist rebels of Nepal..... The task of training the rebels was entrusted to the LTTE and French Maoists .... a training camp of the Tamil Tigers is being run at district Narkatiaganj and Ghorasahan. Ghorasahan is located between Sitamarhi and Champaran near Nepal borders in Bihar..... Tamil Tigers have formed four Human Bomb Dalams (squads) of women. Each Dalam has 20 women. Similarly, 12 Dalams of the Suicidal Squads have been formed. Each Dalam has 40 young boys and girls. Indian and Nepalese Maoists are being jointly trained in this camp...... French trainers are providing training to Nepalese rebels in the hilly terrain of Uttaranchal. Such training camps are being run in Indian districts near Nepal border, such as Tanakpur, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, etc. These camps are solely for the Maoist rebels of Nepal that are being supervised by Indian sympathizers .... Apart from West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, all the poverty-ridden areas of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh have come under the influence of the Maoist forces. Districts of Bihar, adjacent to Nepal, such as Champaran, Betia, Narkatiaganj, Muzaffarpur, Sivan, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Purniya have become strongholds of Maoist rebels of Indian and Nepal..... districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, such as, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Mirzapur, Basti, Gonda, Deoria, Bahraich, Balrampur have been developed into the ‘New Belt’...... Sensitive Class-A, namely Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhpalchowk, Gorkha, Dang, Surkhet and Achham while other sensitive districts are Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Udaipur, Marwanpur, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Tanahu, Lamjung, Parbat, Baglung, Gulmi, Arghakachi, Bardiya, Dailekh, Jumla and Dolpa..... The Red Zone and a safe corridor is being made by the rebels that starts from Nepal, and covers all of the Northern hilly area of Uttaranchal, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, South Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh up to Sri Lanka..... The Maoists of India and Nepal have also begun joint operations. Recently in a hamlet Madhuban at Bihar-Nepal border, the rebels of the two countries simultaneously attacked two banks, a post office, a petrol pump and the house of a Member of Parliament Sita Ram Singh (from Laloo Prasad Yadav’s political party RJD) in broad daylight...... some of them had Mongoloid features and they were talking in Nepalese.... Maoists are also strengthening their positions in the Terai region of Uttaranchal that has jeopardized the affluent peasantry of the region, which greatly consists of Sikh migrants....
  

Loktantra: A Magazine In The Offing

There has been talk in Delhi that a new magazine in Nepali dedicated to the democratic movement and to be circulated all over Nepal is to be launched. I already wrote and sent off my article for the first issue.

This is more like Lenin's Iskra.

It might have to be smuggled into many parts of the country. It will also be a vehicle for the new generation to assert itself more within the democratic movement. The formal seven party alliance has so far not put up an impressive show. There are major shortcomings in terms of vision, tactics, organization and energy.

I will publish my article at this blog after it first comes out in Loktantra. I will try to publish the entire magazine infact. The goal is maximum dissemination. We are also trying to get other sites to participate.

The idea also is to use the term loktantra, and not prajatantra no more. Praja mean's king's subjects. That image has to be washed away.

In The News

• Nepal Govt blocks two websites of independent media network Afternoon Dispatch & Courier, India The International Nepal Solidarity Network (INSN) said the government has blocked its websites www.insn.org and www.samudaya.org from being accessed in Nepal.
• The echo chamber next door Indian Express a gagged media perfectly symbolises a hijacked nation .... Long live the emergency. ... Nepal’s media professionals, in contrast, are being tested every day and a considerable number of them have continued to defy the royal writ in some of the most innovative, radical and imaginative ways ever devised by the media anywhere in the world.... stirred the Nepal Supreme Court recently into issuing notice to the royal government on its order banning private FM channels from airing news. ..... the state-owned Nepal TV was joined by four private channels and some 25 new radio channels became part of the media scene. Together they helped to create a public sphere out of largely illiterate, impoverished and scattered communities living in inhospitable terrains and at a time when democracy was still a fragile, nebulous thing..... He set in place a regime of zero tolerance for media freedom through the expedient of ratcheting up the Maoist threat. ... As news mutated into propaganda, the shadows over the kingdom darkened. The damage perpetrated during the earlier period of emergency and its role in encouraging violence, palace impunity and Maoist coercion has never been properly assessed. In the growing anarchy, information became a caricature of itself. The military’s claims that they were on the verge of decimating the Maoists were as much an exercise in mendacity as Maoist claims that the fall of Kathmandu was imminent. It was the ordinary citizen, at the centre of this vast echo chamber, who was the biggest loser since it became increasingly difficult to report even on issues of ordinary social concern and quite impossible to expose the innumerable violations of human and democratic rights..... the palace’s coercive apparatus remains on overdrive..... Gyanendra has a fine array of intimidating legal instruments to use against the media. They include the Offence Against the State and Punishment Act of 1989, the National Security Act, 1989, which prohibits the spread of terror and the Terrorist and Disruptive Acts (Control and Punishment) Act, which was brought in as an ordinance in 2001 and is now the law of the land.....Gyanendra has gone one step ahead by labelling as “terror” general public anger against his regime.... A gagged media is synonymous with Nepal’s fractured public sphere.
  
• Nepal's triangular conflict Kathmandu Post, Nepal a fourth element .. the international community, donors and neighboring countries ...... Monarchists, Maoists and the parliamentary forces ..... until the conflict is transformed into bipartite one, finding a possible solution to the conflict is very remote ..... Nepal's unique topography, geo-political reality, poor economy, use of indigenous war technology, home-grown nature of the conflict and the absence of a neutral, altruistic, thirty party mediator/negotiator ..... Given the stubborn stand taken by the parties, there is a little possibility of converging the three-party conflict into two..... in contrast to one-dimensional move in bipartite conflict, there could be many possible permutations and combinations of solutions ..... the monarchists have an interest in peace, which may also imply status quo. They are also concerned with nationality and which is unfortunately often (mis) interpreted as anti-India. Parliamentary forces are concerned with democracy, freedom and respect for human rights while the Maoists are concerned with social justice, social inclusion and doing away with all form of structural discriminatory practices...... Monarchists like to have active and constructive monarchy. Maoists want to abolish it though they have also stated that they are ready to give a "respectful space" provided there is "enough sacrifice" from the monarch. The parliamentary forces want to restrict the role to a constitutional one though the idea is now slowly waning. ....... Monarchists are concerned with the past. That is why they like to churn out past glory and tradition, history and religion as the unifying force. Maoists are concerned with the future. And so they talk of change and revolution. In spite of geriatric leadership, the parliamentary forces are preoccupied with the present....... the upper class would support monarchy, the middle class would go for the parliamentary forces and lower class will side with the Maoists .... the Maoists draw their power from the rural poor while monarchists from the urban rich .... The parliamentary forces emphasize attitudinal aspects, they talk of mutual distrust and loss of confidence; monarchists talk of behavioral aspects, they talk of killing and violence while the Maoists talk of structural conditions and contradictions as the root-cause of the conflict...... The Maoists prefer interest-based resolution, monarchists desire power-based solution while the parliamentary forces like to have rights-based resolutions..... There are various shades of monarchists ranging from hard-liners, moderate to soft-liners. Recently, Nepali media carried stories of possible differences within the Maoist camp. No need to mention the differences within the seven-party alliance - they are united for the moment simply because they were divided too much in the past.
• The Chronic Poverty Report 2004-05 Disabilities.AFreePress.com, UK Between 300 and 420 million people globally are trapped in chronic poverty.... People in chronic poverty are likely to be poor for much or all of their lives. Many will pass on their poverty to their children..... multidimensional deprivation - being hungry and poorly nourished, having access only to dirty drinking water, not being literate, having no access to health services, and being socially isolated and often economically exploited.... in a world that now has the knowledge and the resources to eradicate it...... opportunity is not enough.... they need targeted support, social assistance and social protection, and political action that confronts exclusion..... The largest numbers of chronically poor people live in South Asia, somewhere between 135 and 190 million people..... In Tamil Nadu, India, over a million destitute older people now receive $5 a month.... All the economic growth, all the improvements in governance and all of the improved public policies have not reached the chronic poor or helped them escape poverty
• Students upset at removing Nepali from grade XI Himalayan Times, Nepal decision to shift compulsory Nepali subject to Grade XII from Grade XI.
• Thapa calls on Indian PM, Sonia Himalayan Times, Nepal
• India finally sends non-lethal aid: Reports Kantipur Online, Nepal
• King should give up post of chairman: Thapa Kantipur Online, Nepal
• Incoming call free in mobiles Kantipur Online, Nepal . There are over 55,000 post-paid subscribers in the Valley alone....The NT has nearly 175,000 pre-paid mobile phone users but the service hasn’t resumed since Feb. 1.
• NT cuts tariff on outgoing calls Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Professional organizations demand House restoration Kathmandu Post, Nepal Himalaya Shumsher Rana, member of Citizens' Peace Committee (CPC), said restoration of the dissolved House of Representatives would settle the current political imbroglio. "House restoration by the Supreme Court was the best process for reinstating parliament" ..... peace and security have not been restored even five months after the king's direct rule. "The nation has further deteriorated. The king is responsible for the entire political instability in our country".... Thapa said the present constitution has not envisioned a ban on political parties.
  
• Total foreign trade down by 3pc Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• 'Legalizing flesh trade can improve adolescent health' Kathmandu Post, Nepal Chief specialist at the Ministry of Health, Nirakar Man Shrestha, said..... 50 percent of young people in Nepal experience sex by the age of 16, with only 50 percent of them using condoms. And 16 percent of these youngsters have had sex either with strangers or sex workers.... 60 percent of pregnant women are adolescent .... 100 percent of suicide cases recorded in those districts are due to pre-marital pregnancy.... adolescents constitute 32 percent of the country's population.
• Teenagers Long and winding road ahead Kathmandu Post, Nepal
  
• Nepal: Miasma Of Maoist-Mainstream Alliance Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala and Unified Marxist-Leninist leader Bamdev Gautam held talks in New Delhi with senior Maoist leaders ..... Gautam, in several interviews after returning to Kathmandu, has stated that Maoist supremo Prachanda and one-time chief ideologue Dr. Baburam Bhattarai had voiced their firm commitment to the establishment of a democratic republic..... Until recently as last year, Koirala maintained that a constituent assembly would open a “Pandora’s box.” He sidelined voices, especially among younger leaders and activists, that pleaded for opening candid discussions on the continued relevance of the monarchy. Koirala has now asserted that the Nepali Congress would be in favor of a constituent assembly if the Maoists abandoned violence and agreed to hold a dialogue...... The Nepali Congress has not determined that the monarchy in any form is now unnecessary for the country..... The Unified Marxist-Leninists, although ideologically wedded to a republican agenda, have not come out in full opposition to the monarchy, either..... Demands for leadership changes are growing ..... rifts between Prachanda and Bhattarai have complicated matters ...... Bhattarai has reportedly spoken of threats to his life from Prachanda supporters. Moreover, doubts have been raised over Prachanda’s actual control over his army, which has been systematically violating his instructions not to target civilians...... The rebels have inflicted heavy casualties on the forces.... the buoyancy with which key government ministers and palace advisers are going about their business..... Given their mutual antipathy, reconciliation between the palace and parties would seem distant, if not entirely impossible.
• First lot after freeze: Bullet-proof jackets and jeeps for Nepal Indian Express, India
• Gurkhas send 659 letters to British House of Commons Kantipur Online, Nepal
• Tulsi Giri, Nepal’s royal deputy, is holding a semi-secret ... United We Blog, Nepal holding a semi secret meeting with “young” Nepali journalists hoping, probably, for a favorable coverage in future..... Mocking at T Giri’s inability to pay bank loan that he took some 20 years ago, people from around Nepal are collecting money, rupee after rupee, to help him pay back the loan..... As per Article 31(a) of the Corruption Control Act, Dr. Giri has not submitted his property statement. If not submitted within sixty days, all public authorities are liable to pay a fine of Rs5000..... it is because he does not own any property inside Nepal.
• Nepal's king fights a losing battle against corruption Monsters and Critics.com, UK In the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal corruption is said to be so rampant that if one has connections and resources, he or she can get away with almost anything...... "Political leaders who came to Kathmandu ten years ago with nothing on them now live in palatial buildings. Where did they get the money to build and own such houses?" ..... It is only the small fries that get convicted in corruption ..... Political leaders and top government officials regularly take commissions when awarding big contracts, ranging from eight per cent to as much as 30 percent ..... Donor-sponsored projects are the worst, he said. "For instance, the government estimate for an 11-kilometre Malekhu-Dhadhing road in central Nepal eight years ago was 30 million rupees (about 429,000 dollars), but the same project was constructed a few months later by the Germans at 390 million rupees (5.6 million dollars)." ...... almost 40 percent of development expenditure - whether funded by the government or donors - is wasted in corruption...... a World Bank report noting that Nepal's efforts to reduce corruption declined sharply in 2004 compared to 2002.
• Let’s talk about caste Manjushree Thapa Nepali Times, Nepal caste remains a strangely under-articulated topic ..... Many enlightened Nepalis abhor the caste system, though few have broken caste taboos in their personal lives..... the political parties remain the bastions of Bahun men.....the Chettri caste that had monopolised power before 1990 returned..... The heads of all the cabinets under King Gyanendra’s rule have been Chettris: Chand (a Thakuri sub-caste), Thapa, Deuba and Shah (also Thakuri)....... the king’s closest friends and advisers ..... Prabhu Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana, a childhood friend who accompanied the king to Indonesia and China. His nephew Prabhakar Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana heads the Soaltee Group and is also close to the king. Another trusted friend is Birendra Shah, better known by his nickname ‘Lava Raja.’ He was in Pokhara with then-Prince Gyanendra during the 2001 royal massacre. Sharad Chandra Shah is Lava Raja’s nephew. He heads the Information Technology Commission but his informal powers are extensive. Another adviser, DB Rana, used to work in the Soaltee Group. Mahendra Kumar Singh, married to King Tribhuban’s daughter from out of wedlock, sustained a bullet wound at the 2001 royal massacre. Ravi Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana and Queen Komal’s brother Suraj Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana are also advisers to the king. Similarly close is Shanta Kumar Malla, former army chief, oversaw a five-person military inquisition into the 2001 royal massacre. Among other advisers are Sachit Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana, Bharat Keshar Simha and Kesharjung Rayamajhi. That’s 11 Chettri men, all but one a Thakuri...... tempting to reduce the struggle between absolute monarchists and democrats to a struggle between Chettris and Bahuns ..... the non-political sectors that embody the present democratic movement—the media, the legal profession—are also overwhelmingly composed of Bahun men......
  
• LTTE, JVP and the Maoists Nepali Times, Nepal The rise, fall and conversion of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Sri Lanka’s Marxist radicals of the 1970s and 1980s turned Buddhist-nationalist parliamentarians has parallels with Nepal’s Maoists...... The nationalism and anti-Indianism of the JVP is akin to the chauvinism of Nepal’s Maoists ..... the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) led an identity-led war, which makes their battle that much more heartfelt, longlasting and angry ..... The LTTE has total command of the area that it would like to liberate ..... the Maoists .. do not control any part of the country in the sense that they can prevent the state security apparatus from entering ...... the Maoists do not have the ability to combat the Royal Nepali Army in conventional warfare, which should give pause to those Kathmandu-based ambassadors who panic at the prospect of a Maoist takeover of Kathmandu Valley and the state..... The full economic cost of the Sri Lankan civil war, including military expenditure, damage of physical assets, tourism and commercial losses, and expenditure on displaced persons, is estimated at $4.7 billion. The total including the cost of foregone economic possibilities comes to $14 billion.......
  
• Things are a lot better: govt Nepali Times, Nepal
• 'Maoist victims still neglected by state' Kathmandu Post, Nepal the Association of the Sufferers from Maoists in Nepal (ASMN).... Maoists have not stopped targeting common civilians and political cadres despite repeated commitments by Prachanda... the victims have not received a single penny though the government has already disbursed about Rs 540 million for Maoist victims
• INSN denounces govt for blocking sites Kathmandu Post, Nepal Usha Titikshu of INSN.org ....
  
• 'Exact repetition' baffles Panchayat-era journo Kathmandu Post, Nepal What is happening there today is a repetition of what was happening when I was there
• Parties smell rat in Rana's remarks Kathmandu Post, Nepal political parties have charged that a pre-planned conspiracy could be in the offing to take the country toward an autocratic partyless system..... Narayan Man Bijukchhe, chairman of Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party (NWPP), said that some feudals always hurt the king and the entire monarchy to achieve their petty interests.
• Maoists ambush bus again Kantipur incident is a part of a series of Maoist attacks on passenger buses, CPN (Maoist) chairman Prachanda's statement that civilians would not be attacked, notwithstanding
• Security forces thwart second Maoist assault on Diktel Kantipur Online, Nepal the second Maoist offensive on Diktel town, after they had attacked it on June 19 earlier
• Shrestha leaves for India tomorrow Himalayan Times, Nepal Nepali Congress (Democratic) Acting President Gopalman Shrestha will discuss with Indian leaders the political situation in his country, including the Maoist problem, during his week-long visit from tomorrow.
• NC local polls over in 70 districts Himalayan Times, Nepal "We have received final reports from 70 districts while we are yet to come in contact with party leadership in Mugu, Mustang, Jhapa and Dolakha." ...... the team which is overseeing the entire process, which is marked by rivalry and acrimony over claims and counter-claims of anomalies in the way organisational elections were held, said, "We will be looking into complaints from 15 to 16 districts from tomorrow."
• UML puts off central committee meeting Himalayan Times, Nepal to find out ways which can be instrumental in enhancing mass mobilisation at a time when the movement for the restoration of the constitutional process is not very impressive
• Parties, Maoists talks soon: Koirala Himalayan Times, Nepal he would lead the political parties in that effort.... as the "King does not want to talk to the Maoists"...... Commenting on Ashok Koirala's defeat in yesterday's election for the party's leadership in Morang district, Koirala said the results of the election have given a message that the party leadership should now be transferred to the younger generation.
• Aryal prevails, setback for Koirala camp Himalayan Times, Nepal defeated Ashok Koirala who had been holding the post for the past four terms ..... the first time in NC history that a non-Koirala family member has been elected to the top post in Morang ..... “A healthy trend of electing old party cadres has started in the party”