Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari's Daughter Speaks Out

Sudeep Acharya is a high school classmate and friend of mine. I met up with him in person a few days back in St. Paul, MN, at his brother Sandeep's house. Sudeep was in Nepal until recently. He happened to come over to the US on a family visit right before 2/1.

We have been in touch on and off. When we met, we talked about many things, had a lot of catching up to do. The guy sleeps 6 hours a day, and spends about 4 hours a day thinking up new business ideas, I am telling you!

His wife was with him, obviously. We chatted when he was in China (his wife did her college there) where he was cultivating a business idea, what else.

She is Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari's daughter. Their testimonies and appeals I hope become a major part of Dinesh Prasain's presentations in Washington DC. I mean, imagine Dick Cheney under house arrest cum solitary confinement.

Here I present Sudeep and Lima.

Latest: In a defience against democracy, the Nepalese government has again denied US Ambassador James Moriarty to visit another leader, this time the ousted Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari. When relatives are not allowd to visit him, how can a US Ambassador visit the house-arrested leader, one does not need to ponder.

Sudeep.


Paramendra,

We have written this letter, which needs to be edited and simplified. Please suggest and let me know.

On aother note, Subash Gautam (148B) wrote to my wife and was also interested in joining against the repressive move by King Gyanendra.

If a group of individuals are to be formed for voicing against the Royal takeover, include our names in it as well.

Sudeep and Lima


My grandfather, Ramchandra Adhikari was against the Rana regime. He fought with other Nepalese against the oligarchy regime and was ousted by them. His land and property in Kathmandu was taken by the Ranas in the “sarboswa haran”. Its interesting that where Radisson Hotel resides today was the place of birth of Manmohan Adhikari, my uncle, my father's older brother. The land and property in Kathmandu, my grandfather had to leave, was never recovered. Instead he fled to India and then settled down in Biratnagar. He was in good contact with cousin BP Koirala, the then democracy leader who became Prime Minister of Nepal in 2017 BS. BP Koirala was ousted in the coup by then King Mahendra, the current King’s Father. He also fled to India and fought for democracy from there.

Manmohan Adhikari, my father’s older brother was a founding member of Communist Party of Nepal. He started his political career in India in the fight for independence. He was also forming his political movement by joining the Communist Party of Nepal. Even at the time, he accepted the King’s role in Nepal and agreed to work with the King to bring about democracy in Nepal. Although from a communist background, he had always insisted on working together with the Congress party, to reintroduce democracy in Nepal. His moderate views helped his party to win the largest vote in the election of 2051; he then became the Prime Minister of Nepal.

My father, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, started his political life in the footsteps of his brother. A lawyer by profession, he lived a double life, during the day he would be at court defending his clients, and at night attending secret meetings to organize protests against the Panchayat government. He was also jailed for his belief and political convictions on different occasions, for more than 18 months. My mother was a school teacher and also shared the same political belief, she fought for her rights while at college and was jailed for brief periods of time.

My grandfather later worked in the government office in Biratnagar and did make a decent living. He left some wealth and real estate for his family when he died. My father also working as a lawyer and sometimes teaching as well as mother working all the time, our family made a decent living. Like his older brother Manmohan Adhikari, my father always thought things could be resolved through conversation and negotiation. He played an integral part in the 1990 movement by bringing most of the communists together to fight for democracy. The brothers were also adamant about democracy and were able to pull the younger Marxist Leninist Party together to form UML. After the movement, my father was one of the committee members to write the constitution of Nepal of 1990. He then ran for election and won in all 3 elections. He served in the popular UML government lead by his brother. He held the position of Finance Minister then, it was he who came with the popular scheme of “Afno Gau Afai Banau” (Build your own village). The nine-month government is sometimes regarded as the best government in Nepal. Later he held different portfolios on three different coalition governments. He was the Deputy Prime Minister on the last coalition government, which was thrown out in a “coup” by King Gyanendra Shah. Since then he has been under house arrest, to this date they have not given him any charge sheet and no reason for his arrest has been given. My mother was also put under house arrest at the same time.

My father sent snooped e-mail to me repeating the same thing that he has been put into Solitary Confinement, no relatives are allowed to visit, no radio, no TV. A portion of conveyed message via e-mail reads like this:

“Sudeep can contact with emimunent Nepali in Washingtan, Newwork, Haward Univercity and tell that duputy priminister in Nepal solitary confinement, No radio no t.v no news paper, no meting with relatives and friends. There is no chargesheet.”

My father has always lived a simple life. Simple in the sense that although we have land and home in Biratnagar, we have always lived in a rented flat in Katmandu. My father does not own a car, he did not buy a car when Deuba government gave incentives for members of parliament to buy cars without customs duty. Our rented flat is close by the Party Office, so that my father can walk to Party Office and does not need a vehicle. He has asthma, like his older brother, so he has to watch out for cold weather and what he eats. He attends lots of parties, rarely eats or drinks at these parties, he comes home to eat. He listens to people, he has this enormous power to listen to other people, but he makes his own decision. He is real fond of us all three sisters, when we are at home, it would never be about politics. He would rather talk about us, our lives. During the ups and downs in his political life, he never brought home the stress. Sometimes we would know things on TV or Radio first and he would confirm what had happened.

My father probably was attached to few things in his life. One of the “things” was us, the three daughters. I feel sad; I can’t talk to my father right now. He has this habbit of putting down the phone before the conversation ends, so we always remind him first before we start talking to him. When we got angry at him, he always smiled back and would say things to make us smile. When my sister wouldn’t call my parents often, my mother would get worried, but my father would say “River always flows downward; if you were the daughter then she would have called you, so you better give her a call”. I miss his voice very much. I had to listen to a previously recorded interview on BBC to hear his voice. I feel enraged at the King and his cronies. I ask myself, my father has always given to the country, always fought for democracy. Why should he suffer this solitary confinement at this age? I wish they could replace me with him.

One of the other things he loved to do was watch news, read newspaper, and listen to the news on FM radio stations. We always got tons of newspaper and news magazine at home. One time there was a photo of my father in a weekly paper, a very good photo in fact, but the caption commented on his habit of looking at his palm, which we disliked. While we were discussing, phone rang and it was from the same weekly paper, he thanked the guy for the good photo, and jokingly said that his family disapproved the comment. All of us laughed at his remarks. But now they have taken away his rights to read news or watch TV or even listen to the radio.

One of the other things he liked to do was discuss, have conversation, he listens to others but he often comments when asked. His views on the Maoist issue and resolving was clear, he wanted the King’s representative, the representative of the political parties and the representative of the Maoist to start a pre-talk without any prejudice, without any obligation. First they would discuss on the issues that everyone agreed on and start from there. He believed that once Maoist and the representative of the King were on the table, pressure from the civil society, international community and general mass would put pressure to come to a conclusion. But alas, now under house arrest, he can’t talk to anyone.

Well, people might say, there are lots of worst cases than my family’s, I totally agree with them. But in this day and age, how can a government which claims to provide “Democracy” to the people of Nepal do this to my family? If this takeover by the King is for the people, then what scares them about my father, or my mother (she was also under house arrest until recently). Why did the King need the help of the Army to arrest my parents? Which clause of the constitution of Nepal applies to put someone under house-arrest without any charge sheet? The King continues to rote that he will return to democracy, if you act like a duck and quack like a duck, you are a duck. How can he be trusted?

If a former Deputy Prime Minister with an abundant history has to face this hardship, I wonder how other people who believe and have voiced their opinion on democracy facing. With no media able to go against the “marma” of King’s infamous February 1st speech, how are we to know what goes on in Nepal?


In The News Today

• New Delhi denies role in crackdown on Nepal Maoists: New Kerala, India ..... allegations by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) CPN (M) regarding New Delhi's involvement were baseless..... the Maoists, who are estimated to control more than two-thirds of the impoverished Himalayan nation
• Nepal stockpiles supplies and braces for more blockades Daily Times .....the rebels warned last weekend they would launch a nationwide general strike in mid-March unless King Gyanendra gave up absolute power which he seized February 1 ..... would store enough food and fuel to last at least two months in the Kathmandu valley, home to 1.5 million people ..... the government published a notice urging citizens to carry identity cards at all times
  
• Nepal orders opposition leaders to stay under house arrest for two ... Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates .....Nepal’s government has extended by two months the house arrest of five top political leaders ..... Girija Prasad Koirala, president of Nepali Congress, Madhav Nepal, of United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal and Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress (Democratic) party......Gyanendra, a constitutional monarch, said he was forced to take power because of the former government’s failure to control an anti-monarchy communist insurgency, or halt corruption among politicians.
• Seven Nepal Cong workers arrested for challenging takeover: New Kerala .....Those arrested from Ason included Nepali Congress Ramechhap district president Ramchandra Khadka, district secretary Jhapatraj Bhandari, party activist and Amnesty International Nepal founder member Lokesh Dhakal, party workers Rajendra Wagley, Bedraj Lama and Keshav Chalise...... Nepali Congress central committee member Baldev Sharma was arrested from his house at Kapan ..... some ten plain clothes policemen came to his house and took him away
  
• Nepal brings India, US closer Indian Express ..... not a day passes without a meeting between senior Indian and US officials either at Kathmandu, New Delhi or Washington to exchange notes on the situation .....no US military supplies have reached Nepal since the emergency.
  
• Police Crush Protest in Nepal, Arrest Activists ABC News ...... Large public protests against Gyanendra's move to arrest political leaders, curb press freedom and impose a state of emergency have not been possible because of a heavy security presence. Small protests have been quickly crushed.
  
• Nepal,India agree to control terrorism along Indo-Nepal border: New Kerala, India
• India denies involvement of its security forces in Nepal Press Trust of India
• Maoist activities a threat to India: Govt Sify ..... the Minister said Nepalese political leaders are allowed to carry out activities in India in accordance with country’s laws.
  
• Nepal's student wings to hold nationwide protests: New Kerala, India .....Ten youth wings associated with political parties met and decided to coordinate their protests .....The first protest will take place on March 17 ..... Nepal government has restricted use of black glass on vehicles without prior permission ......asked people in Kathmandu valley to carry identity cards while travelling
• Nepal urges intl community to reassess security situation: New Kerala, India ......Apparently disturbed at suspension of military aid to it by India and Britain, Nepal today urged the international community to reassess the security situation in the kingdom...... "Unfortunately, friends have not understood the King's motive and created fear psychosis for the Nepalese people by talking in terms of suspension of aid" ......the royal government was dealing with the Maoist militarily and therefore has no new proposals for peace negotiations for the time being......"A military solution to the problem is achievable, and we can do it by ourselves" .....About the political leaders who were under house arrest, Giri said they would be released soon but added that whether or not they would face corruption charges in the future would be an altogether different matter.
• Nepal may become Khmer Rouge-type risk: Official Taipei Times, Taiwan .....The US warned on Wednesday that a Maoist takeover in Nepal could lead to a human rights nightmare comparable to the Khmer Rouge reign in Cambodia during the 1970s......Nepalese authorities can confront the Maoists only if there is unity among the country's political forces. Camp said Nepalese unity was shattered by King Gyanendra's dismissal of the government and other restrictions he decreed on Feb. 1......the Maoists have made clear their intention to impose a one-party "people's republic," collectivize agriculture and "reeducate" class enemies......part of the rebel agenda is export of revolution to neighboring countries......"The key to accomplishing this is for the legitimate political parties and Nepal's King to unite in a multi-party, democratic framework in order to confront the Maoists and address the country's serious developmental problems," he said. Camp reaffirmed that the US is considering suspending its US$2 billion security assistance program.
• United States Urges Nepal's King To Open Democratic Dialogue All American Patriots .....Gyanendra should release the detainees, re-establish basic civil liberties, and open a dialogue with the country’s political parties......the Maoists have preyed upon the despair of the Nepalese people over the paralysis of their political institutions..... Nepal is plagued by poverty, illiteracy, infant and maternal mortality, trafficking in persons, corruption, torture and disappearances...... sandwiched between China and India and home to the soaring Himalayan Mountains, Nepal has long been known as one of the world’s most beautiful countries on the planet...... potentially jeopardize the viability of the state itself...... the King attempted to justify the current crackdown on the tenuous assertion that the former government had failed to move forward toward national elections and dialogue with the rebels, as well as, even more doubtfully, the need to “defend multiparty democracy.” ..... the United States cannot afford to remain indifferent when geographically remote areas, whether in Afghanistan or Cambodia, come to be dominated by extremist elements with a brutal and hostile agenda...... urge in no uncertain terms that the King move quickly to restore constitutional rule and multiparty democracy....... India, the U.S., the UK, EU and UN – must work together to forge a commonsense agenda designed to bring the King back from an authoritarian precipice which could too easily accelerate a violent Maoist takeover ...... should donors contemplate targeted economic and diplomatic measures ..... If Nepal is less secure because of the Royal takeover, what are the prospects for a collapse of central authority and a takeover by the Maoists? ..... Over years Congress has uniquely identified with the Tibetan people and the preservation of their unique cultural heritage. In this regard, I understand that on January 21 several Tibetan welfare offices that tend to the needs of a substantial refugee community in Nepal were closed by the authorities in Kathmandu. ..... have we aired the issues of Nepal with our Chinese interlocutors? It has been contended that the Chinese authorities may be as offended by the Maoist insurgents as Indian authorities are ..... Statement of Deputy Assistant Secretary Donald Camp, Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, March 2, 2005 ...... the developmental problems from which much of their current political crisis derives ..... Nepal confronts the real possibility that a brutal Maoist insurgency might seize power ..... The longstanding political impasse between the King and the political parties, and infighting between and within the parties themselves, has seriously hampered resistance to the Maoists, in spite of the army’s growing capability to militarily confront the insurgents. This squabbling and inability to come to an agreement on how to move forward with democratic governance has understandably frustrated the Nepalese caught between government inaction on their grievances and human rights abuses by the security forces on one hand and Maoist violence and brutality on the other....... the Maoist insurgency must be resisted and addressed. The Maoists have risen to prominence through a combination of propaganda, terror, and the real despair that so many Nepalese feel ..... their methods of torture, extortion, and harsh retributions ..... Initial reaction from many Nepalese to his February 1 actions was positive, reflecting their widespread frustration and despair over the years of political impasse as the Maoists gained strength...... Nepal's security forces continue to have a critical role in denying the Maoists a military victory. ..... taking back areas hitherto controlled by the Maoists. ..... the trade-off between the military risk resulting from cutting aid with the political risk should there be no resolution of the current crisis between the King and the parties ..... We have made it clear to the Government of Nepal that we expect to see appropriate, timely and transparent investigations of any credible allegations of abuse and that failure to do so could jeopardize our ability to continue assistance...... urge swift investigation and punishment ...... critical for us and for the international community to highlight and criticize atrocities and abuses committed -- systematically, and as a matter of strategy -- by the Maoists...... stress the protection of the rights of marginalized and victimized groups (e.g., trafficked persons, forced and child laborers, including child soldiers)...... The recent Government order to close of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office and the Dalai Lama’s office are also concerns...... we are working with the Government to register the Office as a fully functioning NGO ...... the Maoist insurgency whose early progress reflected to some degree the legitimate grievances of Nepal's marginalized citizens....... strengthening key rule of law and anti-corruption institutions ..... Nepal has some of the world's lowest social indicators, and more than half our development assistance has been earmarked for health and family planning. ..... the vast majority of Nepal's under-five children receive critical Vitamin-A supplements, thereby significantly increasing their ability to fight off otherwise deadly diseases such as pneumonia ...... President Bush’s declaration of the United States’ support for freedom around the world very much extends to Nepal.most importantly, encouraging the Nepalese themselves to come together to meet these very serious challenges .....
  
• ‘Gyanendra’s power grab likely ‘emboldened’ Maoists’ Daily Times .....the rebels now have a “stronger position” than before Gyanendra’s action
  
• NEPAL: Donors remain committed Reuters AlertNet, UK .....will not put pressure on an impoverished and excluded population who are in desperate need of help – particularly in rural areas where they rely entirely on external support......Since the king took over, donor agencies have met on a regular basis.....The Swiss development agency, SDC, and the Danish aid agency, Danida, were the first to announce that they would suspend their bilateral aid but their support for the Nepali people would remain intact...... The World Bank was reported to have suspended $70 million after the king's move on 1 February...... "In view of the recent political and security developments in Nepal, the ADB is reviewing the implications for its operation in Nepal. ...... explaining to the rebels that aid personnel cannot make donations or sign agreements with Maoists. The rebels have demanded that all donor agencies and international NGOs register with the Maoists and pay donations to work in the rural areas..... some who believe that donors are not making enough efforts to influence the new government to take positive steps. "In a fragile state like Nepal, the bilateral donors have enormous influence.....
  
• Indian envoy meets Nepal King's deputies Money Plans, India
• Politicians detained for their security: Nepal minister: New Kerala