Finally The Democrats Make Sense

Their shifting their compass from the parroting of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy to now calling for a Democratic Republic is a major development and should be welcomed.

Now I wish they hammered a more concrete understanding with the Maoists which, if they can, will result in diminished violence in the country, a stronger possibility for the elections to the Constituent Assembly, and overall peace.

As for protests. They need to be organized in ways that overwhelm the police and the army. Say, in all cities at once, in large numbers, along many streets. If this can be done well, that will also mean less violence in army-Maoist clashes.

On another note, why Bangkok? I have a feeling the Indian politicians like Chandrashekhar, who is strongly behind the Nepali cause, suggested the Nepalis go to some foreign place, like Bangkok, and get "inspired" there. If the good idea comes to them while they are in Delhi, it might smell a little like Indian influence. I am just guessing.

In The News

• Maoist Deal with Nepal's Political Parties May Doom MonarchyInter Press Service, World A new deal in the offing between Nepal's main political parties and Maoist rebels has the potential not only of returning the Himalayan kingdom to democracy but also ending a constitutional monarchy ..... representatives of Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (Democratic), Nepal Communist Party (United Marxists-Leninists) or UML, People's Front Nepal Party and the Nepal Sadbhavana Party meeting in Bangkok issued a joint-call to redraft the country's constitution through a constituent assembly and force the ouster of King Gyanendra ..... ''We want the promulgation of a constituent assembly, and through the constituent assembly we will decide whether to have the king or not to have the king'' ..... is in consonance with the Maoist stand ..... the coming together of the political parties and the Maoists was ''a surprise ..... parties whose second-line leadership managed to escape to India and set up base in New Delhi have been demanding that the host country support the idea of democratic republic ..... ''If a democratic republic is good enough for India it should be good enough for Nepal too'' ...... Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai, entitled 'Underdevelopment and Regional Structure in Nepal: A Marxist Analysis.'' ...... Originally submitted as his doctoral thesis while studying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi during the late 1970s, the book details the grossly inequitable land ownership pattern in Nepal which has remained steeped in medievalism
• Political Parties Compromise With Maoists, Vow Fight to the EndInter Press Service, World Nepal's political parties, at a closed door meeting in the Thai capital, have vowed an all-out fight against the monarchy after agreeing to the main demand of Maoist rebels to redraft the Himalayan nation's constitution ..... ''This will be our last fight with the king. There will be no compromise anymore. ...... 700 pro-democracy demonstrators have been arrested ....The largest number of arrests occurred in Janakpur ..from where, UML estimates that about 500 of their cadres were rounded up ..... ''We appeal to the international community to withhold aid to Nepal ..... ''The Maoists have been demanding for elections to the constituent assembly - that has been their primary demand. And all the political parties, meeting in Bangkok, have agreed to that demand'' ...... ''How we can conduct those elections and what are the forces inside and outside, that we need to discuss during our negotiations with the Maoists.'' ..... All the five political parties agreed to form a joint interim government after the ouster of King Gyanendra. This interim government, according to UML's Bhattarai, will then pave the way for the constituent assembly elections.......

• Nepal: Students activists demand restoration of democracy Jerusalem Post, Israel ..... goal is restoration of full democracy and we will battle to the end ..... Gyanendra has ignored repeated calls from the international community to restore democracy.
• Journalists in Nepal demand restoring of press freedom? (updated ... China Post
• US secretary of state puts pressure on Nepal during India visit Radio Australia
• Maoist stir flops: Nepal police Times of India, India
• Maoists go on rampage in eastern Nepal Indo-Asian News Service, India
• Asian human rights watchdog slams America for helping Nepal King: New Kerala The AHRC said more than a 1000 people had disappeared in the last few months as the state tries to "break the backbone" of the revolt...... You can be shot anywhere in Nepal..... Jitman Basnet, a lawyer and editor of the Sagarmatha Times, a weekly magazine, who was arrested for being an alleged Maoist sympathizer, termed his 10-month detention as akin to hell. ..... Having confided with the human rights groups, Basnet says he is now facing a life threat. ...."Only three things I could say were toilet, water and food, any other I could not say. They did not give me permission to talk to other. For all the 10 months they covered my eyes 24 hours in a blindfold and tied my hands at the back.
  
• India, USA in complete agreement on Nepal Statesman “That simply must happen and we are in complete agreement that it needs to happen very, very soon”
  
• India-Nepal hydropower talks put off indefinitely Indo-Asian News Service, India
• 'Regime may send tutored activists to Geneva': New Kerala Nepal is expected to come under the scanner at the meeting attended by over 3,000 delegates. .... Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey told the session that Switzerland supported a proposal to condemn Nepal for human rights abuses. The resolution asks the Nepalese government to start peace talks with the Maoist insurgents and to end arbitrary arrests....... Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, are advocating the appointment of an intentional investigator to look into allegations of human rights violation in Nepal....... the army said it would take action against the soldiers involved in "some wrong actions" in Kavre district in central Nepal last year. ...... The "wrong action" was the killing of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Maina Sunwar, whom soldiers took away from her house in February 2004 to prevent her relatives from talking about the shooting of two women they had witnessed.
  
  
• Hard for Nepal to Find Friends in Geneva Inter Press Service .... last year, Nepal's royal government narrowly escaped tough measures for its appalling rights record, courtesy of the United States and India. ...... India, the U.S., and most of the international community could be bound by their public pronouncements, and therefore less likely to defend the royal regime ..... 'Kathmandu Post' newspaper summed up the mood in Nepal recently in a headline: ''Government in for tough time at UNHRC session....... the king's government is hoping to pull off the impossible....... The commitments made last year in Geneva was a 25-point plan of action that the government was supposed to implement. It was made to thwart a binding and damning resolution. ..... But so far, none of those commitments have been implemented ..... the Geneva meeting could end up in the appointment of a U.N. special rapporteur to investigate rights abuses in Nepal.
  
• Nepal police summon editor CNN International ..... the editor of the country's largest circulating newspaper Kantipur