Prachanda Is Angry

Prachanda is mad at the world because his mother died of blood cancer in 1995. Well, Prachanda, what do you have to say to all those other mothers who have been subjected to the reverse tragedy of having to lose their sons because of your gun-talk? I am not a medical expert, but maybe there is no cure for blood cancer, yet. Maybe your feelings of grief could have been channelled to contributing to cancer research. The Pakistani cricketeer Imran Khan lost his mother to cancer and he proceeded to raise funds to erect a cancer hospital in his country.

Prachanda lost his mother to blood cancer. King G spent 90,000 pounds for his mother's medical care last year. Is that an offensive disparity? Is that the offensive disparity?

What exactly is Prachanda Path? If that is supposed to be a theoretical contribution to communist theory, I don't see any evidence of it. Where is it in writing? What exactly does it propose? Or is it about waging a civil war and building a road at the same time? Is that your contribution? You Maoists are at the early stages of building a proposed 50 kilometer road through what some might say is forced labor. The democrats built thousands of kilometers in the 1990s. Compare.

Marxism is supposed to be a science, and scientists dare to face facts. But you Maoists give me every impression you are members of some Flat Earth Society. You are singularly isolated from reality. You are married to a defunct ideology, the facts be damned.

What is your trick? To offer a shifting goal post? If the democrats might come around to the idea of a Constituent Assembly, that is no longer enough. If the democrats prepare to deal with Baburam Bhattarai, not to cause a split in your ranks but because your party itself has consistently projected him as the person who holds talks with other camps, you put the guy into some kind of a protective custody, your version of detention.

Your aversion to dialogue is the aversion of someone who fears his sense of "reality" might get challenged when exposed to sunlight.

Your personal grief is valid, like that of every other person who might have lost a mother or a son, or another family member. But ask if that same mother you grieve for would have approved of what seems like an addiction to violent ways. When does it end? In Maoism, it never ends. It does not end after Mao comes to power. It does not end after Mao consolidates power. It does not end while Mao is getting struck with bolts of inspiration as to how best to mould the society now captured. It does not even end when Mao dies. If your Maoism is an imitation of Mao, whose life details are public knowledge, you are doomed. You are nothing but a cult leader engineering a mass suicide for those who have chosen to follow you.

On the other hand, if you are a Marxist, in the scientific sense of the term, as it is supposed to be, and you are willing to face facts, and subject yourself to peer review, as all scientists do, and are someone trying to apply communist theory to current conditions, and are willing to get creative, and are capable of facing reality, it is time to show that is true. Time is running out fast.

Basically you have the choice to show you do mean Democratic Republic when you say it, that you do not mean the Kim Jong Il version. Or if you mean the Kim Jong Il version, you stand to face an isolation like the king never even dreamed of for himself. At best you can continue with the stalemate. You are not now, not never going to militarily take over the country.

I need you to take a look at this proposed constitution. If this can not be a meeting ground between the democrats and the Maoists, no meeting ground is possible. Then the democrats will have the option to steal away your political and social thunder to reduce you to a law and order problem. We intend to move ahead with or without you.

In The News

• Nepal Rebel Chief Rules Out Peace with Government, Predicts ... Voice of America ....Prachanda has ruled out peace talks or a cease-fire with the government, saying he has confidence in the rebels' ultimate victory .... said the rebels are in the last stage of a strategic offensive that began in 1996 to oust the monarchy and replace it with a communist state
• Nepal rebels rule out peace talks CNN The army, which backed the king's power grab, vowed in February to step up its offensive against the Maoists, but has shown little sign of doing so yet. Gyanendra's hand-picked government is against holding talks with the Maoists, calling them "ghosts that need to be dealt with the stick"...... Prachanda said the Maoists would only consider talks if the king withdrew his February 1 proclamation and seizure of power, and was prepared to hand over "all power to the people" by allowing elections for an assembly to draw up a new constitution...... Prachanda renewed an appeal to Nepal's political parties, sidelined by the king, to unite with the rebels "against this autocratic monarchy, on the minimum program of Constituent Assembly and democratic republic"...... He dismissed as "Goebble's (sic) propaganda" the army's claim that there was a split in rebel ranks between moderates who favor peace talks and hardliners who prefer a military solution..... Most analysts say the war is unwinnable by either side.
  
• Rebel threat closes Nepal schools BBC News, UK .....More than 1.5 million students attend some 9,000 private schools in Nepal.
• Nepal's private schools plan international plea after Maoist ... ReliefWeb (press release) Maoists want the institutions to cut fees, scrap singing the national anthem and remove photographs of the king ..... rebels have planted three bombs in empty private school buildings in western Nepal over the past week ...... "We are in a dilemma. The army orders us to remain open or have our registration cancelled" ..... The 4.9 million students studying in Nepal's 25,000 public schools have not been affected by the Maoists' closure demand.
• Nepali professor in Harvard thinks Nepal hasn’t hit the bottom ... United We Blog, Nepal I came to the conclusion that there is a need for a dialogue between the parties and they are ready to initiate it and they just need a spark...... the idea of house revival. It seemed to me that Deuba congress was the least receptive of the idea..... there were other alternatives to Feb 1 and the king did not explore them fully ..... Newspaper headlines and causal talks centered on Maoists problems. Everybody, I talked to was frustrated or even seemed depressed...... I felt I was ‘Nepal’ arrested. I could not call my relatives outside and even in the valley. ....People representing all sides of the conflict are well-educated and intelligent people, and yet we are not able to solve it in a humanely and civilized way....... King’s action has all the readymade ingredients for more violence instead of peace..... only two years ago when I thought the situation really took a turn from bad to worse ..... In the eve of Kot massacre King Rajendra (??) went to British Embassy in the middle of night looking for help. King Tribhuvan went to take shelter in the Indian Embassy during democracy movement. So there is precedence of seeking help from friendly countries when the country is in political trouble. Parties should coordinate with the international community and organizations (e.g. UN) for a dignified way out from the current problem.
• Parties give nod to municipal polls Gorkhapatra .... co-general secretary of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Dhruva Bahadur Pradhan .... General secretary of the Nepal Sadvawana Party Amrita Agrahari .... Dr Ram Sharan Mahat of the Nepali Congress ..... CPN-UML’s central member Siddhi Lal Singh ..... Dr Minendra Rizal of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) ..... Central member of the Rastriya Janashakti Party Nair Bahadur Swanr .... Chairperson of the United Left Front CP Mainali
  
• No one loves Nepal Indian Express, India ... on Feb. 1, he said the government had failed to use the army effectively against the rebels .... It has long been obvious that there is no military solution to the insurgency
• Group of human rights bodies attacks Nepal govt Zee News, India
  
• Panel set up to counter Maoists in nine states:- Webindia123 .....a high-power standing committee of chief ministers of nine affected states ... Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.... headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil..... spurt in extremist activities that were earlier confined to fringe regions. .... "The ghastly killings, landmine blasts, extortion and abductions (by Maoists) in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining tribal belts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa have started bleeding the country"
  
• A terrified village in Nepal is mourning it’s massacred men United We Blog, Nepal In the midnight of Friday, April 15, hundreds of armed Maoists surrounded their tiny village and indiscriminately killed 10 innocent men..... All the terrified male residents have fled the village ..... Men from neighboring village have gone to Bargadwa (of Somani) to help stranded women and children to cremate the dead bodies and perform last rites. Terrified and horrified women do not even want to talk about the crime ..... killed by countless shots from indiscriminate firing. .... destroyed 15 houses..... detonated bombs in 4 cemented houses and set ablaze 11 other houses. More than 1 hundred people from those 15 families are now facing a bleak future. They lost almost everything....... at least 1000 locals have left the village and have gone to neighboring Indian villages some with their cattle ...... dead Chandra Man Dhobi ...... everything from grains and clothes to cattle were burnt .... armed members of the resistance committee in 12 southern villages bordering India have been patrolling 24 hours for the last two months...... Army brought a team of human rights activists here from Kathmandu on Saturday in helicopter. But human rights activists based on the district have not gone because they fear possible retaliation from the resistance committee or the Maoists.
• People's War' turning against the p Newindpress A 14-year-old boy, Kamlesh Yadav, who had appeared for the school-leaving examinations that ended last week, was among the 10 - aged below 30 - who were dragged from their beds around 11 p.m. and summarily shot..... Formation of such groups - sometimes with the active support of the government - is on the rise, unleashing a cycle of greater violence ..... Districts in the southern plains have recently been the site of such orgies of violence with arson and indiscriminate killings. ..... Kapilavastu district, the birthplace of the Buddha .... Ganesh Chiluwal, who headed the Maoist Victims' Association, was gunned down in the heart of the city in broad daylight ..... Last month, the Maoists forcibly took 22 villagers away from Bhitrikot village in Pyuthan district, ostensibly to help build a road. .... they have failed to return home even after a fortnight, their families fear they could have been forced to carry arms and equipment during an attack launched by the Maoists on an army camp in midwest Nepal recently...... With that clash leading to the death of over 160 people, the villagers fear that their men might have been among the innocent victims.
• EDUCATION-NEPAL: Schools Still Beyond Reach for Girls Inter Press Service (subscription), World ''The countries with the widest gender gaps in the region are Pakistan, where UNICEF projections for 2005 show a gender parity index (GPI) of just 0.83, and Nepal, 0.89'' .... there are 3.08 million children from the ages of five to nine in the country. Out of this number, 486,000 are not in school - of which 372,800 are girls. ...... ''Many children in Nepal are growing up in an environment shaped by guns, bombs, bandhs (strikes), killings, the sight of dead bodies and the fear of war, leading them to be preoccupied with thoughts and fear about violence and other psychosocial consequences'' .... schools in conflict-affected areas have been turned into barracks and used for political meetings and enforced political-indoctrination sessions ...... child marriages have become increasingly common in Nepal as a result of the armed conflict forcing many girls to leave school ..... After Maoists abduct a girl for indoctrination, even if is just for a number of days, she is likely to be rejected for marriage proposals ..... ''As a result, some parents are withdrawing their girls from schools and marrying them at increasingly younger ages to prevent this situation''
  
• Nepal King Seeks to Break Out of Isolation on Tour Swissinfo, Switzerland
• King unhappy with response to emergency Indian Express
• UN urges action on Nepal refugees BBC News, UK
• Nepal king to visit Singapore Times of India, India
• HM’s foreign tour to erase misconception about Nepal Gorkhapatra, Nepal
• UN team visits conflict-affected areas in Nepal Xinhua, China
• US official to discuss political issue of South Asia Xinhua, China
• Why US Support For The King Of Nepal Is Important? Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
• Nepal Will Use Asia-Africa Summit to Explain Emergency Rule Bloomberg
• Nepal rebels rule out cease fire Pakistan Dawn
• Nepal: Police Attack Transgender People Reuters AlertNet, UK ...."In a country where political and civil rights have been suspended, the violence sends a message that no one who looks or acts differently can feel safe." ..... on the night of December 12, 15 policemen in the Jamal district of Kathmandu attacked two metis on the street. The assailants wore civilian clothes but reportedly showed police IDs. They took the victims to Tundhikel, a large open field in central Kathmandu, threatened them with guns, and beat and raped them..... On August 9, 39 metis who were members of the Blue Diamond Society were picked up in police raids in Kathmandu. They were held for more than two weeks in the Hanuman Dhoka police station, and denied adequate food or visitation rights. Several were beaten and raped...... Justice Ram Prasad of Nepal's Supreme Court acted on a petition received from a private lawyer, asking to ban the Blue Diamond Society on the grounds that it violated the prohibition of "unnatural sex" in Nepal's criminal code.
• Nepal Police Attack, Beat Transsexuals 365Gay.com
  
• ‘Nepal polls a plot to validate power grab’ Indian Express, India The leaders, who gathered to observe the 75th birth anniversary of Nepal Sadbhavana Party founder president and Terai leader Gajendra Narayan Singh, urged political parties to form a united front against the royal takeover...... Ex-PM Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepali Congress Democratic leader Minendra Rijal and others stressd on the need to forge unity among parties.
• Parties cry foul over call for local election Times of India Veteran communist leader Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar ..... Former minister Nilambar Acharya
• After Nepal, Bangladesh worries India, US Indian Express, India Encouraged by the effective cooperation between the two countries in dealing with the political crisis in Nepal, India and US today discussed ways to close ranks and synchronise efforts to respond to the deteriorating situation in Bangladesh.
• Natwar returns, Rocca to follow Indian Express
  
• Asst. Sec. General of UN presents an exit strategy for Nepal United We Blog King Gyanendra of Nepal is known to be an intelligent person who is well-read and very knowledgeable about the current world situation..... So why did he do it? ..... The King could have genuinely felt duty-bound to try to rescue the nation from a downward spiral of senseless violence and endless political strife....... he could now be equally daring and decisive in making a course correction ...... the King did indeed have a carefully crafted game plan but it seems to have been largely based on wishful thinking by some of his confidants ...... the King was advised by his military commanders that if the Royal Nepalese Army were given a free hand, under a state of emergency, it could quickly capture several top Maoist leaders...... The examples of support for Pakistan’s Musharraf and Peru’s Fujimori .... was surprised by the vehemence of opposition to his take-over by Nepal’s closest and strongest donors and supporters ....... Given the anti-democratic credentials of several such loyalists, the King’s professed commitment to a multi-party democracy is viewed with suspicion and even disbelief. ........ Gyanendra too is known to consult Hindu astrologers and priests ..... is known to command the loyalty of many orthodox Hindus in India. ..... one of the King’s new Ministers had telephoned the leader of the BJP party in India to seek his support ...... cultivating Nepal’s autocrats is not a worthy price for China to offend India and other Western powers. ....... While there is much support for the King’s counter-corruption measures, the fact that many of the King’s loyalists too have shady reputation, and these measures are seen to be politically motivated and of dubious legality ..... the government has found out that in today’s world it is impossible for any government to effectively cut off news and information ...... the void created by the banning of Nepal’s vibrant FM radio stations in rural areas has been filled by clandestine Maoist broadcasts ........ the King finds himself increasingly isolated and ill-served by his loyalists ...... country has become completely polarised ....... Outside Kathmandu, the situation has continued to deteriorate. ..... Genuine support for the Maoists is believed to be minimal and declining, but the high-handedness of the Royal Nepalese Army is alienating the populace. ...... Another unintended consequence of the King’s drastic step has been that India has become an even bigger player in Nepal’s politics today........ New Delhi has become the capital of Nepal on matters pertaining to international response to Nepal’s political crisis ...... both the Maoists and the government have hardened their position ...... pro-republican sentiments are growing ...... there is no military solution to the crisis ....... Each of Nepal’s 3 key political forces – the King, the parties and the Maoists – have lost genuine public support in recent years ...... a serious credibility gap in the verbal commitments of Nepal’s leaders ..... both the monarch and the Maoists proclaim their faith in “genuine” democracy. But their actions tell a different tale. The political parties promise good governance in their manifestos, but tolerate corrupt behaviour by their leaders ..... pursue peacefully an agenda of radical social reforms..... Having achieved considerable success in the countryside, the Maoists are now faced with the choice of either doggedly pursuing total victory, which frankly is unachievable and unsustainable, or trying to cash in on their strength and accept to become an influential political party that champions the populist cause of the poor and the downtrodden........ Nepal’s short lived multi-party democracy was functioning relatively well at the local level and was beginning to produce good results........ Nepal was actually on the right track ....... A functioning democracy tends to be self-correcting, as voters eventually throw out irresponsible and unaccountable leaders. .......Requirement for leaders to disclose their own and their immediate family members’ income, assets and tax payments on an annual basis, and especially before and after assuming ministerial or senior constitutional positions ...... serious consideration should be given to temporary restoration of the dissolved parliament, for an interim period, for certain specific tasks ...... the political parties must come up with a politically clear, unified and consistent stand on the Maoist insurgency and its resolution ..... peace process should allow face saving for all parties ...... Ultimately, the Nepalis themselves have to find enough common ground to end the conflict ....... There have been many offers of help from organizations like the United Nations, the Carter Center, the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the European Union, and several friendly countries.... disarmament and demobilisation, election monitoring, post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation, human rights promotion and institution of “truth and reconciliation” mechanisms that will be needed to heal the deep scars of injury and injustice left by the conflict......
• Shooting In Janakpur INSN
• Time Magazine Interview With Prachanda ..... declined to be interviewed in person but agreed to reply in writing ... to a go-between in rebel territory ......his first interview with an independent journalist ..... reply—dated Feb. 25 ..... In 1996, we had not a single modern weapon nor any trained armed groups, only an ideological, political and military line and a plan [that] defined three stages: defensive, equilibrium and offensive...... Our strategy for this last stage will be to fuse urban insurrection to protracted People's War.....our party has every right to blame the parliamentary parties for their conciliatory approach to feudal autocracy. .....RNA helicopters have started to bomb houses and unarmed people..... the People's Liberation Army, [which has] a plan to protect the masses through a series of attacks on the RNA's strategic points..... We are fighting for the liberation of the masses, whereas the R.N.A. is fighting against the masses...... the PLA has captured hundreds and hundreds of RNA and police personnel, treated them humanely, respected them as prisoners of war and freed them ...... we are very serious about the number of Nepalese people who have fled their home villages, even the country. We regularly appeal to people to return home and say we will take care of their security, and an increasing number of people who fled are returning...... Because we are at war, I can't rule out mistakes. But we try to correct them......I want to appeal to democratic institutions and people all over the world not to be confused by the yellow propaganda of the RNA. The propaganda concerning the use of children in the People's Army is curious. We strictly do not allow those below the age of 18 to join. But one thing [that confuses] commentators is the thousands of orphans of our martyrs. Our party naturally undertakes the responsibility to feed, educate and train them so as to be good successors to their parents. We never use them in fighting, but we educate and discipline them as a children's organization. When we are taking care of poor children, how can one draw parallels with things like the Khmer Rouge?....our party neither represents dogmatism nor revisionism. We are trying to defend, apply and develop our [communist] science to the national and international situation. We are different to how outsiders imagine us: remaining firm in our ideological orientation, but very flexible....Being a science it deserves continuous and consistent development...... these so-called democratic countries don't support the democratic demands of the Nepalese people. .. Developing sharp differences between the haves and the have-nots generates the basis for world revolution. Anybody can observe the growing global unrest at this world order. We deeply believe that what we are starting in Nepal is part of a worldwide 21st century revolution.....After thorough debate, we have put forward a new historic proposal called "the development of democracy in the 21st century" [which] guarantees the new state will be under the observation, control and hegemony of the general masses. There will be free competition among political parties, [provided they] oppose feudalism and imperialism and work for the service of the masses. We also propose the party should [divide]: one section will work among the masses and the other will handle the state work. After some time this division will rotate to check the party and state from the danger of bureaucratic capitalism and totalitarianism. Anyway, the main thing is we are trying to build a new type of party that continuously revolutionizes itself through constant ideological and class struggle. Beyond the necessity of centralizing leadership, there is no question of any cult of personality. We are trying our best to develop a system of collective leadership and a flow of successors..... the feudal autocratic nature of the King and the democratic nature of the Maoists. ..... China's current ruling class dreams of being the new superpower, which goes directly against the path charted by Mao Zedong. China fears the return of Mao in Nepal....there are other forces who directly or indirectly support our proposal for U.N. or international mediation, and we have so many friends and institutions with whom we have regular contact, but for technical reasons, I am unable to disclose who they are. .... .. I am from a poor peasant family. From my childhood, I came to feel the meaning of poverty and inhuman exploitation..... humanity marches together towards infinite prosperity...... I have no time and no interests outside the Party, the campaign and the masses.... this is my first and last dream..... I am not so hidden from my people. I am open and in constant interaction with them.
• Time Magazine Interview With Gyanendra his first interview with the foreign press since his takeover on Feb. 1 ..... TIME: It was a well-executed takeover. Had you been planning this for a while? ..... [the takeover] was a foregone conclusion. .... to fight for democracy against terrorism. Now our friends must come and tell us whether this objective is incorrect, or help us in this cause....... skepticism is slow suicide .... something that was done under the provisions of the constitution cannot be defined as undemocratic ...... a little less might have yielded no results at all ..... I am saddened by the few of our friends that have chosen to curb much-needed assistance. Many Nepalese are identifying who their real friends are in this time of need..... We hope saner heads will prevail [in countries] where we have already received such vital assistance...... TIME: Do you agree you've taken an enormous risk, with your crown and your life? ...... the monarchy has always sided with the people and risked itself with them ...... TIME: In your proclamation, you spoke of an offensive against the Maoists. When can we expect that? ....... Do you want us to be aggressive, insulting or attacking? I do not think it is wise to only attack. There are many other things which also have to be implemented, like winning the hearts and minds of the people, for example. You have to have the population with you in this type of situation. ...... TIME: You're hinting that this is an unwinnable war. ...... It's not a question of winning or not winning. It's a question of taming. ...... the RNA will do the needful—whatever is required. They will coerce, comprehend, coordinate, cooperate. No law abiding citizen in Nepal should feel any pain. Yet those who do not abide by the law, who do not accept the majority's choice, they will feel pain. ...... TIME: There are serious concerns over the RNA's human rights record. Do you share them? ..... Think of Guantanamo, Iraq. We don't have bad stories like that. ...... You asked me this once before, and I give you the same answer: are these questions being raised now because the RNA is being successful? ....... TIME: What about the reports we hear from Kapilbastu, of lynch mobs killing 30 people, burning hundreds of homes, and encouraged to do so by the RNA? .... Has Nepal witnessed rising public antipathy against terrorism? Yes. ...... No one needs to instigate the public. Enough is enough. That's clearly the message the rural population is giving the terrorists. They are rising up. And I welcome these moves by the people. ...... and according to the rule of law. But when they do rise up, they must conduct themselves in a proper and civil mannerIt also absolutely untrue that the RNA was in any way involved in this incident. ...... TIME: Doesn't it worry you, taking power with a military that is so criticized? ..... Gyanendra: Did I use the military to take over? TIME: OK, let's call them the security forces. ....... TIME: Let me put it this way: do you feel you have complete control over the army? ...... I do not believe in controlling anything. If the system works, discipline is there and the system does not function at the whims and fancies of an individual. If you're talking about loyalty, that's another thing. ....... Gyanendra: Are you accusing me of a coup? This is not a coup at all. ....... We have enough laws and regulations to do what we need to do. Nothing new has been introduced. ....... TIME: The one thing you share with the rebels is a frustration with the performance of the political parties. Tell me why. ....... I am still frustrated. I think any sane individual would be. ....... they need to come forward with their perceptions on four things: on our fight against terror, on our fight against corruption, on fiscal discipline, and on strengthening the bureaucracy to make it more result-, people- and service-oriented. If we are clear on these four things, then we can discuss the methods and systems to achieve peace....... I am giving you a roadmap. ...... TIME: The thing is, you shut down the political parties, locked up their leaders. Don't you think you damaged, or even made irrelevant, the very things you say you're working to strengthen? ........ You can only damage something if it's sound. ...... Look, democracy is here to stay. No one will be able to get rid of it. And the institution of the monarchy will see to it that no one can get rid of it. But the parties are a vehicle in that progress, and you can always change vehicles....... You cannot go to extremes to achieve things. But this is a language that they do not understand. Which part of the constitution does not allow them to talk peacefully? You don't like some word, you don't like some idea, these things can be thrashed out peacefully. This outdated, dilapidated thought that everything comes from the barrel of a gun is not an ideology accepted anywhere in the 21st century...... TIME: That's also something to talk about. To an outsider, this war, a King fighting a Maoist guerrilla, can seem strangely historic, as though Nepal is fighting the battles of the last century. ........ Gyanendra: (Laughs). ...... We cannot afford this conflict anymore. Democracy is not about 'I am as good as you.' It's about 'you are as good as me.' People have to understand this. ..... .. undisciplined freedom has nearly brought about the end of democracy ....... Why is it that as soon as we talk of freedom, everyone forgets their duty and responsibility to the nation? Are individuals above the nation? Is a system above the nation? ...... We want to see transparency, openness and communication flourish. ......... These times are not going to be easy for the Nepalese. We have to learn to be austere and pull up our socks. We have to learn to stand on our own two feet, and I am not saying that because aid is going to be stopped....... TIME: Let's be frank here. When you talk about dark times ahead, what you're saying is: 'people are going to die.' ...... I have requested people to give me a certain amount of time and I intend to make the best use of that time in the wisest way possible. Without the cooperation of the people, no one can succeed. What is all this exercise for, if not for the people? What is democracy for? ...... TIME: Taking over after losing most of your family, and then facing a crisis in which you have to ask people to give up their lives: do you feel the burden of office? ....... I feel it must be my destiny. ..... Without stability, there will be no prosperity, and prosperity is for posterity ...... and being at risk ...... any leadership is a question of living dangerouslyWe learn to meditate, relax and execute things correctly, which is nothing new to our culture. ...... TIME: I've asked you this before, but how lonely are you, in power, facing a crisis alone, with most of your family gone?
  Gyanendra: It depends how you view happiness and loneliness. If you pursue happiness, you will not achieve it. ....... It's a misconception that I am confined within the compound of the palace. ...... I am fully satisfied that I am hearing the voice of the people. ..... If you're asking me where is God, I would have asked you: where is he not? ...... Speaking to people about your worries, it's like a valve opens and the pressure is released. One does not have to go berserk, or go into a state of depression. This is something that we continue to hear happens in your cities because of the values you have, because you are so interlinked with material pursuits......... I insist on having a meal with my family daily. ...... when you enlarge a family, the social structure becomes civil society and enlarge that and it becomes a nation ..... My family is a fortress of strength, and I think each member realizes his of her responsibility and understands very well the changed context demands more responsibility, not irresponsibility....... ..... TIME: On the responsibility and irresponsibility of members of the royal family, some have had concerns on that score regarding the Crown Prince. Gyanendra: That's something you should ask him, it's not for me. But that new understanding and approach is already bearing fruit. I would have thought you would ask me about what it's like being in power. TIME: Well, sure, what is it like? Gyanendra: Look, we all know that absolute power corrupts absolutely....... There are three origins of power: wealth, strength and talent. ..... A little law is required. ...... We have chosen a path now, and it's strewn with many, many thorns, but we intend to go over those thorns when it comes to the question of terrorism. Those who help us get rid of these thorns so that we can achieve our objective will be more than welcome and will identified as friends in times of need.
• Gunning For Nepal Time Asia As with everything in this war, it's impossible to know where the truth lies. But the bloodshed is all too real. At an estimated 10 killings a day, Nepal's is the deadliest conflict in Asia. At times—such as when 1,023 died in a single month in 2002—this beautiful mountain kingdom briefly becomes the single most dangerous place on earth. Massacres have become commonplace: a favored Maoist technique is the "wave" attack, in which up to 5,000 rebels head into battle with the objective of leaving no enemy alive. ....... He vows that the 85,000-member Nepalese army will do "whatever is required" to restore order: "Those who do not abide by the law will feel pain." ..... principal effect of Gyanendra's crackdown has been to gut Nepal's civil society ...... extrajudicial killings by Nepal's security forces have risen "exponentially" to an average of eight a day. Meanwhile, the rebels continue to besiege the cities and to bomb markets, prisons and police stations. ..... thousands of rebels attacked an army base in Rukum district on April 7...... Maoists are waging a deadly bombing campaign against government buildings nationwide, making a particular target of jails where their comrades are held..... In a country where the average person scrapes by on an income of $240 a year, many have fled to brothels in Bombay, sweatshops in Southeast Asia and servants' quarters in the Gulf: trade unions say 7 million out of 27 million Nepalis now live abroad....... an influx of gunrunners, drug barons and terrorists who, as in other failing states, find a home amid chaos ........ "it could get so much worse. Warlords. Poppies. The gun becoming entrenched as a way of life. It's almost impossible to fathom what a poorer Nepal would be like, [but] I guess you move from disease to epidemic, and malnutrition to starvation. The best possible scenario is that one of the world's poorest countries just gets poorer." ..... Kathmandu's main tourist drag is called "Freak Street," a leading city newspaper is the Space Time Today, and the government uses a calendar by whose reckoning this is the year 2062. ..... whole swaths of the country exist in an ungoverned vacuum. ..... By the time he graduated from high school, he was a communist. ...... while revolution swept the world from China to Cuba, it missed Nepal ...... new democracy was consumed by infighting, corruption and venal ambition. By last summer, the country had endured 14 governments in 14 years and the parties had split so many times that Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was one of 40 left-wing groups, including 10 Communist Parties of Nepal....... By February 1996, Prachanda had had enough. ...... At first, Prachanda commanded only a few hundred men, who were armed with axes, hoes and World War II rifles. In the ensuing conflict, casualties were light and the Maoists themselves accounted for two-thirds of all deaths ....... ahistorical curios ..... Nov. 23, 2001, when the Maoists launched 48 simultaneous attacks on the police and army, killing hundreds. In the months that followed, the Maoists staged a series of massive assaults ..... decapitated their own fallen comrades rather than leave them identifiable. ...... they are now able to attack anywhere ...... While the Maoists portray themselves as saviors of the common folk, many people have fled from them in terror. ..... possibility of a rebel takeover looms ..... .. Despite the carnage in Kharikot, spirits are high, almost giddy. ..... ... One female fighter wears a Britney Spears T shirt under an ammunition belt, another dons a Jurassic Park shirt, and several wrap themselves in towels decorated with images of Spider-Man or Winnie the Pooh. The men joke and play-fight, the women giggle and hug, and everyone plays volleyball and swaps the latest Bollywood tapes......... First Brigade's vice political commissar, Atal, says enlisting children is the norm: "According to Lenin, once they are 15, they can join up." ....... the Khmer Rouge proved that children could be imaginatively murderous .......... Few seem to have working knowledge of their weapons: some carry them slung backward over their shoulder, safety catch off and pointed at their comrades' waists; others stuff the barrels with cloth and mud to keep out the damp. Ammunition is also a problem. Only a handful of fighters have a spare clip. The sheer variety of weapons—from American M-16s to Belgian guns captured from the R.N.A. to AK-47s bought from gun smugglers—makes it impossible for the rebel army to keep them all loaded. But the Maoists have one world-class weapon: the Himalayas. Their territory, a maze of giant ravines so remote that many maps of Nepal contain large tracts of blank space, is the perfect launching pad for guerrilla warfare........ His hierarchy is traditional Stalinist: he serves as Party chairman and commander-in-chief ..... "model" villages that embody his vision of a Maoist Nepal. ....... Maoist capital Thabang ..... hammer-and-sickle flags fly from the roofs and a mural in the main street depicts Prachanda alongside Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao....... Thabang's chief, Raktim, says religion is discouraged and will eventually be "eliminated." A new Marxist school curriculum will teach Party history to children from age 5. ....... veto or approve marriages, and bestow revolutionary names ...... press-ganged some 1,000 villagers to build a road east from Thabang, but that's the extent of their development work. ...... "If we build clinics or irrigation channels, the army just comes here and destroys it. We do the same to them." ...... "If his offense is serious, we give him hard labor... But if he doesn't change, we shoot him. Or use a kukri [knife] if we don't have the bullets." ...... suffering at the hands of the Maoists takes many forms ...... "They take people to the hills for days, weeks, even months. They call it 'camping.' They tell you everyone must be proletariat, that we are too materialistic, too middle-class, that it doesn't matter how people think, only how the Party thinks, that nothing can happen without their permission. They want our heads empty and our eyes sightless so that we follow them blindly. That's why they like children." ........ insists the sessions are educational, not coercive. "We feel that if people understand us, they'll support us." ....... Asked how she squares this with forcing impoverished villagers to feed and house them while doing nothing to improve their lives, she is adamant: "We are fighting for the people. So we eat in their houses. How can people say we are doing bad things?" Her certainty knows no bounds. "Not only will we be in Kathmandu in months," she says, "we'll spread all over the world." ...... the teacher complains that the rebels assume rather than earn support: "People hate them. They're vicious and they take and give nothing back. They think power and the gun are everything. Sadly, they have a point—what can we do if they've got the guns?" ........ If Monarchs are born into isolation and dictators make their own ...... While other royals never strayed far from the palace, he became a businessman and participated little in public life. It was typical that on June 1, 2001, as the royal family met for dinner at Narayanhity Palace in Kathmandu, he was away on business in western Nepal. ....... In an instant, Gyanendra had lost most of his family and went from businessman to King. Dipendra also killed off much of the royal family's popularity. Gyanendra became the subject of bizarre, unfounded conspiracy theories, which Prachanda perpetuates, referring to him as "the infamous fratricidal and regicidal King Gyanendra." ....... An assassination target, he ventures no farther than his palace offices for weeks at a time........ Among the few commoners he does see are his generals. A longtime friend of the King says the top brass "surrounded him and cut him off." And as people "who tend to see things in black and white," by last November they had persuaded him to seize power. Even then, the King didn't leave home: he announced his takeover from a television studio he had built for the purpose inside the palace........ Most disturbing are army reports of spontaneous "uprisings" against the Maoists. ...... "This mob moved to 21 villages—killing people, torturing them, raping, looting and setting fire to the houses" ....... "far more effective at terrorizing their own citizens than fighting the Maoists." ... "They effectively own the country." ....... it's doubtful that the King fully controls Nepal's army, which is poorly trained, spread across the Himalayas and linked only by patchy communications. A Western diplomat observes: "We think he's still in charge, but it's becoming a legitimate question." ....... Gyanendra acknowledges that he has chosen "a path strewn with many, many thorns." Prachanda agrees that "sacrifice is inevitable." In Gairigaon, First Brigade's vice political commissar Atal smiles at his teenage soldiers as he exhorts them to risk their lives for the revolution. Many of these young fighters have already lost family members in the war, says Atal: "It changed their thoughts. It gave them great thoughts. They're ready to die." No doubt, they will.