Dick Cheney, Nelson Mandela, Howard DeanNelson Mandela can smell fish. This is a guy who spent the best decades of his life behind bars because he believed in freedom so much. And then came along a king who has snatched away his people's freedom.
There is noone in the world of Mandela's stature today. That is his political standing. He has attained something akin to a political sainthood.
What was the king thinking?
The king visited several undemocratic countries along the way, like Egypt, as if to suggest the west seems to have double standards. His arguments work the other way round. It is not that the autocracy in Nepal needs to be tolerated, but that the autocracy in those countries should also not be tolerated. Those countries don't have a vibrant democratic community like Nepal does. That is their misfortune.
But freedom is a sound concept for every land.
Ask Mandela. He knows.
Nelson Mandela refuses to meet Nepal king
Hindustan Times, India
Legendary South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela has snubbed Nepal's King Gyanendra by refusing to give him an appointment despite hectic lobbying, media reports said on Wednesday.
Last week, the king, accompanied by Queen Komal, visited South Africa where he met with South African President Thabo Mbeki. However, former president and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela politely declined to meet him on the ground he had no time, the popular Jana Astha weekly reported.
This was despite hectic lobbying by Nepal's foreign ministry.
The king chose to embark on a three-week foreign tour earlier in November, visiting several African countries that have virtually no diplomatic ties with Nepal, in the midst of the political crisis engulfing Nepal and regular mass protests.
The daily said the rejection by Mandela showed a diplomatic failure by the royalist government as it had been trying to get an appointment with Mandela even before the king had embarked on his tour.
While people in the country and the international community have condemned the February 1 royal coup and urged Gyanendra to restore democracy, the king has been imposing fresh curbs on the media, political parties and civil society. He has defended his takeover at international forums on the ground it was needed to combat the escalating Maoist insurgency and address corruption in politics.
The king, who ascended the throne after a shootout in the palace that wiped out the then reigning king and his entire family, is portrayed by his followers as the reincarnation of a Hindu deity and therefore entitled to unquestioning obedience.
In The News
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India unable to tame Maoists: Patil
Bhutan accuses China of border encroachment
DAO denies ban on rallies
Further debate essential on 12-point agreement: Bijukchhe
November agreement has dramatically changed political realities: ICG
Australia ‘hails’ polls announcement
Two Maoist commanders killed: Prachanda, It was a retaliatory attack: RNA
Embattled Nepal king to return to face new challenge Reuters AlertNet, UK
UN warns of ‘full-scale conflict’ in Nepal
Nepal asks Maoists to extend unilateral ceasefire
Nepal rebel leader hints at extending cease-fire
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