Democracy For Nepal

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Alliance Of Steel

The democrats have no alternative to forming an alliance of steel with the Maoists. And there is also a three month window. Three month is enough time to herald democracy into the country. What could such an alliance look like?

The Maoists have taken two major steps. One, they have made an ideological shift away from classic Maoism, not in a way of surrender, but by recognizing communist theory is supposed to be alive like science, not stagnant like religious dogma. Two, they have made the brilliant military move of a unilateral ceasefire. I could add a third: almost three months back they came with the concrete suggestion that the seven party form a committee to hold concrete dialogue with the Maoists. If there is a better way to hold dialogue with the Maoists for us, I don't know.

We democrats have to acknowledge, appreciate and reciprocate.

The democrats have come up with this idea that the Maoists go one step further and disarm. That is different from the Monarchists saying surrender. We democrats have every right to make such a request. But then the Maoists also have every right to not accept it and still be able to do business with us. If we were in power, we could legitimately ask them to disarm because, well, we already have found a political meeting point: Constituent Assembly. But we are not in power, and we are not in a position to offer the Maoists political or military protection if they were to disarm. So the Maoists have every right to reject our proposal.

So what are our options?

The Maoists already have moved from the goal of a communist republic to that of a democratic republic, and they already have moved from "power flows through the barrel of a gun" to a peaceful transformation of the state. What that means is, if a democratic republic were to materialize, they would disarm even if noone were to ask them to. That is what they are saying. We will not have to convince them to disarm if we can offer them a democratic republic. They will disarm based on their firm internal theoretical analysis. That is the good news. Step 3 has already been agreed on .

We need to work creatively and proactively on steps 1 and 2.

We can still ask the Maoists to disarm, but if they were to reject the proposal as unrealistic, we have to accept that rejection with respect. Then we can say this.

Maintain your ceasefire. The RNA can not legitimately attack you while you are maintaining your ceasefire. They would be violating some serious international laws if they do. Again, this is not a position we are suggesting to them. This is a position they have already moved on to with their own initiative. That applies to your 12,000 or however many armed cadres you have. Freeze them. For now.

As for the rest of your cadres, be they 50,000 or 150,000, mobilize them for massive peaceful, nationwide protest programs. Because you are still an armed political party, we can not legitimately participate in your programs. But we will extend moral support. And we will also organize massive peaceful, nationwide protest programs. And we will do them in all the villages, all the towns. You extend moral support to us. And you make sure our workers do not feel any threat from your workers.

We have moved beyond a Constituent Assembly as our common minimum program. Now our common minimum program is a Democratic Republic.

Once the movement succeeds, and we get hundreds of thousands of people out in the streets for weeks, we are going to declare an interim government. You Maoists are not going to be part of it, although we expect you to extend external support. Governments who were going to walk out on the king during his speech at the UN are going to recognize our government as the legitimate government. Once we have claimed and consolidated power, we are going to hold unconditional peace talks with you. At the end of that process, you completely disarm. Once you disarm, you are going to be invited into the government.

But even to reach this point, we need more than the slogan of a democratic republic. We need a 10-point program. A stickler there could be the land-to-the-tiller land reform program proposed by Dr. Bhattarai that I agree with 110%. I think the UML will come around to the idea. But we also need the Congress to come around to it. It is not possible that BP Koirala was a socialist but was against genuine land reform. But, having said that, if the Nepali Congress were to disagree, not in the person of one Girija Koirala, but through a decision by the central committee after a throrough debate, then we are going to have to accept that stand as their democratic right, and in the best interests of the alliance of steel, we are going to have to postpone the land reform business from step 1 to step 3. I need the Maoists to really understand this part. After the country has a new constitution, and elections are held, and the Maoists emerge as the majority party, or the Maoists and the UML emerge as the majority coalition, the land-to-the-tiller land reform can be implemented with the Nepali Congress still maintaining its disagreeing stance.

So, barring a land-to-the-tiller land reform, what could a 10-point platform look like? I have a suggestion.

Democratic republic.
Federalism.
Abolition of all sexist laws.
All parliamentary constituencies demarcated on near equal population.
Land reform.
Universal and free access to primary health care and secondary education. Major expansion of micro credit.
All individuals on state payroll to post their family property statements online on an annual basis.
No fund-raising by parties in the private sector. Instead each gets an annual allowance from the state in size directly proportional to the number of votes it earned in the last national election.
Progressive income taxation. No direct taxes for people in the bottom 40% income brackets.
Tri-lingual education policy with equal status to Nepali and Hindi.

Only with a clear program like this one can we hope to see people out in the streets in the hundreds of thousands. 1, 7 and 8 are key.

And both the Maoists and the seven parties will have to extend full support to the 10 point program. And then the movement really takes off.

The interim government, once formed, has to set up a Truth And Reconciliation Commission to investigate and jail the monarchist crooks. It also looks into nationalizing the illegally amassed properties.

Once the country gets the eight party interim government, it heads into a Constituent Assembly.

That is it.

Nepal’s Terai People In Deplorable Conditions: Mahto

Nepal’s Terai People In Deplorable Conditions
By Rajendra Mahto
Asia Tribune

Nepal, situated in the lap of the world’s highest peak, the Mount Everest, is generally known as the land of the Gorkhas, inhabitants of the mountains. But more than half of Nepal’s population is of ‘Hindi speaking Terai people known as Madheshis’ and they have their deep roots and blood relations across the borders with the people of India.

About two hundred and twenty five years ago, the land of Madhesh and different kingdoms were merged with Nepal in the name of unification but Madheshi people have not been integrated into the mainstream in Nepal. They are the inhabitants of the Terai region right from the days of the Mithila king Janak, Lichhvi kings, Karnataka clan kings and Bhagwan Gautam Buddha. The Terai region is ‘Madhya Desh’ between Nepal and India and hence it became ‘Madhesh’ and its inhabitants Madheshis.

The ancestors of the present day ruling clans in Nepal – Shah Dynasty kings, Bahun (hilly Pandits), Chhetri (Kshatriya) and Newar had migrated to Nepal from Rajasthan, Kumaon, Kanauj, Gharwal and Karnataka. But since the governance of the kingdom which emerged after geo-graphical unification of Nepal went into the hands of the rulers from the said clans, they declared themselves as the real Nepalis. Side by side, these Madheshis began to be called, without even a wink of the eyelid, as – ‘Moglania’, ‘Desi’, ‘Videshi’ and ‘Indians’ which is continuing even today. This is the reason why Madheshis politically, economically, socially, culturally and linguistically discriminated against in the past and now.

Consider this fact. Between 1970 and 1980, when the 1100 Km long East West national highway was built through the deep forests of Madhesh, about 25 lakh hill people were rehabilitated on either side of the highway but not even one inch of land was allotted to any landless Madheshi.

The present day Nepal is divided into 75 districts administratively. 55 of these 55 districts are close to Tibet and have low population density because of the hilly terrain. The remaining 22 districts in southern Nepal share their border with West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal. Density of population is very high. In act, Terai belt accounts for almost 60 per cent of Nepal’s population. Their language is Hindi though Maithili, Bhojpuri and Avdhi are spoken. Northern Nepalis address them derogatorily as ‘Madheshis’.

During the partyless Panchayat regime in 1965, Hindi was abolished as medium of instructions; a very less developed Gorkha language of the ruling clans was given constitutional status by naming it as ‘Nepali’ and was declared as national language of Nepal. Hindi was banished in Rashtriya Panchayat, the so called Nepal Parliament.

After peoples’ uprising and restoration of democracy in the 1990, the government in Kathmandu recognised Terai districts as a ‘special cultural entity’ (Madheshi culture). But the ban on Hindi has not been lifted, till date.

In the fifties, Parliament gave equal status to Nepali and Hindi. Late Gajendra Narain Singh, founder-president, Nepal Sadhbhavna Party, and other party law makers insisted in Parliament (1959) on speaking in Hindi. They also wanted to attend Parliament attired in Dhoti Kurta and insisted on an end to discrimination against the Madhishis. After a great struggle, the Speaker informally allowed them to speak in Hindi; but no record is maintained of a statement or speech made in Hindi in Parliament.

Before 1990s, during the autocrat Panchayat regime, one or two seats from all districts, big or small, were reserved in Rashtriya Panchayat in an arbitrary manner; Only Independents could represent these seats. The terrified people did not protest. The situation did not change much after the ‘uprising’ too.

The ‘Constitution Suggestion Commission’ followed the ‘old’ yardsticks for in delimitation. It did not go by population as the base for delimitation of constituencies. Result was the hill constituencies with hardly six to eight thousand voters elect one representative to Parliament, while 70-80 thousand voters elect one law maker each in the Terai region, which is divided into 87 constituencies. No surprise therefore in a 205-member Pratinidhi Sabha (lower house of parliament), there are only 41 Madheshi representatives.

Madheshis face great discrimination in all spheres. There is an undeclared ban on their recruitment to Royal Nepal Army. Madheshis are in microscopic number in Nepal police. The presentation of the citizenship certificates has been made so stringent that in the absence of the citizenship certificate no one can either take birth or die legally as at the time of registration of birth, father’s citizenship certificate is demanded.

Similarly, for a death certificate, the citizenship certificate is required. Citizenship certificate is demanded as a pre-requisite to admission in schools and colleges, buying and selling of property, license for setting up industrial units and entry into government jobs which is never granted to the Madheshis denied citizenship certificate.

So, it should not come as a surprise to know that more than 40 lakh Madheshi Nepali citizens are deprived of citizenship. It is the biggest tragedy of the community. The narrow minded hill leaders who dominate Government and main political parties are engaged in the unscrupulous campaign of declaring these Madheshis as Indians. Funnily, even without citizenship, these 40 lakh plus have been voting in all elections. That is they are able to elect a government but cannot emerge out of their pitiable plight.

Terai region is the rice bowl of Nepal. A drought in Madhesh leads to hunger in the country’, says a popular Nepali adage. About 83 per cent of Nepali revenue comes from Terai. Yet, Madhesh gets only about 20 per cent of government spending in the Budget – mostly by way of salaries for government employees.

The Madheshis are convinced that so long as they do not get a respectful place in Nepal, a feeling of regard and respect will never come for them, for India, and for Indians. This could be possible only when Hindi is granted national language status in Nepal Constitution, when ‘Dhoti Kurta’ put on by more than one crore Madheshis is accepted as national dress and when 40 lakh Nepali citizens plus who are without citizenship certificates (majority are Madheshi) are granted citizenship.

The Madheshis believe that the ‘Constituent Assembly’ be elected to formulate a new Constitution so that the discrimination against more than half of country’s ‘Hindi speaking population’ is removed and all Nepalis are integrated into the national mainstream.

For the past 13-years, Nepal Sadhbhavna Party is engaged in the struggle for proportional representation in state affairs for more than half of the country’s population of. Nepali Congress, Nepal Communist Party (UML) and other major political parties are now conscious of Madheshi concerns; they are raising their voices from time to time. Some success has come Madheshi way; a long road needs to be traversed still.

Nepal is today passing through the difficult phase of reforms in political, economic, social, cultural and language spheres. If the problems of one crore Madheshis are not highlighted right at this point of time, it is almost certain they will get nothing in the next phase of change.

Admittedly, multi-party democratic system in Nepal is in jeopardy strain ever since King Gyanendra dismissed an elected Prime Minister and took over the reins of the country. Already an unsuccessful attempt was made to project the autocrat royalty as an alternative to democracy.

All democratic and Madheshi forces should, therefore, join hands and unitedly carry forward the democratic movement while raising the problems of the Madheshis side by side so that their aspirations and concerns are never pushed to the back burner and are not even mentioned as was the case at the time of drafting the present constitution a decade back. Democracy can prosper when there is no discrimination of any kind and the gains of democracy are not limited to a particular group or a special community. This is what the Madheshis are clamouring for, to live as Nepalis with their head held high.

Down With The Monarchy

In the way the king has reacted to the unilateral ceasefire by the Maoists, he stands exposed. This is a feudal autocrat who belongs in the dustbins of history, outside Nepal's soil. There is no escaping blame. As the self-appointed chief executive of the country, he is directly responsible for the police brutality against the peaceful demonstrators, and the military brutality all over the country against the defenseless. This is Milosevic with a crown on his head. Milosevic perpetrated ethnic cleansing. Gyanendra's armed men are known to target low caste families, for one.

This is a man who has looted the state treasury. This is a man who has relentlessly militarized the country. This is a man with a fundamental character flaw. This is a man with no hope, no outlet.

This man is a dictator.

In his endless diatribes against the political parties, he has echoed his dictator father Mahendra, and his dictator brother Birendra, and his murderer nephew Dipendra, his dictator grandfather Tribhuvan and his bloodhound ancestor Prithvi. His entire lineage is polluted. His is a family that gives Nepal a bad name, always has.

This man is fundamentally disoriented. He is incapable of understanding peace, democracy and progress. His mind is not healthy. His very constitution is questionable.

Sure there are sycophants with different last names than his who are part of his mafia structures, but they are little flies hovering rotten food. They too stand to be punished. But the primary task is to clean the garbage. You thoroughly clean out the garbage and the flies are much too easily taken care of.

This man is pig-headed. His obstinacy he misunderstands to be resolve.

The mistakes the democrats made was mostly made in 1990, not after. The democrats let these villains go free. They should not ever have been let free.

The choice for Nepal and friends of Nepal is between autocracy and democracy. This hoodlum says it is between terrorism and peace, if is, he is the one who is the ultimate terrorist. He has been terrorising 27 million people for months now.

Enough is enough.

And it is not for India to decide if the UN may engage itself in the peace process in Nepal or not. These brown sahib bureaucrats and politicians in Delhi who never really managed to throw their mental sackles of the colonized and continue with their mental slavery are blind to the fact that the UN is the only way they could ever really truly become a global power. I feel sorry for them, but they may not get in my way nevertheless.

I don't know if the UN will get involved, maybe they will not be necessary. But that is a question for the Nepali democrats.

For now I urge the Maoists and the democrats to work towards forming an alliance of steel. It is time for a total showdown, time for a confrontation. It is a fight to the finish. Time for peace talks have long since passed.

The dictator has squandered all his opportunities. He is not going to get anymore.

On to a republic. And a total, progressive democracy.

And I strongly urge the UN human rights officials in the country to actively document all the atrocities committed by the RNA. This guy is going to the Hague.

In The News

Over 50 demonstrators detained in New Delhi NepalNews
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture arrives in Kathmandu
Company headed by Dr. Giri pays back Bank loan
RCCC withdraws its appeal Spokesman of the controversial Commission, Prem Raj Karki, had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against its own verdict to give clean chits to former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and six colleagues from his cabinet on charge of ‘misusing’ money from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund....... The RCCC withdrew its appeal after Attorney General Pawan Kumar Ojha advised the Commission not to appeal against its own decision.
India’s big ‘No’ to UN involvement in Nepal Kantipur During a recent New Delhi visit of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Special Advisor Lakhadar Brahimi, New Delhi rejected suggestions that the United Nations provided its good offices in the resolution of nearly a decade old Maoist insurgency in Nepal....... Brahimi was in New Delhi for four days around Aug. 29-Sept.1, and the top UN diplomat held extensive consultation with India’s External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, Secretary Shyam Saran and other top officials in the government ....... During Brahimi’s Delhi stopover, another senior political advisor to the UN Secretary General Samuel Tamrat, who has visited Nepal several times in recent times; and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Ian Martin, was also here for consultations........ “It [that the three top UN officials involved in Nepal’s conflict were in Delhi at the same time] was more than just a coincidence” ........ After meeting External Affairs Minister Singh, Brahimi seemed a “little puzzled” to know that India does not want UN’s involvement in the resolution of Nepal’s tri-polar conflict ...... not immediately clear what kind of third party mediation, if at all, Delhi favoured for resolution of the bloody conflict ..... growing multiparty clamours for UN involvement in the conflict resolution. ....... Hailing from Algeria, Brahimi also has experiences of dealing with other conflict hotspots like Iraq and Sri Lanka.
Maoists appeal int’l community Prachanda, has appealed international communities including the United Nations to exert pressure on government for establishing peace in the country. ...... accused the government of starting a conspiracy to sabotage the unilateral ceasefire announced by his party....... Prachanda also claimed that security forces have intensified attacks on Maoist cadres in Bardia, Kanchanpur, Jajarkot, Dailkeh, Udayapur, Taplejung and Kaski district among others...... “The attacks on our cadres, who are in the active defense positions, are aimed at compelling us to breakdown the ceasefire”
Over 100 students abducted in Myagdi
King cancelled UN visit to focus on restoring peace: FM Pandey
98 kms of road constructed last year
ANNISU-R shut down 9 more schools in Udayapur
FNJ urges Annan to discuss Nepali media crisis
Over three dozen leaders detained
NHRC requests govt not to use excessive force
Nepali guerrillas move affects 15,000 students in eastern Nepal People's Daily Online, China The government, with the support from World Bank, has begun the transfer of the management of state-aided schools to the School Management Committee, a body of local people
UN expert visiting Nepal on torture issue People's Daily Online, China ..... a fact-finding mission starting Saturday ....... The special rapporteur will submit a comprehensive written report on the visit to Commission on Human Rights at its 62nd session in 2006.
A Royal Taming Outlook (subscription) Last week was arguably Nepal's most tumultuous from the time King Gyanendra grabbed power on February 1........ Nepal's monarch rescinded his earlier plan to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 16; two major political parties declared their opposition to even constitutional monarchy; the Maoists announced a three-month ceasefire beginning September 1; and the people braved police repression to voice their anger against the monarch....... His trip to New York was anyway expected to be stormy. Heads of several European delegations had been contemplating a walkout during King Gyanendra's speech at the UNGA; outside it, expat Nepalis had planned a black flag demonstration......."Where's the question of the king cancelling his trip which had never been announced," stoutly defended a foreign ministry official. ........ the king and his 56-member entourage. ..... the government had even hired a public relations person for $50,000, in the hopes of rallying international support in New York. And the state exchequer released a whopping Rs 110 million for the trip, an amount never before spent on a Nepali delegation to the UN....... With 60 per cent of the cadres of the two parties below 40 years of age, their leaders could not ignore the radicalism of the younger generation which has neither emotional nor intellectual affinity with the kingship....... Quite cleverly, Prachanda was projecting the army generals, not the soldiers, as his enemy....... the Maoists wanted an interim government to supervise elections to the Constituent Assembly, which could then institutionalise the democratic republican system........ Madhav Kumar Nepal responded, "We are one with the Maoists on the question of the Constituent Assembly." ...... As mainstream political parties and the Maoists began to move towards a common ground, Kathmandu's streets echoed with slogans of "Get out Gyanendra." These daily protests invited retaliatory police action and arrests of hundreds....... Sore over the king's refusal to restore democracy at the earliest, India indicated for the first time that it won't ignore the demand for a republic voiced by political parties. It also thought the announcement of ceasefire was vital....... "All political forces now need to work strenuously for a democratically based peace process leading to a durable negotiated solution, involving a national consensus and reintegration of the Maoists into a multi-party democracy," a EU statement issued by the British embassy here said....... the ceasefire declaration portrays the Maoists as greater votaries of peace than the king...... The declaration also helps them counter Nepal and Washington's accusation that they are terrorists. These perceptions were further bolstered with Prachanda asking Annan to play a larger role in the negotiations in Nepal—a role he is keen on...... It's difficult for them to share a platform with the Maoists who haven't yet put down their gun and who have killed scores of pro-democracy supporters in the past. "That will mean accepting the Maoist agenda and its leadership. We are aware of it," Nepali Congress leader G.P. Koirala is believed to have told his confused supporters privately. Revival of the Nepali parliament has been the demand of political parties. Its acceptance by the king could preempt the political parties and Maoists joining hands. But it would also mean the king accepting constitutional monarchy as enshrined in the Constitution. Should he not, analysts say he ought to prepare for a republican hurricane.
Nepal’s villagers just want peace. PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal “We met Maoists on the way but they said nothing about a ceasefire,” says 27-year-old Bal Bahadur Rai, who arrived in Chhatara after walking along the Kosi for two days from Bhojpur district...... Even after the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Maoists, there seems to be either a lack of communication or a break down in the chain of command. Rebel road blockades are intact in the district headquarters of Pachthar and Taplejung in the east and local Maoist commanders are saying that the ceasefire statement from their leader was not clear so they have decided to maintain their blockades........ the message of Prachanda’s statement hasn’t yet filtered down to the grassroots cadre. “The Maoists themselves are not clear about the ceasefire,” adds Mahat. They don’t know if it also includes an end to extortion, abductions, school closures and recruitment....... Activists are now calling on a coalition of 25 human rights organisations to immediately start independent monitoring...... Community leaders in the east say the situation may improve only if the government reciprocates the ceasefire.......Villagers there said the rebels approached them after the ceasefire demanding 20 kg of rice and cash from each household....... concerns that security operations by the state might jeopardise the ceasefire. Security forces have been intensifying searches and on the day of the ceasefire arrested three Maoists near midnight in Hawaldarpur, 10 km outside of town. The yearning for peace is so great that even local police want the government to announce a ceasefire. “It will be better for everyone if both sides agree,” says a local policeman at a sandbagged picket in the centre of Nepalganj. But Kumar Sharma Acharya of the Nepal Bar Association says this won’t happen without pressure. “We have to step up our lobbying for the state to also announce an immediate ceasefire,” he says.

Friday, September 09, 2005

The Obstinate Monarchists

The Home Minister says the Maoists have not officially informed the government of the ceasefire.

The army says the Maoists have not been following the dictat of their own ceasefire.

Are these positive signs? Is this a government suggesting if the Maoists were to formally inform them of a ceasefire, then the government might respond to it? Is the state army saying even if there is no formal approach, if only the Maoists were to follow the ceasefire and not engage in sporadic violence and abductions, that the army would consider announcing its own ceasefire?

This is delicate territory, and we democrats have to be careful. Peace process is like the patient is undergoing heart surgery. We have to treat the matter that delicately.

So let's ponder upon these two moves by the government.

Another thing the Maoists will have to make room for is they seem to be the swiftest of the three camps. They are rapid response. The democrats are the slowest. The Maoists approach the democrats for talks. It takes the democrats two months to even respond. The king executes a coup, it takes the democrats over three months to respond. Similarly, the king and his men are slow. After a week, they are finally responding.

Let's zero in on this a little bit.

Maoists still carrying out violence: Army NepalNews ...... A group of Maoists exploded IEDs targeting security forces on patrol in Deumai area of Ilam district Friday afternoon and, in Kailali’s Balachour, the rebels opened fire at a security team today ...... the Maoists abducted two villagers in Salyan district, one each at Pyalekhola and Kathigaon areas, on Thursday. It is not known why the villagers – one of them identified as Bhim Bahadur BK – were abducted........ one Dridaya Das of Manedawa village in Rautahat district was injured in a reckless firing by the Maoists Wednesday....... a group of Maoists abducted ten teachers and five students of Hangdewa area in the eastern district of Dhankuta. Likewise, on Tuesday, the rebels marched 14 students of Damodar High School in Takhuwagaon, Dhamkuta, to an unknown location ........

What does Prachanda have to say? Are these false claims? If not, has the word of a ceasefire not reached all his cadres? That is entirely possible. He could say that, and assure the rest of us that further efforts will be made to make sure all his cadres adhere to his order. The specific details of these claims have to be responded to. On the other hand, if there have been RNA attacks on Maoists since the ceasefire, Prachanda has the option to furnish the details.

Maoists have not informed us about ceasefire: Home Minister Shahi NepalNews ...... They have issued their statement over the Internet which they can withdraw any time ....... The interior minister said the government too had preconditions for the ceasefire. First of all, they should stop their terrorist activists, hand over arms and come over to the table of negotiations....... the government will not call its forces back into barracks. "If the terrorists and dacoits say that they are going for ceasefire and that the government should not arrest them, should we let them scoot free? ....... accused the seven-party opposition alliance of maintaining double standards vis a vis the Maoists. "These are the ones who declared Maoists as terrorists and issued Red Corner notices against them. Now how can they hold talks with them?" asked the minister. "If those who call themselves as constitutional move beyond the scope of the constitution, the government will not tolerate" ........ Shahi further said there was no possibility of talks between the King and the parties as long as they come up with what he called 'immoral, undemocratic and meaningless issues.' ......... there was no rationale or basis for the King to give up (executive) powers. "His Majesty took up powers for a period of three years. He will handover power to an elected government by holding elections within that period. Our royal tradition is such that the monarchy doesn't turn back without fulfilling its pledge."

This Shahi genius is talking out of some organ other than his mouth.

"Hand over arms" talk is saying the Maoists should plain surrender. That is the voice of Monarchists who do not want peace. Peace means they end up out of power.
The government does not have to call the army back into the barracks. Ceasefire would mean you stand where you are, and do not attack the opponent.
His open warning to the seven parties is further proof the minister does not seek reconciliation. These people want war with the Maoists, and they want war with the democrats. So it is not even about the gun. Because democrats do not have guns. But the monarchists still can not tolerate the democrats. That is recipe for a revolution.
The government is not only ruling out talks with the Maoists, it is also ruling out talks with the parties. This is recipe for a total showdown, a confrontation.
The king is sticking to his three years mantra.

If the minister is so adamant on his idiocy, why is it not possible the RNA is spreading falsities about the Maoists?

I feel like the country is headed towards a classic revolution. These monarchists stand to be punished. Saddam broke, he did not bend. Negotiation is the art democrats exhibit. Autocrats take a stand and stick to it all the way. They break.

The king seems to have chosen to go down with the unroyal monarchists. Mao begot Maoism, King G begot Monarchism. Monarchism is an ideology. It is a feudal mechanism.

In The News

SC stays RCCC summons Kantipur ..... the court asked the RCCC not to arrest, summon, record a statement or carry out any other activities.
NHRC requests govt not to use excessive force
Country heading towards democracy sans monarchy: Nepal .....Ruling out the possibility of dialogue with the King in the present situation, Nepal also informed that the CPN-UML has decided to take special initiative to make the party's decision to go for a democratic republic a common agenda of the agitating seven-party alliance..... there is possibility of threats and challenges from various sides while organizing the seven-party movement and holding talks with Maoists, Nepal directed the party activists to be ready to face such risks ....... "There are many risks and threats against the movement...and there are risks if the present constitution is transformed into an interim constitution while going for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution," Nepal said, adding, "We should identify and face all these challenges." ..... parties are preparing to organize nationwide exposure campaign against the monarchy soon
Parties will have no dialogue with king: Oli ..... no possibility of a dialogue between the King and political parties and until the monarch agrees to give up his active role.
Over three dozen leaders detained
Parties continue street protest
SC continues hearing on RCCC's constitutionality five-member special bench of the SC comprising Kedar Prasad Giri, acting chief justice, Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Nagina Singh, Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Prasad Shrestha ....... The SC had rejected any writ petition questioning the constitutionality of the RCCC for more than six months. But the SC administration began entertaining such petitions from August 10 when Justice Rayamajhi ordered its administration to register such petitions which involved a serious issue...... "The Constitution does not give authority [to the King] to form another organ [the RCCC] by confiscating the jurisdiction of other organs of the state," Nepal Bar Association President Shambhu Thapa, who pleaded on behalf of the petitioner, argued...... the SC today issued a stay order to the RCCC for not to implement its July 26 verdict related to Lama Construction Company, the contractor of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.......
Over three-dozen writers arrested from pro-democracy rally NepalNews
Nepal police detain 120 pro-democracy activists Reuters India, India
Call truce and we'll talk, Nepal Maoists tell king Newindpress
Crossfire War: South Asia; Nepal - Skepticisim Regarding Maoist " ... NewsBlaze, CA a telling excerpt from Mao’s "Little Red Book", a manual that has for decades been the bible for revolutionaries, "Make good use of the intervals between campaigns to rest, train, and consolidate our troops. Periods of rest, training and consolidation should not in general be very long, and the enemy should so far as possible be permitted no breathing space."
Govt bans online news service The Britain-based Everest World Limited (EWL) today said the Nepal government has banned its online news service www.gorkhanews.com in Nepal "for its stand against the curb in Nepali press since Feb 1"..... closing down of the online news service was the climax of ‘autocracy’
Jhyamma, Jhyamma: Singing Democracy UWB Yesterday was one of the most impressive anti-autocracy demonstrations that New Road saw in recent days. Thousands of people marched on the streets thundering the slogans that must have echoed in Narahaynhitti palace. Police used heavy force (including water canon, tear gas and lathis) against those pro-democratic souls....... Khum Bahadur Khadka is courting repeated arrests..... Singhadurba matra hoina, Narayanhitti pani hamrai ho [Not only Singhadurbar, Narayanhitti is ours too] ....... The singer was singing well. The crowd was singing well. I noticed even policemen enjoying the song. Some of them were patting tows. Some were moving their heads.......... A few minutes later, I saw Khum Bahadur Khadka, Nepali Congress leader, in a real hurry to enter the police van........ A few women, most of them wives of the politicians, courted the arrests..... I talked with a policeman who was holding a gun that was meant to fire tear gas. He wasn’t agitated. He was sort of happy. “Do you think they will succeed like this way?” I wanted to steal his mind. “No. Very few people are coming. Only the party cadres.” Now, the policeman went like he would like to see the movement gain momentum as soon as possible. .......
An Army Statement Claims War Has Not Stopped UWB ....... the daily press release issued by the Royal Nepal Army ..... shockingly lists some of the “criminal activities”, that the release categorically alleges, as perpetrated by the “terrorists” ........ manipulate the media by waging a proxy war ..... I don’t want to believe RNA. Instead, I want to believe that rebels are fully committed to their leader Prachanda’s last week’s cease-fire announcement. Three days ago, army released similar statement detailing the violations of cease-fire by the Maoists themselves.
Some Dreams Shattered, Some Continue UWB Maoists’ unexpected announcement of three-months-long truce has effectively shattered some dreams of some very powerful people in some power centers. The plan that was never announced has been aborted. Europe and New York odyssey has been cancelled. Government’s reaction to the rebel cease-fire has been pathetic. It is something like “Oh…what a nonsense. I thought I was the sole contractor of peace in Nepal. I thought peace was my agenda only. They have overtaken me. But I will not let them bring peace.” ...... The competition to take credit for peace is so fierce among the power centers ...... Near and dear ones of the Narayanhitti royal palace are busy depicting the king as a god. This is not suitable especially after the king himself has admitted- in recent TV/Radio/RSS interview- that he is a HUMAN being. ........ ........... After the departure of Hari Prasad Sharma as the Chief Justice, Supreme Court has started to think about people. Yesterday, it rejected government’s plea to stop news casting in FM radios. What a jolly good decision. This is a blow to the current autocratic regime. I can take this as yet another dream shattered.

Protests

Dear Charlie

Email To Charlie Szrom
Email From Charlie Szrom

I had my first phone conversation with Charlie Szrom last night. We have been meaning to touch base for a while now, and we have over email, and we were supposed to get on Skype, but it did not happen. I was also thinking maybe there will be a negotiated settlement. But now I am convinced the king is not even looking at that option. So there has to be a showdown, a confrontation. The movement will need funds to get people out in the streets in hundreds of thousands.

Charlie asked me to write a one page memo. And so here goes.

Dear Charlie.

It was very nice talking to you last night: it was a call fron Bryant Park to Bloomington. I thought that was kind of poetic.

I think very highly of your organization, Students For Global Democracy. And I am appreciative of efforts you have already put into Nepal. I work closely with Somnath Ghimire in New York City who I believe is already part of your network. He leads the leading Nepali student group in North America and is a significant presence within Nepal's ongoing movement for democracy.

I present Nepal as the Ukraine for 2005. And I need funding. That is it. Nepal has the advantage of being part of the Global South. And so movement tools perfected in Nepal could be put to later use in many other countries, starting with several in South Asia. All details are to be documented online for ready reference by democracy movements later on in other countries.

Nepal offers the SFGD an opportunity like no other country right now. The Nepal effort could also be a great way for you to expand your organization into many more colleges, to expand your existing chapters. Fund-raising drives could become membership drives. Contributors will see results on their own computer screens.

The movement in Nepal is on. But it needs help to take itself to the next, decisive level.

300 individuals contributing $100 each, or 600 individuals contributing $50 each, or 1000 individuals contributing $30 each. That is all it would take in my estimate. The grassroots nature of such a drive I find particularly appealing. And the fundraising can go off campus. It does not have to entirely be students giving money. It can be students helping raise money off campus also: the color is still green.

I will keep all book-keeping transparent and online.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Mary Joyce, Demologue

Caution: Alliance Approaching

The king detaches himself from the army and the gang of non-royal/unroyal monarchists. That is the price he pays to keep the monarchy. The royals will have the option to stay on in a ceremonial capacity. That is as far as the democrats would be willing to do. But that might already have been yesterday.

But the king has not done anything to date to show the world he might opt for something like that. And so that leaves room only for a strong Maoist-Democrat alliance. How to make that alliance strong like steel? So as to usher in peace, democracy and progress into the country as soon as possible?

Seven Party Democratic Alliance

Acknowledge the major ideological shift taken by the Maoists under the leadership of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. The Maoists might have started out with the goal of a communist republic. But now they have shifted to accepting a multi-party framework, right to property and things like that. That is huge.
Forget the 1999 House. Revise your common minimum program. Turn it into a three point program. Interim government, constituent assembly, democratic republic.
Approach the Maoists with that CMP. Tell them, if it is not about the king and the monarchists, then their sole focus should be to deal with the democrats. Since they have already made their ideological shift away from the classic Maoist dictum of "power flows through the barrel of a gun," they might as well totally disarm.
Offer to agree to their land-to-the-tiller land reform program in return. Turn the three point program into a four point program.Interim government, constituent assembly, democratic republic, land-to-the-tiller land reform.
Or at least a partial disarmament. Down to 3,000 armed cadres from the current level, to be integrated into the state army once the state power is acquired. How do you believe they did that? They should agree to allow international human rights monitors into all their military installations. There is of course a five year goal to have an army only 30,000 strong or less.
Form an eight member committee to draft a new constitution. I recommend this as a starting point: Proposed Democratic Republican Constitution. All each party has to do is make three columns: (a) articles the party agrees with, (b) articles the party disagrees with and why, and (c) articles the party would like to add, subtract or modify and why. Keep the conversation public. Try to agree on as many things as possible. Things you can not agree on, that is what a Constituent Assembly is for. On the other hand, if you can agree on it all, we might as well skip the Constituent Assembly. The interim government gets six months to get the people to accept the new constitution in a referendum, and another six to hold elections to a new parliament. Let's face it, even after an Assembly is formed, it will still be the leaders of these eight parties banging heads. Why will they not band heads now?

Launch a massive nationwide peaceful protest of the eight party alliance.

Once the protest approaches a critical mass - say 500,000 people out in the streets for two weeks - declare an interim government unilaterally.

Maoists

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Saturday, September 10, 2005

Friday, September 09, 2005