Monday, March 14, 2005

Ideological Overture To The Nepali Maoists (2)


From Encyclopedia Britannica Online: " ...... system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the state or community and all citizens share in the common wealth, more or less according to their need ..... Like the Soviet Union, Communist China also underwent fundamental changes in the 20th century. Following the economic failures of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), it adopted a modernization plan designed to attract foreign investment; to improve agriculture, industry, science and technology, and defense; to allow greater individual freedom of choice; and to reduce the influence of political dogmatism in nonpolitical spheres of life. The economy, especially in South China, grew at a record pace from the late 1980s as the government introduced extensive free-market reforms, which were expanded further at a Communist Party plenum in November 1993. In March 1999 the People's Congress adopted two constitutional amendments, one affirming that private enterprise is "an important component of the socialist economy," the other stating that the country "should implement the principle of rule by law." ....."

To: Prachanda and Baburam.

I have tried hard in my own small way to build a bridge between the Maoists and the democrats. And you have come out in public statements since 2/1 stating support for a "multi-party democratic republican" framework. But I feel you still have some work to do to build a bridge of trust with the democrats. In short, I feel like you need to confront your ideology itself.

I have not read Dr. Bhattarai's book that has been widely praised as a major scholarly work, the one that is a Marxist analysis of Nepal's agrarian situation, calling for major land reforms. I know from personal experience the need for land reforms in Nepal has been stark. But land reforms, no matter how "revolutionary," might be a little behind times. The real social transformation might lie in universal education and health, perhaps paid for by an abolition of the army.

Violence is what is holding you back. You need to cooperate with those international human rights activists who want you and the army to sign the Human Rights Accord, to be monitored by those international experts. This is not asking you to disarm or be disbarred. If you all can not come around to signing this Accord, there is little ground possible between you and us democrats. And if you can not show respect to these human rights activists, who are not affiliated to any state, what are the chances you will show respect to the UN, whose mediation you have sought in the past? Mind you, the respect you showed to the UN in word by seeking their role in mediation did you some good, showed you were capable of some reason.

If you come out for the Accord, and the army and the monarchists do not, then you win a symbolic first step victory. That builds some trust between you and the democrats.

Human Rights are independent of political ideology. They are of universal value, and should be universally implemented. No political organization anywhere on the planet that does not abide by the doctrine of human rights is legitimate. My number one grudge with the king is not that he has executive powers, but that he has just thrown the country into a major human rights quagmire. That is unforgivable.

So, come around to it. Cooperate and sign the Human Rights Accord that you were already inching towards before 2/1. Or at least make an announcement that you are ready if the Monarchists are ready.

Second, let's work out a Common Minimum Program. My push would be for a two word platform: Democratic Republic. But some parties in the democratic camp might still not have gotten over their love affair with the monarchy, and they have every right to their opinion, and the Monarchists certainly will not go for it.

So we do the next best thing. We go for a Common Minimum Program of a Constituent Assembly. That can not come in the form of a unilateral statement, but rather in bilateral and multilateral dialogue with all the democratic forces, in exile as well as in the country.

After you have signed the Human Rights Accord, or have unilaterally expressed support for it, and have worked toward a common minimum program of a Constituent Assembly, if the junta has not budged by then, the internatioal pressure and the pressure from the people will be too great. The regime will collapse.

Let's move towards that.

I read your statement of March 13 with great interest, and found many hopeful possibilities therein: " ..... aspiration of achieving full democracy ...... artless drama of repeating 1960 ..... democratic revolution, the overdue since 1950 ..... establishing a broad front of all the political parties, civil societies and intelligentsia ..... a concrete understanding among the political parties to unite the broad masses ..... our party would like to clarify its preparedness for the sacrifice necessary from our part through this statement ..... to help conduct political activities in any part of the country without any hindrance, our party thinks necessary to go ahead by carrying out criticism and self-criticism among the political parties and maintaining unity in a new basis ..... we would like to request humbly all the political parties in and outside of the country not to have any doubt in our party’s declared policy of Constituent Assembly and multiparty democratic republic ..... "

Let's move from statements to bilateral and multilateral dialogues. And I hope you come out taking as clear a stand on human rights as you have on the question of a multiparty democratic republic.

One way for you to show you really mean what you say about other parties is to show that any worker from any party is perfectly safe doing their peaceful agitation work in any of the 4000 villages in the country. That would be an important confidence building measure between the Maoists and the democrats.

Other References

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Sunday, March 13, 2005

International Intervention: The Only Way Out


For a country that gets the majority of its annual budget through foreign aid, it is laughable to claim UN or third party mediation to resolve the civil war situation would impinge on its sovereignty. To describe any possible UN intervention as an issue of sovereignty is to not understand the UN as the ultimate international body.

The intransigence is on the part of the king and his coterie. They will put the country through any amount of violence, any amount of economic hardship, any amount of political paralysis so as to preserve their monopoly on power.

One of the reasons given by the king for his taking over has been his fear of "ethnic fragmentation." That might be his term for a possible federalism in Nepal. The guy shuts down the Dalai Lama's office. And uses terms like "ethnic fragmentation." Makes me very suspicious. I guess he is The Ultimate Nepali Speaking High Caste Male. More the reason for the monarchy to be abolished.

The foreign powers need to take stock of the true face of this regime. They have to see the king and the army top brass for who and what they really are. And they have to allow for a transformation of the Nepali Maoists. They have to be given a way out. They should have the option to become a force within a democratic, republican, multi-party framework, as they have said time and again since 2/1. To ignore their change in stance is to ally with the king's language of "ethnic fragmentation," to send signal that what these other parties are offended by is the Dalit-Janajati empowerment theme of the Maoists.

And the Americans really need to get their nose out of the books, out of their readings into Russian communism in the 1930s, Chinese communism in the 1960s, of Peru, of Cambodia, and look at the Nepali Maoists in terms of the Nepali ground realities. They should be given the option to become a peaceful force by the others stopping to sideline their political demands. It would be amazing if the Americans were to preach monarchy to the Maoists. It is Americans who got rid of their King G - G for George - to become what they are today. The same logic applies to Nepal. No taxation without representation. I mean, are the Americans against a Constituent Assembly for Nepal, something for which they have laid down American lives and dollars in Iraq!

It is true the Maoists are a significant presence in hundreds of districts in Nepal and India. But the answer lies in giving a greater say to Human Capital in globalization. I am all for globalization. I think overall it is a great, positive force. It is globalization more than anything else that will bridge the North-South divide. But globalization will have to be modified such that it benefits (1) Physical Capital, (2) Financial Capital, and (3) Human Capital equally. So far, the third one has been shortchanged. I believe the discontent among the poorest on the sub-continent has to be seen in that light. I believe the poor have every right to demand a greater share of the riches, particularly in terms of education and health and micro credit for them so they can at least put their foot up the first ladder of socio-economic upward mobility.

I believe India should take the lead. It should consider trade sanctions, like in 1989. It should consider seizing assets of the king and the army top brass in India. It should ultimately consider doing a US-In-Haiti in Nepal. The Monarchists and the Maoists can not be made to feel like they are the only guns. The democrats should maintain the threat of force, if only to not have to use it, and to neutralize the guns of those other two forces.

Pakistan's threat to supply arms to Nepal should be taken seriously. If the Pakistani regime can act to support autocracy in Nepal, the democratic forces all over the world have a right to undermine the autocracy in Pakistan. Only a democratic Pakistan might be capable of seeking a meaningful peace in the region.

It is high time Condi Rice did a Mubarak on Musharraf. It is great that the US went heavy on Pakistan after its ambassador made a gross remark about supplying arms to the junta. Keep it up.

The international community will have to bring to an end its love affair with the monarchy in Nepal. That is what it boils down to. A monarchy that refuses to stay constitutional is absolute, and it makes no sense to keep offering the constitutional monarchy voodoo. There is no taker, so beat it.

March 14
  • Nepal police arrests 500 protestersExpress Newsline, India ..... around 350 protesters were detained in a peaceful protest in the southern town of Janakpur
  • India: Asian human rights watchdog slams America for helping Nepal ...Keralanext, India ... slammed America for messing up Nepal's humanitarian crisis by refusing to suspend military aid to the tiny kingdom ..... given wrong signals to an already defiant King ..... "The United States is part of the problem because they see the problem in Nepal as part of the war against terror. They are trying to ignore the ground realities, which prevail in Nepal.
  • Human Rights Groups Demand International Intervention in Nepal PolitInfo.com, Germany Asian Center for Human Rights wants the international community to suspend humanitarian aid to Nepal ..... Maoist rebels are solidifying their control outside the capital ..... international interventions in respect of involvement for mediation between the Maoists and the government
  • DRC: UN envoy gives militiamen ultimatum to disarmReliefWeb, Switzerland ......gave a two-week ultimatum on Sunday to militiamen in the embattled northeastern district of Ituri to disarm and be integrated into the country's national army ..... According to the National Commission for Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reinsertion, some 3,783 militiamen have already gone through the disarmament and community reinsertion process, intended for the combatants of the various militia groups in the district, estimated to be 15,000, including 6,000 children. .... 3,708 of these combatants had been demobilised and 75 integrated in the army.
  • India's menu card for Rice: F-16s and NepalTimes of India, India The fact that India is her first stop in Asia, even before China, has not gone unnoticed here. After the F-16 issue has been sorted out, on top of the agenda will be Nepal. It has been a point of unprecedented cooperation between US and India, which have calibrated their reactions to the Nepal palace coup. The US has told India that it has leaned on Pakistan to desist from stirring trouble in the Nepal hotpot. While this message was gently made until recently, Pakistan ambassador Zamir Akram's comments in Nepal late last week, has prompted a more vigorous US diplomacy with Pakistan. Pakistan government had assured the US of Islamabad's compliance. Akram, it is now being said, was flying solo with his offer to make defence supplies available to the King. "It is unlikely that Pakistan would want to anger the US on this issue," they said.
  • Nepal will be a failed state without foreign intervention: report Khaleej Times “An estimated 400,000 Nepalese have been displaced from their villages and millions have fled to India to escape atrocities.” “The international community is not recognising this as a humanitarian crisis because there are no refugee camps there, like in Sudan. There are no actual numbers of the Nepalese migrants, but the figure is believed to be more than 10 million.” .... the United States and Pakistan were complicating the situation further .... accused the army of “acting as a law unto itself”, citing cases of arbitrary arrests and extra judicial executions ..... The ACHR has asked donors to suspend all military assistance to Nepal, impose visa restrictions on ministers and army officers and freeze the assets of the royal family.... It has asked the UN to appoint a special envoy to Nepal to solve the Maoist problem and stop recruiting Nepalese soldiers for peacekeeping operations.
  • India is crucial in Nepal's rights battle at GenevaHindustan Times, India Last year, it had bailed Nepal out in Geneva..... It was touch and go for the Himalayan kingdom with Switzerland moving a draft resolution that asked the 53 member countries to vote for moving Nepal from Agenda 19 to Agenda 9. To be on Agenda 19 means the rights record of a country is in a serious situation but can be improved through advisory services and technical cooperation. However, to be put on Agenda 9 means it is subject to systematic violations and beyond rectification, a situation that calls for international monitoring. It will be interesting to see who rescues Nepal this time - maybe Pakistan, China, Russia and Cuba. ..... the draft needs to be approved by the majority of the 53 member countries. ..... India wanted Nepal's support to enter the UN Security Council ...... The royal coup affects India since New Delhi fears an escalation in the Maoist insurgency that will trigger fresh Nepalese migration to India and even Maoist infiltration. India-Nepal joint ventures in Nepal are at an increased risk.
  • Nepal's rising vigilante violenceBBC News, UK King Gyanendra's handpicked government admits it has encouraged violence by anti-Maoist vigilantes. ...... civilians have been butchered by the anti-Maoists, with the rebels responding brutally. ..... hundreds of houses in many villages destroyed, and people axed, shot, even burnt to death - people who may or may not have had anything to do with the Maoists. .... the mob raped a 12-year-old girl ...... At the height of the violence, three government ministers came to address a crowd. Home Affairs Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi says he knew they had beaten 12 men to death. Recourse to the courts "is not relevant during a war", he continued. "They gathered, found them and killed them. I thought I should praise them." Thirty-year-old Rikh Bahadur Gaha Magar, his face blank with grief, found his cousin's body. "His brain was oozing from his head. He'd been axed and pierced with a spear, and we think he was cut with a sickle because his hand was broken in two places," he says. "The Maoists used to force ordinary people to attend their programmes. Now in the anti-Maoist violence, the same civilians' houses have been burnt down just because they attended rallies" ...... Major Sunil Gahle .. the government might soon distribute firearms to villagers. Maoist violence and misdirected counter-violence are taking on a frightening life of their own. And the king's government is encouraging the vigilantes.
  • Maoist rebels, political parties launch nationwide protests ...ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland Scores of police and security forces, including plain-clothes policemen, patrolled the market and other locations throughout the city ..... Acting President of the Nepali Congress party Gopal Man Shrestha ..... Maoist leader Prachanda issued a notice on the rebel website Sunday calling for "general strikes, a transport blockade and blockade at local and regional level between March 14 and April 1" ..... "We urge all the political parties to create a new basis for re-establishment of democracy by forgetting past differences," Prachanda said Sunday. ..... Maoist rebels have called for a nationwide general strike between April 2 and April 12
  • Govt ready for discussion on Nepal developments: LS toldDeccan Herald, India Yogi Adityanath, BJP, warned that Pakistan's decision to supply arms to Nepal and China's strong interests in that country would have an adverse fallout for India..... a coordinated response of the international community to the developments
March 13

  • Nepal's Parties Ready for Pro-Democracy Protests MondayVoice of America
  • Restore multiparty government or face agitation: sacked Nepal PM: New Kerala The five political parties have announced widespread demonstrations on March 14 against the royal coup.
  • Royal coup, Maoist blockades have Nepal economy in tailspinNewindpress, India Nepal's economy is on the verge of complete collapse and the blockade could push it over the edge...... Nepal lost one per cent of its estimated GDP of 400 billion Nepalese rupees during the 15-day Maoist blockade last month....... From Monday, the Maoists have announced a ``thousand-day blockade''. ...... the fast-shrinking Nepalese economy ..... New Delhi's reading is that the King remains defiant even while the economy is spinning out of control and political confrontations seem imminent. It has predicted that things in the Himalayan kingdom will get a lot worse before they get better.
  • Nepal Maoist rebels calls for nationwide protests Reuters India Prachanda also asked the guerrillas to step up attacks on security forces to protest the king's move to suspend democracy, end civil liberties and impose strict curbs on the press ...... an 11-day nationwide strike from April 2 ..... Mainstream parties have refused to join the rebels in protests unless the Maoists, who want set up a single-party communist republic, gave up the use of violence.
  • Civil liberties to be restored soon in Nepal Indian Express
  • Fresh strikes set to hit NepalTimes of India, India ..... 'people's actions' from March 14 to April 1 ...... from April 2 with a 10-day strike across Nepal ...... "From now onwards, we will assist the political parties in their activities, not disrupt it. We guarantee their safety and security in the districts to carry out their activities." ...... none of the parties have reciprocated, citing past anti-party violence by the rebels ..... the Maoists appear to be trying hard to lure the parties
  • Top Nepal official in dock over Maoist connexion:New Kerala, India
  • Police arrest 21 ahead of pro-democracy agitations in NepalPress Trust of India, India
  • Nepal imbroglio onStatesman, India Six-time Prime Minister Mr Surya Bahadur Thapa ... launched the Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP)
  • Pak move may alter India's Nepal policyTimes of India, India The decision to revisit the issue now that the king shows no sign of making concessions shows India's dilemma. ..... the UPA government's conviction that the Maoist menace is India's biggest security threat ...... 170 Indian districts were under Naxal influence ..... the outlawed KLO in the North-East was developing links with the Nepalese Maoists and ULFA ..... King Gyanendra might have his way after all. The next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security will review the issue of military assistance to Nepal in the light of Pakistan's open offer to supply arms to Kathmandu.
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