The Junta Is Defiant: Is It The Burma Option They Have In Mind?

A regime that has imposed a total blackout of democracy and human rights in the country through sheer threat of force has managed to challenge virtually every power on the global stage. This is a total mockery of democracy as a way of life. Is democracy a great idea, but one that is weak? Are democratic governments weaker than autocratic ones? If democracies are not weak, let the democracies show some teeth. Will they go beyond statements of condemnation? Because that obviously is not working.

Now that the regime has been totally isolated - the so-called Pakistan and China cards do not exist, thank you US and others - its continued defiance means it will keep on keeping on, and in desperation it might end up inflicting a lot of harm on the common Nepalis before it sees its sunset. One has to make room for the key figures in the regime being out of touch with reality. The goal is not only to bring down the regime, but to do so in ways that bring the least interim discomfort and worse for the Nepalis.

The noose has to be tightened. The protests inside the country will have to get more effective. The foreign powers will have to get more specific with their threats. It might soon be time for Indian economic sanctions, like in 1989.

Royal Diktat
Hindustan Times, 21 March 2005

Nepal has handed over a note verbale to India and other donor countries, asking them to keep away from pro democracy parties. It said foreign diplomats meetings with politicians violated the Vienna Convention.

China rejects Nepal aid plea
Nilova Roy Chaudhury
Hindustan Times, 21 March 2005

Contrary to the Nepalese monarch’s expectations, China has rebuffed requests for Beijing to step in to fill the arms supply deficit faced by the Royal Nepal Army in its war against the Maoists. According to diplomatic sources, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has refuse to visit Kathmandu during his forthcoming visit to South Asia in April, despite Nepalese request.

Such visit would have lent a some acceptability to the royal coup and made in India’s position more difficult. Faced with a monarch who refuses to even meet the Indian envoy in Kathmandu, Shiv Shankar Mukherje, or listen to "fraternal" Indian advice, New Delhi’s options have been limited to steadfastly adhering to the pro-democracy line.

Official sources also indicated that there has been no rethink on the part of the Indian government on suspending military aid to Nepal until the emergency is revoked and multi-party democracy restored.

Indian venture gets a rude wake-up call from Kathmandu The gloves are off. Far from trying to pacify New Delhi, King Gynanendra seems to be going out of his way to infuriate it. After he refused to meet Indian envoy Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, his government has rubbed salt into the wounds by imposing fresh restrictions on an Indian business venture.

• Nepal journalist's killing comes to light 22 months later New Kerala, India Nepal ranked with China, Cuba and Eritrea as being the deadliest countries for journalists ...... The most publicised case of the security agencies killing journalists was the arrest, torture and death of Krishna Sen, editor of the Maoists mouthpiece, Janadish.
• Fear Rules in Nepal's Maoist Heartland ABC News A boy in green combat fatigues emerges at the trailhead. The child, scarcely taller than the rustic rifle he is carrying, stops to take a rest. Around his head, a scarf from the movie Titanic...... among the ripening wheat fields, remote mountain terraces and forests, there is no sign of his army, only rebels and their guns..... "They want to send their children away before they are taken by the Maoists." ..... The rebels, who control much of Nepal's countryside, demand at least one person per household work for the party....... "Anyone who is 14 could be asked to go." ..... Some work as porters and messengers ...... The Royal Nepal Army scarcely ever sets foot here, and when it does it is usually to harass and arrest people indiscriminately. Locals say the Maoists are more disciplined ..... "Maybe only 30 or 40 percent of people here support them" ...... Rebel soldiers demand food, shelter and taxes from people who have scarcely enough to survive. Several days a month, villagers are forced to leave their fields and attend unpopular indoctrination sessions...... Maoists are polite, but feared and unloved in the town, he said, his voice little above a whisper..... "They ask for money to support the fighters and for the welfare of the people, but the way they live is extravagant." ..... Alcohol, gambling and prostitution are outlawed in Maoist-controlled Nepal, crime rare....... "We only execute people who inform on us to the police and army and get our people killed," said Comrade Current, a local area chief. "If they get 30 or 40 of us killed, then what is wrong with executing two or three of them?"
• Grinding poverty, oppression fuel Nepal's civil war Stuff.co.nz Here, the king and his army seem a world away......Six years ago, he sat with four friends in his desperately poor mountain village of Gumchal, bemoaning the lack of development, electricity, opportunity. The police burst in, accused them of being Maoists and beat them with rifle butts. The next day he ran away to join the "People's Army". ...... "The government has no interest in the problems of ethnic minorities and the poor. If the government was sincere in providing health, education and transport, we would have no need to shed our blood." ....... Four girls walk past in the opposite direction, on their way to rejoin the rebel army after their week's leave. Their hair freshly cut in bobs, some with fresh nail polish, the only give-away a pistol which one conceals beneath her T-shirt...... Development money almost never reaches the remote mountain villages where the minority ethnic Magar group make their homes..... The army and police rarely set foot outside Liwang, and when they do it is usually to harrass and arrest people ...... Comrade Darvin said rebel soldiers went without pay, just receiving food, clothes, shelter and medical care.
• Nepal government working to lift emergency rule soon Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates Bista, however, did not elaborate on a timetable for the change.
• Nepal army claims success against rebels Daily Times The troops found and destroyed at least two bomb-making factories and several of the Maoist rebels’ base ...... claimed the operation had foiled attacks being planned by the rebels. ..... hundreds of troops combed mountainous remote in Nepal’s remote western region, believed to be a rebel stronghold..... Prachanda said a week ago that his forces would step up attacks on government troops and set up roadblocks, then call for an 11-day nationwide anti-monarchy strike beginning April 2.
• Nepal arrests scores of activists Aljazeera.net Gyanendra's transition from constitutional to absolute monarch
• At least 149 arrested for holding anti-king protests across Nepal Channel News Asia The demonstrators distributed leaflets in the streets and shouted slogans .....
  
• Twelve political activists arrested in Nepal New Kerala, India
  
• Nepali parties to work for a new Consitution Hindustan Times Hrithesh Tripathi, leader of the Sadbhavana Party, was of the opinion that Nepal could be compared to a "mother in her labour pain" and a new constitution to "an able nurse" that can help in the birth of a "new Nepal with total democracy." ...... "The earlier Constitution was granted by the King. We want a Constitution that would be framed by the people," Tripathi said, adding that this was the most oppurtune time for a "united, do or die struggle for restoration of democracy."
• India says it position on Nepal is unchanged Hindustan Times, India the government was not much amused by the mere release of some political prisoners and wanted urgent restoration of complete democratic processes.....India is also not perturbed by the decision of Pakistan to supply arms to Nepal with officials maintaining "it is unlikely to influence our policy"........ US is believed to be mounting influence on Pakistan not to go ahead with its decision of supplying arms.
• Asia ; New watchdog summons five ex-ministers for probe : Keralanext Since Nepal already has a Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority approved by parliament, opposition parties have regarded with distrust the formation of a new monitoring body, headed by the king himself. ....... the royal commission would be used to rein in protesters and settle scores with political leaders....... They are: former home minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, agriculture minister Hom Nath Dahal, both of who belong to Deuba's Nepali Congress Party, Yubaraj Gyawali, former minister for local development who belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, Jog Meyer Shrestha, former land reforms minister, and Badri Prasad Mandal, a former deputy prime minister and forest minister in Deuba's cabinet....... It has been given the right to confiscate the property of an accused found guilty and levy a fine or jail term of six months to anyone it considers has shown contempt or has been trying to obstruct its investigation. ..... The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had earlier asked the Deuba government for clarifications regarding reports that it had distributed about 4.5 million rupees to its party cadre from the Prime Minister's Assistance Fund before Dashain, Nepal's largest festival.
  
• China’s stand on Nepal not to change: Envoy Gorkhapatra, Nepal ..... no matter what changes come to the international and regional circumstances.
  
• Economic aid to Nepal to go on, says China Himalayan Times ....the inaugural function of the Sino-Nepal Mutual Support Society..... Pointing to the changed opinion of India, America and Britain after the royal move of February 1 ...... The envoy hoped that rapid social and economic development and economic restoration and social stability would further consolidate the exchange of support.
• Nepal-China cooperation group set up in western Nepal People's Daily Online, China Nepal-China Mutual Cooperation Society has 10,000 members at present. It is a non-profit, non-political and non-governmental organization
• China grants sewing machines to Nepal People's Daily Online All China Women's Federation handed over 60 sewing machines as gift to the Women's Association of Royal Nepal Army at army officers' club .......
  
• Major parties reject Nepal govt's offer of talks New Kerala, India Tulasi Giri's offer of a dialogue on Thursday with political parties if they were ready to cooperate with the government in tackling insurgency, controlling corruption, economic reforms and strengthening bureaucracy ..... "Much of the issues raised by Giri on Thursday, including controlling corruption and curbing Maoist terror have already been taken up by us long before Giri landed here."
  
• Nepalese politician says Royal Nepalese Army committing violence ... New Kerala, India ....perpetrating violence to help King Gyanendra get foreign military aid ...... "On one side there is army and on the other there are Maoists. Right now the Maoists are not indulging in violence, but the army is conducting all violence there because the king does not want to solve the Maoist problems so that he can keep getting arms supply and become more powerful," Sujata Koirala, a prominent politician and daughter of a former Nepalese Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, said in an interview in northern Gorakhpur city of where she is presently residing after she fled from Kathmandu last month.
  
• Rise in extra judicial killings in Nepal: rights group: New Kerala, India A rights group based in India says extra judicial killings in Nepal have gone up "exponentially" since the Feb 1 royal takeover, claiming security forces on an average have been killing eight people a day...... urged for the freezing of assets of the royal family as well as senior officials and army top brass
  

Prime Minister-Elect Prasain: "You Have The Power!"

(I am posting again this article that I wrote when Dinesh Prasain, my high school roommate for three years, got beat up by the Royal Nepali Army early last year.)

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Prime Minister-Elect Dinesh Prasain: "You Have The Power!"

The Kathmandu Post
November 4, 2010

By A Post Reporter

Speaking from his homevillage of Mugitar (pronounced Mujitar), Prime Minister-elect Dinesh Prasain has said that he is but a vehicle for the people to express their legitimate wishes, concerns and aspirations, and he will do the best he can to fulfill the promises he made on the campaign trail. He reportedly returned immediately to his symblic roots after winning the necessary votes in the Pratinidhi Sabha.

"Satta tapain haroo to haat maa chha, mero haina!" he said in Nepali, which is a loose paraphrase of the most famous line of the US presidential candidate Howard Dean who fizzled out in 2004 and again in 2008.

Some foreign correpondents were quick to point out that Prasain is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the world, having beat Benazir Bhutto's record of 35. But Prasain's Defense Minister designate Kiran Sitoula informed the press in a conference call from Washington DC where he has been working as USA Today's bureau chief for the Chesapeake Bay region that such claims might not be warranted.

"Please don't go by Dinesh' official birthdate. It might be misleading. As is mine and those of a host of others who graduated high school together," Sitoula reportedly said.

He attributed it to cultural differences not immediately comprehended by the western eyes. "We celebrate festivals not birthdays where we come from," he added.

Some in Nepal wondered if Sitoula were referring to Prasain's eyes, but Sitoula made it clear that was not so. Sitoula acted utterly surprised such conclusions could have been drawn from his words.

Dilip Parajuli, Nuru Lama, and Swarnim Wagle are some of the other names floated for several top jobs in the government. Diwaskar Adhikari has said he will be an informal advisor to the Premier like he has always been, and that he will continue to stay abroad. He was last thought to be in Brazil.

CNN, Fox, and Drudge Report television cameras have supposedly descended on Pawan Adhikari's apartment in Manhattan and media helicopters are in the air.

"This is OJ-style fame for being Kiran Sitoula's roommate at high," Adhikari said.

It was later found out Adhikari never was Sitoula's roommate but they were in the same hostel twice.

The national media is abuzz with stories about the rapid rise of the Janata Dal. Dinesh Prasain rode a wave of support for him from his COCAP days as a skilled human rights activist after he got beat up by some members of the Royal Nepal Army early in 2004. The incident brought home an international and, followingly, a national outcry. The first result was that it became hard for anyone in Kathmandu to cast an evil eye on Prasain again. The second outcome was that COCAP saw a record number of volunteers to its causes nationwide. But the most dramatic and unexpected impact was on national politics.

The right wing got exposed to the point international pressure made King Gyanendra declare a referendum, conducted by an all party government headed by Madhav Nepal, to bring the civil war to an end. And the people voted to keep a multi-party democracy, but chose to discard the monarchy, and instead have a republic, which the Maoists accepted, as they had vowed to accept the outcome of the referendum, and had laid down their arms before it could take place.

King Gyanendra has gone back to the world of business and is expected to continue producing cigarettes for the domestic and the international markets.

Prasain reportedly held talks a few days back with Paramendra Bhagat in Hawaii offering him the presidency, since his party has the necessary number of votes, but Bhagat declined saying it might be too sexist for two men to hold the two top jobs in the country. And so Prasain has declared he will throw his support behind Renuka Devi Yadav from Birgunj, his colleague from his days in human rights activism. Bhagat also said he needed to stay on with his rapidly expanding global online marketing business that looks like will take over Walmart as the largest company in the world.

"I hope I can help Nepal on the global stage, especially on trade issues," Bhagat said, hoping to offer his vast global contacts, including those in India, his motherland, since his mother is Indian.

Bhagat also suggested he will instead focus on getting the United Nations reorganized, for which Prasain's role in the Global South would be indispensable.

It is well documented that Prasain could not resist pressures to enter politics after the civil war came to an end. And when he did, he came forth with a progressive agenda that the party of his choice, the Nepali Congress, could not stomach. He was assured a ticket but nothing much else. To that he and his supporters responded by floating a new political party, the Janata Dal. The Dal grew fast enough that it was able to field a candidate in every constituency in the country. They surprisingly emerged the largest party in the country, but did not have the majority. The Nepali Congress, the UML, the RPP, the Sadbhavana, the NMKP, and the Maoist Party forged a coalition government that lasted three years, after which the Maoists split away from the coalition. And elections had to be held, to which the Janata Dal came up with a majority of seats in the Pratinidhi Sabha that many describe as Blairite: Janata Dal 130, Nepali Congress 40, UML 30, and the RPP 5. The other parties have lost their national status.

The average age of a Janata Dal MP is 32. When brought to attention Prasain responded, "That befits a country where more than 40% of the population is less than 14 years old."

Prasain has a Masters in Sociology from Tribhuvan University, and has taken several elective courses on Methodology, Economics, Environmental Science, Global Economics, Mass Psychology, French, and Bengali from the University Of Phoenix Online. He says he hopes to complete a few courses in Sanskrit while in office to "keep my mental muscles in shape, besides, we are in the computer age."

Although his political career got launched on the anti-corruption platform, aka V.P. Singh style, Prasain says the national economy is his number one priority. Second, the Dal will repeal every sexist law in the country. Third, the country will have the most progressive anti-corruption laws and law enforcement anywhere in the world, the Dal manifesto says. Fourth, three years into the term, the Dal will organize a nationwide referendum to see if the people want a federal form of government or not. The Dal reportedly got a huge boost from the Madhesi and the Janajati communities and has been seen as a major voice for social justice, both in the country and on the sub-continent.

"In India they elected Indira Gandhi Prime Minister several times. But they never really tackled legal and social sexism," Prasain opines. "We will be different."

"We are a strong voice for social justice. But let there be no misunderstanding, my first priority will be rapid economic growth. There is no reason whey a country like Nepal can not achieve the ecomic status of a Singapore within two decades of hard work," Prasain said in an interview to Time magazine. "China and India are about to surpass the U.S. in terms of size of GDP. Guess where that puts the center of gravity for the world economy!"

Major high tech multi-national companies have already offered to lay down a national fiber optic grid, "the very best in the world," on BOOT basis, Build-Own-Operate-Transfer. The executives seem to have the opinion it is easier to lay down such a grid in a country like Nepal where all work will have to be from scratch. "There is less confusion. You don't have technology from three different decades sharing the same space, on the ground and, worse, in people's minds. You are looking at literally everyone in the country having broadband internet access. If you can have Harvard and MIT lectures delivered right here, why would you want to fly over to Harvard? It gets cold there in Boston in winter. Geography truly is irrelevant."

"We will make massive investments in human capital, and we will open up to the global economy which will take care of the rest."

The Univesity of Phoenix Online has decided to move over to Kathmandu to honor its most famous student.

"Who's next!" Prasain asked with a sly smile. The Premier's aide Jagadish Bhattarai failed to elaborate on the smile. And the Labor Minister designate Krishnanath Shah - not to be confused with the now gone royal clan - also refused.

The Dal General Secretary G.P. Singh is said to not go into the government so as to keep working full time to keep the party agile "because every major agenda on our platform will ask for a national campaign."

Laloo Yadav of Bihar is said to have said of Prasain, "Wo babhan hai, lekin honhaar ladka hai. Laloo ka aadmi nahin hai to kya hua!"

**********
AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin - Number 13, January 21, 2004
**********

NEWS FROM THE ADVOCACY PROJECT

NEPALESE HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER AND AP PARTNER BEATEN BY SECURITY FORCES

Washington, D.C., January 21, 2004: A leading Nepalese human rights activist and Advocacy Project partner has been severely beaten at his home in Kathmandu by a group of armed men from the Nepalese security forces, in an apparent attempt to intimidate Nepal's vocal human rights community at a time of growing insecurity in the country.

Dinesh Raj Prasain, coordinator of the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), was attacked at his home on January 13, and the event has triggered a major outcry among civil society in Nepal. In a press release issued January 15, twenty-seven prominent human rights activists appealed for international solidarity, and demanded a full and public investigation by the Royal Nepal Army and the National Human Rights Commission.

'(This attack) has exposed the insensitivity of the government towards the safety and protection of citizens,' states the release. 'It is a naked attack on all of us human rights activists who are always committed to advocate human rights of the people.'

COCAP is a community-based network of some 40 community-based groups working to rebuild Nepali society in the face of a bitter conflict between the central government and Maoist insurgents. The Advocacy Project arranged for Kate Kuo, a Georgetown student, to work with COCAP during the summer of 2003.

The attack on Mr. Prasain was clearly vicious and premeditated. According to Mr. Prasain's own account, about six men knocked on his door just after midnight on January 13, refused to provide identification, and then proceeded to break into his residence.

'One of the men pulled out a revolver and said he would shoot me if I did not open the door. I felt very fearful, and closed the door and latched it from inside. They started pulling and kicking the door. I did not know what to do, and in the frenzy, I ran towards the kitchen, planning to jump off the veranda. But within seconds, they broke the door, caught me and started beating me severely. They beat me up on my face, head, stomach, back and thighs with fists and kicks. I guess at least four of the six persons beat me. They beat me continuously, pulling me kitchen to corridor, corridor to kitchen.

'They asked why I tried to escape, if I had not some thing to hide. I told them that I was fearful that they were professional criminals, and kept on insisting that they show me their ID cards. One of them showed his ID but blocked his name.'

Mr. Prasain's 72-year-old father and nephew, who witnessed the search and assault, stated that one member of the group carried a 'long gun.'

Following the attack, COCAP commissioned a fact-finding team from seven COCAP member organizations. The team, which included the Vice President of the Nepal Bar Association, concluded that the assailants were from the security forces because according to eyewitnesses, they were led by an unidentified 'major.' Given that no other houses were searched in the area, the sole objective was clearly to assault Mr. Prasain.

Thousands of Nepalis have died since the Maoist insurgency erupted in Nepal in 1996. A brief ceasefire collapsed last August, leading to renewed violence and abuse. On 12 November 2003 the UN issued a press release in which three UN human rights monitors expressed 'profound concern over reports that dozens of individuals are being detained secretly in Nepal and are therefore at risk of suffering torture and other forms of ill-treatment.' Amnesty International has documented the disappearance of 250 persons by the security forces during the fighting. The Maoist rebels have also been blamed for disappearances and abuses.

While the recent attack on Mr. Prasain would seem to be a blatant attempt to intimidate one of the country's leading peace activists, it may also be linked to Mr. Prasain's own forthright stand against NGO corruption. Several local NGO leaders objected strongly to a December 2003 article in which Mr. Prasain criticized Nepalese NGOs.

After the article was published, Mr. Prasain received threats on his life. He feels it is possible that the security forces were falsely told that he was harboring Maoists, and were even bribed to attack him.

In the view of COCAP members, such a possibility only increases the need for a full and public investigation.

* For more information contact Laura Stein at info@advocacynet.org
* For a report of the COCAP fact-finding mission into Dinesh Prasain's beating, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/resource_view/link_389.html
* For Dinesh Prasain's account of his beating, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/resource_view/link_390.html
* Email or contact the Nepalese government, calling for an inquiry. For a complete list of embassies and consulates, with contact details, visit: http://www.immi.gov.np/location.php
* For a report of Kate Kuo's internship with COCAP, including her blogs, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/interns03_COCAP_22_48.html

*

The Advocacy Project is based in Washington D.C. Phone: +1 202 332 3900;
fax: +1 202 332 4600. Visit the AP web site for information about current projects: www.advocacynet.org. For more information please e-mail info@advocacynet.org