Getting Interviewed By A Cornell University Student

Date: July 1, 2005
Subject: Blog
From: Ally M Mead, Cornell University
To: Paramendra Bhagat

Good morning,

I am a graduate student at Cornell University in the US. I am interested in conducting a project on blogging in Nepal in the face of the imposed media censorship. I was wondering if you might be interested in corresponding with me via email and answering a few questions that I have. Primarily I am interested in the motivations behind the blogs, the types of risks that you are taking, and what message you hope to get across to whom. I understand that this is a risky endeavor on your part you needn't reveal your identity to me. A first name or a pseudonym would be fine.

I have a good friend who is at Cornell right now, Pukar Malla. Look him up and say hello to him for me, will you? He is doing his Ph.D in wireless something.

Thank you for your interest in Nepali bloggers. One of the things I attempt through my blog is to get as much attention to the Nepali condition as possible. Your project will help. Please feel free to send follow up questions. And I am sure other bloggers that I know and am aware of will happily indulge you.

Motivations behind the blogs. It is that ringing theme in the movie Braveheart: F-R-E-E-D-O-M! My personal motives are several. One, I do it for emotional reasons. I grew up in Nepal, I care about the country, a lot. The way I have reacted to 2/1, I surprised even myself. I realized I cared about the country a whole lot. Second, the cause of peace, democracy and progress. Third, the larger global context. Some of the tools I have developed in the course of cultivating my blog could be used on a larger scale, I think. Reorganized UN, Proposed Constitution, Methods. Check this out, and let me know what you think of it. Do you think this could have wider implications?

From day one, I have kept my name and identity very public. I don't believe I am taking risks. I feel like I am in a rather unique position to contribute to the cause of peace in Nepal. My distance, that I am in America, actually helps. I have been fair to all three warring factions. And I have kept all my comments public. That transparency helps me build some trust. Naturally, I belong with the democrats. But I have been super critical of them as well. And I have praised the Monarchists and the Maoists when I felt praise was due.

And my reach is more than at the level of ideas and analysis and policy positions. Prince Paras is my high school classmate. Although we are not in touch, I have a friend who I have stayed in touch, who is in touch with the prince, but so far that has not been a political channel. I count democrats like Hridayesh Tripathy and Rajendra Mahto among my former colleagues. I could pick up the phone and talk to them any time, and I do as often as feasible. Through them, I have talked to several other democrats. I might be unique in singing praises of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and his wife. Their progressivism amazes me in a positive way. Dinesh Prasain, a major human rights activist, is a high school roommate. He and his friends run the INSN blog that got blocked in Nepal only a few days back. Dinesh, on the other hand, is at risk. But he does not go into Nepal until the ground reality has changed. Which is what he will do, and as long as that is the case, he is not at risk either.

But I have always presented this blog as a fourth force. A small so far, but a fourth force. I am not a mouthpiece of any political party in Nepal. I am a lone shark. I hope this helps me cultivate some common ground.

My blog is not journalism. This is political work. This is a serious career move for me. I have never been more politically involved before. I have never attempted anything more politically ambitious before. It is just that because I am doing it online, over email and the phone, because I am telecommuting rather than being on the ground in person, to some people I could not be that serious. The internet is the new, big reality. It makes geography much less relevant.

My message is peace, democracy, social justice, economic growth. My attempt has been to reach the leaders in all three factions. My blog is less one of those widely read blogs like Daily Kos and Instapundit, and more like newsletters that get circulated among insiders on Wall Street. It is being read, it has been read by the key people in all three camps. But my influence comes with limitations because the only thing I have to offer is ideas and analysis, I do not hold political power within the context of the ongoing conflict.

First, I am wondering when you began your blog and what exactly prompted it. Do you happen to know how many people visit on a daily basis? How do you come upon your news stories? Do they come from other sources or events you witnessed? Did you ever see anything that you wanted to write about but did not for fear of repraisals from the government? Have you been in fear for your safety because of your blog? Finally, what is it like to be a journalist in Nepal right now? Can you travel about freely and identify yourself or do you need to keep a low profile?

I had a thread at Sajha.com. That was long before 2/1. There I discussed Nepal's precarious political situation with anyone who showed up there. Within weeks after 2/1, it was obvious to me my involvement was expanding rather rapidly. And so I set up this blog, which is so easy to do, as you must know. The blog got launched some time in February.

I have not put a page hits counter at my blog. But I do display Google Ads. I have a mechanism to measure how many ads got displayed on any one day. That figure also I only chance upon once every few months. There have been days when upwards of 400 Google ads got displayed on the blog. But that has not been the norm.

I get my news primarily through Google News. But I also visit the INSN site regularly. And a few others. All of those are linked to from my blog and are prominently displayed on the front page.

I am not in Nepal. I am a New Yorker. Some of your other questions do not apply to me. The United We Blog people might be in a much better position to answer those. But I also get on the phone as often as I can. To get people's feedback, and ideas. And see what they are thinking. I am not in the business of getting scoops, more into offering tactics and strategies. Although I did get the scoop on Baburam' release from Maoist protective custody from Hridayesh Tripathy who was in Delhi at the time.

I was in Nepal last year conducting research, and it is amazing to me all the changes that have occurred in this short time. My project won't reach international acclaim by any stretch, but I would like to present this at a national conference at the end of the year and hopefully raise awareness about Nepali bloggers and the situation in Nepal. I hope to hear from you soon.

Please do spread the word. All the best to you. Thank you.

Paramendra.

Dhanyabaad.

Ally Mead
Cornell University

Tehelka Interview With Baburam

The impression I get is the Napali Maoists will set up a democratic republic even if they were to come to power on their own. But that is what Baburam thinks. Is that where they collectively stand? I am not so sure. Prachanda's definition of a democratic republic in the past has been as imaginative as King G's definition of democracy. So one has to be wary.

On the other hand, the democrats are being of disservice by not engaging the Maoists more directly. Talks do not mean you have gotten into a working alliance. Talks can mean as little as that you have opened up a channel of communication.

There is also a trust issue. As long as Prachanda does not reinstate Baburm as second in command and head of state inside his organization, I will continue to be distrustful. Because Prachanda's decision to put Baburam under "protective custody" was a major mistake. That mistake can be corrected by putting Baburam back where he was in the organization before.

But that is of secondary importance to the democrats. What is of primary importance is to maintain the lead if possible. The movement will have to be more innovative than holding a mass meeting here and a rally there.

By now the Maoists are no longer talking of a ceremonical monarchy. They want the monarchy out. Period. That new line is a loss to the Monarchists who did not see wisdom in going for a Constituent Assembly.

The democrat line should be No Constituent Assembly Without Maoist Disarmament.

And the other day there was a bomb explosion within the compounds of Singha Durbar. Is it possible the Maoists have infiltrated the RNA ranks that they could get that close to the Prime Minister's office? Well, for now, it is Tulsi Giri's office.

In The News

• Interview With Baburam Bhattarai Tehelka ..... In an e-mail interview with Ajit Baral ..... Even foreign observers have acknowledged that revolutionaries control the entire countryside and the State authority is confined to the capital city and district headquarters..... the appeal of the seven parliamentary parties to the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) issued on June 18 and the positive reply of the CPN(M) to it on June 19, there are strong chances that a common front will be forged soon to fight the autocratic monarchy on the basis of a common minimum programme...... the leadership of the party, army and State should not be centralised in one person as happened in most of the socialist countries in the past.... when the Central Committee of the party in August 2004 sought to centralise the leadership of the party, army and state in a single individual, it was bound to raise a serious debate in the party...... not true that action was taken against me for making public my differences with Comrade Prachanda..... a case of a serious ideological, political dispute wrongly sought to be settled through administrative or organisational means by the politburo..... all these years we attempted to learn from the mistakes of Stalin, particularly on the question of handling inner-party contradictions, and now the party has repeated the same mistakes and I have become its victim...... My point of view is presented in the 13-point letter and the ‘note of dissent’, the essence of which is learning from the mistakes of Stalin and going beyond Mao particularly on the question of building a new type of party, army and State. I am happy that we are now attempting to go back to the days of Lenin and practising his well-known formulation of “freedom of criticism and unity in action”...... In tactical terms contradiction of the Nepalese people with the monarchy is sharper now than with the Indian ruling classes and any confusion or vacillation on this question will cause great harm to the revolution. There is no need to read more than this in our current tactical line vis-a-vis the monarchy and the Indian ruling classes. .... we view India in class terms and not as a monolith. Hence when we talk of India, we do not see only the Indian State and the ruling classes but also, and more so, the revolutionary and progressive Indian people and different democratic and progressive political parties. Our India visit should be seen in this light. We are not asking for anybody’s mediation but the goodwill of all for the ongoing democratic struggle in the country. ..... We prefer that the conflict be resolved without any external mediation. However, we understand that a stable solution will require the goodwill of all major international players, particularly our immediate neighbours India and China...... we see no necessity and possibility of any peace talks with the king. The need of the hour is total abolition of the feudal autocratic monarchy and proclamation of a democratic republic in the country.
• Full Democracy by Surendra Devkota
  
• Most Corrupt District UWB Top ten corruption-reported districts: Dhanusa (31), Humla (27), Bara (21), Rupandehi (19), Siraha (17), Morang (16), Sarlahi (15), Saptari (14), Rautahat (13) and Parsa (12). (Figures in parentheses: average number of corruption complaints at DAOs during six years from 1998/99)
• INSN And Samudaya Blocked In Nepal UWB Sarahana from Samudaya.org wrote: “Democracy or not, it should be evident to anyone who understands societies and humans that in this day and age, you make your case strong by presenting strong arguments, not by silencing your opposition. As long as you silence non-violent opposition, your motives will always be questionable, and no matter how well your intentions may be, such enforcements always work against your position.”
  
• Nepali Congress In America UWB ‘North America Association of Nepali Congress (NAAONC)’ .....
  
• Thapa gets to hear same Indian stand Himalayan Times, Nepal
• Ex-Nepal PM Thapa meets Natwar Singh NewKerala.com, India
• 6 RNA cells to probe human rights abuses Kantipur Online, Nepal Gurung said that the Maoist attack across the country was not escalating in the past few weeks.... In fact the army have been launching security actions at Maoist concentrated areas.... Gurung said that the Maoists have killed at least 24 civilians so far after Chitwan carnage last month.....Gurung also said that 4460 Maoists were killed since the breakdown of ceasefire in August 2003. He assumed that around 860 more might have been killed and 360 others injured.....The army spokesman said that 503 security personnel had been killed during the same period. A total of 2771 Maoists have surrendered to the security forces across the country
• Nepal's media says govt threatening it Hindustan Times, India Nepal's largest media group, which has been critical of the royal government, today said unspecified parties have threatened to bomb its newspaper offices.
• US official to visit Nepal Himalayan Times, Nepal Tim Rieser, an aide of US senator Patrick Leahy
• Indian, Nepalese officials to step up security along border Press Trust of India, India
• Even if Nepali Maoists were not involved in last week’s Naxalite ... PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• Bihar to intensify drive against Maoists:- PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• Nepal: The True Obstacle To Reconciliation PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• The Renewing of Socialism: An Introduction Monthly Review, VA the danger to the world of not countering the mantra that “there is no alternative” to capitalism is now too great, given persistent problems of economic stagnation, the growth of empire and war, and the threat of ecological collapse..... Fourier wrote that “under civilization [i.e., capitalism] poverty is borne of super-abundance itself.” In industrial capitalism’s place they advocated far-reaching reform in factory conditions, education, the situation of women, the relation between town and country, etc...... more revolutionary movements arose from the practical struggles of industrial workers themselves ..... a systematic critique of capitalism ....
  
• 'Domestic violence seriously affecting pregnant women' Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Parties to hold talks with Maoists Kathmandu Post, Nepal Leaders of the seven agitating political parties, on Thursday, said they would hold dialogue with the Maoists to bring the rebels into the political mainstream irrespective of threats from the government and cautioning from foreigners..... "I will hold open dialogue with the Maoists," said Girija Prasad Koirala, former prime minister and Nepali Congress president, adding, "I am ready to face a jail term if our initiative to stop the killing of innocent people everyday becomes unacceptable to the government." ...... Hinting at direct threats from the government and indirect pressure from Indian and US leaders to avoid holding dialogue with the Maoists..... Nepal claimed that there was no possibility of "patch-ups" with the palace under the present circumstance due to the monarch's refusal to remain merely as a ceremonial head of state. "The longer the situation continues, the slimmer the possibility of our talks with the king..... Nepal argued that there was no alternative to holding constituent assembly elections.... Pashupati Shumsher Rana, chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, however, suggested that the parties should not reach hasty conclusions. "Leaders, especially Koirala and Nepal, should demonstrate adequate patience and a sense of responsibility at this critical juncture," Rana said. "Dialogue between the king and pro-constitution forces is essential to overcome the present crises. Otherwise, the result will be devastating."..... Upper House Vice-chairman, Ram Prit Pasman.... C P Mainali, chairman of United Left Front
• 'No CPN (M) hand in Bihar attack' Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• 'Uniting Nepali diaspora is still a challenge' Kathmandu Post, Nepal Dr Upendra Mahato is the President of the International Coordination Council (ICC), Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN) Association.
• Nepal FM radios to defy royal curbs The Statesman, India
• SSB head to probe Madhuban attack Indian Express, India
• Parties rule out immediate talks with King Kantipur Online, Nepal
• The Asian Age : Nepal King visit raises objections Samudaya.org, AZ "Guwahati: Animal activists plan to oppose the Nepal royal family’s visit to the Kamakhya Temple for offering sacrifice of animals from next year onward. 'If they have to practice animal sacrifice, they should do it in their own country,' said PFA chairperson Sangeeta Goswami."
• Special Resolution on Nepal United We Blog, Nepal
• Ten Most Corrupt Ministries in Nepal United We Blog, Nepal The ministries of education and health are ranked to be the top most corrupt ministries in Nepal....
  
• Swiss put human rights at center of UN reform International Herald Tribune, France one country is playing a surprisingly crucial role in the process..... Switzerland's proposal to replace the Human Rights Commission, a discredited UN body, with a more powerful panel has quietly received support, from officials including Secretary General Annan and such countries as the United States .... Switzerland can play a role that many larger countries cannot ...... human rights and international law are important counterweights to power politics .... It pressured Nepal this year to accept UN observers and has been a leading critic of U.S. policy at the Guantánamo Bay detention center..... proposing a human rights council in Geneva to replace the Human Rights Commission .... still follows its 400-year-old policy of neutrality, which means it has refused to join such military alliances as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.....
  
• ANNISU(R) calls off educational strike Himalayan Times, Nepal
• A Very Special Police ZNet, MA “human rights, along with democracy and social justice, are one of the best prophylactics against terrorism.”
• No Nepali Maoists in Bihar attack: India Kantipur Online, Nepal
• Air Sahara to close shop in Nepal Economic Times, India
• India to deploy ITBP, BSF on Indo-Nepal border Himalayan Times, Nepal
• dogs to be deployed along Nepal- India border PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• Centre to deploy ITBP, BSF on Indo-Nepal borders: Buta Outlook (subscription), India
• Maoists attacked Bihar in revenge PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• Maoist bomb wounds 16 in western Nepal ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland
• India discussing an ‘Action Plan’ to deal with the Maoist PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal initiate land reforms, build roads and communication networks and create job opportunities
• Ghising warns of Nepal-like unrest in Darjeeling Press Trust of India, India
• UN human rights body to expand network in Nepal Xinhua, China
• Crown Prince gives away RONAST Talent awards Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Vajpayee concerned about Nepal Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Ghisingh goes to Delhi The Statesman, India
• Blast near Nepal parliament Calcutta Telegraph, India Nearly 10 Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) soldiers were injured in a mysterious blast which occurred inside their barracks at the parliament complex (Singha Durbar) ..... RNA’s public relations wing claimed that a cooking gas cylinder exploded inside the kitchen of the barracks, people living near the parliament claimed that the explosion was so powerful that it rattled the window panes in buildings nearby. They said that a thick plume of smoke was visible a kilometre away and a strong smell of explosives emanated from the site......
  
• Alliance with King only if takeover is undone: Gautam Himalayan Times, Nepal
• Decoding Political Developments by Jana Sharma NepalNews as Girija Prasad Koirala, Baburam Bhattarai and Surya Bahadur Thapa end their political pilgrimages to New Delhi ..... RAW is modeled after Britain’s MI 6 and the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency. But unlike its Western cuisines, RAW has often a decisive say in the “world’s largest democracy.” ..... 1977 ... one of its agents Rabinder Singh – allegedly “cultivated” by the Americans – abruptly showed up in Kathmandu to defect to the United States..... Reading the reference on Sikkim in 1970s is like reading something on Nepal today. RAW prepared necessary grounds for India’s direct military intervention in the former Himalayan kingdom...... the Khampa insurgency smashed by the Royal Nepal Army on the eve of late King Birendra’s February 1975 coronation......
  
• The RCCC member terrorizes businessmen in Birgunj NepalNews haphazard raids being carried out by a team of the controversial Royal Commission on Corruption Control..... already raided over two dozen business firms in Birgunj. He has also visited government offices like land revenue, transport, electricity and asked for documents the staff were dealing. Local officials said the Commission had asked with them details of those who had become millionaire overnight.... At one occasion, he said he would be investigating into the cases related to ‘fly-by-night millionaires.’ On the very next occasion, he said he would also be investigating into transfer of school teachers as well as VDC secretaries who had not completed their projects...... Bijay Sarabagi, president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), “Agencies like customs, internal revenue and revenue investigation department are already operating in Birgunj. Now RCCC is here. (We don’t know) towards how many agencies do we need to be accountable. If the situation persists, we will have no option but to give up businesses.” ...... Khati had led an anti-corruption rally in Birgunj some one and half years ago with the help of controversial businessmen like Bhola Shah, Rajnish Sindhi and Dipak Manange.’..... An official with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) said, “When you don’t have to follow rules and regulations then you are free to do whatever you like.” ...... Khati said the RCCC had to be constituted as the CIAA and special court had failed to discharge their duties .....