This report in the Washington DC based South Asia Tribune that the Tamil Tigers are training the Nepali Maoists to have battalions of suicide bombers is alarming, to say the least. What could be the Tigers' motivation? That the Nepali Maoists are at the forefront of the ethnic grievances issue in the Nepali context? Or are these Tigers closet Maoists themselves?
Those who either do not see the growing threat, and those who see it but only espouse a military solution to it are both in denial. "Denial is not just the name of a river in Egypt," as Senator Hillary Clinton once said.
That the Nepali Maoists have brought Nepal to a political standstill must be a major morale booster to Maoists elsewhere, even France! And so the king of Nepal has to be reprimanded for his contribution to the political paralysis in the country.
The king is only interested in exploiting the insurgency to kick the democrats out of the equation. In doing so, he is playing with fire. For Nepal as well as for the region.
And it might not hurt for countries like India to embrace the concept of total, transparent democracy. You preserve democracy, you ensure peace, but you fundamentally reorient the democracy. You make it strictly one person, one vote. That is the way to steal the Maoist political and social thunder.
Proposed Constitution
Reorganized UN, Methods
India should be working to abolish the veto at the UN anyways. What is it doing trying to get a seat on the undemocratic Security Council?
In The News
- Nepal to begin wireless telephone service RedNova.com, TX
- Nepal third in terror attack list 2004 Himalayan Times, Nepal Iraq stood at the top with terrorists launching 866 attacks, India recorded 358 terror attacks in the same year.... Nepal saw 318 terror attacks in 2004 as the number of terror attacks across the globe jumped five fold last year..... Gaza Strip recorded 248 attacks to stood at the fourth place and Russia recorded 162 terror attacks.... terror attacks around the world jumped fivefold last year, to more than 32,00.
- Nepal proposes transport accord with Tibet PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal a transport agreement with Tibet Autonomous Region of China to transport food grains and cargo from one part of the kingdom to another.
- We’re awaiting Maoists’ response, says Koirala Himalayan Times “After we realised that the King was not serious in resolving the Maoist insurgency, I put the proposal before the Maoists to come for a dialogue on behalf of the seven agitating parties”..... Koirala said that the time has come for the party leadership to be handed over to second generation leaders..... Asked if he would file his nomination for the party’s presidentship in the upcoming general convention, Koirala replied that if the elections were held, it would certainly bring change in the leadership.
- Nepal offers special economic zones to Pakistan for investment Pakistan Times, Pakistan Ramesh Nath Pandey praised the vision and leadership of President Musharraf. "I am impressed by the conviction of President General Pervez Musharraf, his good gestures and body language whenever I met him or watched him on television, and his leadership role in restoring stability. I express my best wishes for him."
- Singh, Gandhi hopeful about dialogue in Nepal Kathmandu Post, Nepal Singh and Gandhi hoped that the political parties and the institution of monarchy would reconcile to take on the Maoist challenge .... Asked whether he also took the opportunity to talk with the Maoist emissaries, like the other visiting leaders did in recent weeks, Thapa exploded, "No, I didn't do that. Nor will I ever indulge in such cheap meetings." .... "It's become a kind of fashion for party leaders to brag about meeting Maoist leaders in India. I do not belong to that category. You have to have a clear agenda. They [other leaders] didn't have any .... The Maoists, at least, have a clear agenda", he added.
- NEPAL: Nepali press continues to face unprecedented restrictions Asia Pacific Media Network, CA Nepali media continues to face assaults from both the government and Maoist rebels...... nearly two dozen Nepali journalists were killed over the last six years while dozens of journalists faced threats, intimidations, physical harassment and were even forced to displace from their work stations..... A total of 28 journalists reported that they were interrogated by security forces and government authorities over the last year (mid-April 2004 until mid-April 2005). Four received death threats. At least 51 journalists were arrested and were subjected to harassment while in detention..... over one dozen incidences of seizure of publications and there are at least six reported cases of snatching of the equipment of journalists by Maoists and security forces...... During the state of emergency, local authorities forcibly closed over three dozens newspapers ..... hundreds of journalists working in 47 FM stations all over the country are believed to have been laid off..... said to be drafting a law to institutionalize restrictions upon the Nepali press imposed after the royal takeover .....
- Nepali women workers` share in remittance high PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal About 11 percent of the total remittance of Nepal is being collected through Nepali women migrant workers, but of the total 1, 200,086 Nepalese foreign workers in 2003 only 0.5 percent were women..... Large number of women are working in the third countries, but only 1,500 of them are working legally. United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Malaysia are the only countries that have been endorsed by the Nepali government for Nepalese women to work in
- Four Maoists killed in Dhanusha PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal during a search operation carried out by the Unified Command forces at Lablori area .... Karitoli Shah, Hari Yadav and Laxmi Yadav..... The dead rebels were members of the Maoist-affiliated Madhesi Liberation Front
- ANA convention concludes PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal with Deepak Bajracharya rocking the audience .... arguably the biggest gathering of Nepalis till date across the Atlantic.... Deepak surprised the audience by introducing a few guest artistes, including classical/flamenco style guitarist Bijay Adhikari from Denver, Nischal Shrestha on bass guitar, and an incredible percussionist/drummer - Raul Valdes - of Cuba, who mesmerized the crowd with dynamic Latin beats that drove the crowd into a frenzy. Bajracharya himself played rhythm guitar, and his Kathmandu-based band member, Jimron "Jeevan" Goff (originally from Dallas, USA), pounded out fast melodies on the keyboards..... the release of the dummy North American editions of Kantipur and supplementary Post weeklies. The two weekly editions of the largest-selling Nepali and English dailies, respectively, would be launched soon from North America. According to information received here, there was tremendous interest among the Nepalis about the upcoming weeklies.
- Tamil Tigers Training Nepalese Rebels South Asia Tribune, Washington DC the Maoist rebel said the Tamil Tigers were helping in formation of human bomb squads for suicidal missions. Women and teenage boys and girls were being recruited for these squads. They also carry cyanide capsules with them..... It is interesting to note that Indian sensitive agencies are entirely unable to cope with the situation despite having immense resources. The sensitive agencies are yet busy to malign these forces by propagating false information to the media about defections and divisions within the Indian Maoist forces..... the fact is that all Maoist rebels and parties, including People’s War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Center (MCC) had merged to form a new outfit namely Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) on October 15, 2004. Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi Rao has recently been elected its Secretary. They have agreed to an international proposal to develop a Red Zone (RZ) from Nepal to Sri Lanka..... “The decision to assist the Maoist rebels of Nepal was taken at a secret meeting of the Maoist activists of eight countries held in Kolkata in India. They also discussed the present status of rebellion in India.” .... “The Maoists of Peru, Netherlands, Norway, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India participated in the meeting. The Tamil Tigers and rebels of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) were present as special invitees” ..... the Coordination Committee of Maoists Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA)..... the Friends of Indian Revolution (FOIR) ..... the LTTE would provide full support to the Indian and Nepalese Maoists and Indian Maoists would provide shelter and training camps to the Maoist rebels of Nepal..... The task of training the rebels was entrusted to the LTTE and French Maoists .... a training camp of the Tamil Tigers is being run at district Narkatiaganj and Ghorasahan. Ghorasahan is located between Sitamarhi and Champaran near Nepal borders in Bihar..... Tamil Tigers have formed four Human Bomb Dalams (squads) of women. Each Dalam has 20 women. Similarly, 12 Dalams of the Suicidal Squads have been formed. Each Dalam has 40 young boys and girls. Indian and Nepalese Maoists are being jointly trained in this camp...... French trainers are providing training to Nepalese rebels in the hilly terrain of Uttaranchal. Such training camps are being run in Indian districts near Nepal border, such as Tanakpur, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, etc. These camps are solely for the Maoist rebels of Nepal that are being supervised by Indian sympathizers .... Apart from West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, all the poverty-ridden areas of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh have come under the influence of the Maoist forces. Districts of Bihar, adjacent to Nepal, such as Champaran, Betia, Narkatiaganj, Muzaffarpur, Sivan, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Purniya have become strongholds of Maoist rebels of Indian and Nepal..... districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, such as, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Mirzapur, Basti, Gonda, Deoria, Bahraich, Balrampur have been developed into the ‘New Belt’...... Sensitive Class-A, namely Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhpalchowk, Gorkha, Dang, Surkhet and Achham while other sensitive districts are Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Udaipur, Marwanpur, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Tanahu, Lamjung, Parbat, Baglung, Gulmi, Arghakachi, Bardiya, Dailekh, Jumla and Dolpa..... The Red Zone and a safe corridor is being made by the rebels that starts from Nepal, and covers all of the Northern hilly area of Uttaranchal, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, South Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh up to Sri Lanka..... The Maoists of India and Nepal have also begun joint operations. Recently in a hamlet Madhuban at Bihar-Nepal border, the rebels of the two countries simultaneously attacked two banks, a post office, a petrol pump and the house of a Member of Parliament Sita Ram Singh (from Laloo Prasad Yadav’s political party RJD) in broad daylight...... some of them had Mongoloid features and they were talking in Nepalese.... Maoists are also strengthening their positions in the Terai region of Uttaranchal that has jeopardized the affluent peasantry of the region, which greatly consists of Sikh migrants....