Democracy For Nepal

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The Maoists And The Mafia

If you claim to be a parallel state, and some tourist refuses to pay you your "tax," you don't beat them up, you tell them they may not go trekking as planned, end of story. No state may commit human rights abuses, period.

The Maoist militia is not capable of doing the work of the police. The police are trained for law enforcement work. The Maoist militia simply do not have that kind of training. And so the Maoists have managed to create this vacuum in which there is much lawlessness. The Maoists themselves are misbehaving. And there are criminals who have either penetrated the Maoist organizational structure, or are pretending to be Maoists. And there are organized gangs operating in the murky waters. And there are the displaced police personnnel, as well as some corrupt elements in the police and the army who are making hay while the confusion lasts.

The Maoists are not going to be able to keep their militia intact and still participate in the constituent assembly elections. That is out of question.

The Maoists are not going to be able to keep their village courts and still participate in the constituent assembly elections. That is out of question.

And the Nepal Police are going to have to go back into the villages before the constituent assembly elections take place.

I am all for security sector restructuring. Heck, I want the army abolished with the monarchy, and the police fundamentally reorganized to make them inclusive and local. But that restructuring would be for the legitimately elected constituent assembly to do. The seven party alliance can not do it now, the Maoists can not.

As to how much say the Maoists will have in that process depends on how many seats they win in the constituent assembly. And elections can not happen as long as they are still a parallel state.

Power flows through the ballot box. Power does not flow any other way.

The thing about all the cutting edge political ideas the Maoists claim to have is that they need to sell those to the people. It does not matter if they manage to sell them to Girija or not. If Girija does not offer the best ideas to the people, the people will punish him and his party at the ballot box. That would be to the Maoist political advantage, I would think.

On The Web

Mafia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Mafia is a secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. An offshoot called Italian Cosa Nostra ("Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours"), emerged on the East Coast of the United States during the late 19th century following waves of Sicilian immigration to that country. ..... The Mafia's power in the United States peaked in the mid-20th century, until a series of FBI investigations in the 1970s and 1980s reduced the Mafia's influence. Despite its decline, the Mafia continues to be the most dominant criminal organization operating in the U.S. and uses this status to maintain control over much of both Chicago's and New York City's organized criminal activity. The Mafia and its reputation have become entrenched in American popular culture, portrayed in movies, TV shows, commercial advertising and even video games.
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Reputed Links to Organized Crime & the Mafia
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Mafia recruiting spammers, crackers, AV chief warns | The Register
Crooked Timber » » The Art Mafia
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The mafia gangsters the mob outlaws gunmen and other stories - The ...
BBC NEWS | Europe | Dozens seized in Italy mafia raid

In The News

Nepal's communist rebels swap guns for brooms; literally clean up ... Canada.com, Canada Dozens of communist rebels took up brooms and shovels to sweep the centre of the Nepalese capital Tuesday as part of a campaign to clean up the city's streets.
Rebel leader backs democracy as way forward for Nepal Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Nepal's 'fierce one' spurns Chairman Mao and claims centre ground ... Telegraph.co.uk commander of the most successful modern-day Communist insurgency ..... he was even prepared to accept a transitional period in which Nepal's monarchy would be preserved. .... said his Maoist rebels had learnt the lessons of past revolutionary movements and recognised that the way to achieve a "vibrant and dynamic society" was by permitting healthy competition among political parties. ........ hoped ultimately to trade lasting peace for an end to the country's 238-year-old monarchy ........ We have taken so many lessons from the revolutions and counter revolutions of the 20th century ...... "Even under the dictatorship of the proletariat, multi-party competition is necessary to have a vibrant and dynamic society." ...... We are not fighting for socialism .... We are just fighting against feudalism. We are fighting for a capitalistic mode of production. ..... The Daily Telegraph met Prachanda after a taxi ride to a discreet Kathmandu hotel, accompanied by Maoists. ...... Along the route, the guide signalled our progress to plain-clothed spotters standing amid the crowds on the bustling pavements. ....... Prachanda, a former school teacher and erstwhile employee of the American development agency USAID, believes that he is just a step away from joining mainstream politics ...... "If [the prime minister Girija Koirala] can go for a republican state then we can easily lock up 100 per cent of our arms right now," he said. ....... Prachanda spoke optimistically of a "breakthrough" within the next week ..... He believes that a compromise is possible, with the rebels submitting to phased "arms management" under United Nations supervision. In return, he insists, all the king's property must be nationalised. ....... the fate of the monarchy would then be decided by the first meeting of the constitutional assembly to be elected next year. ....... He described meeting with the relatives of young policemen and soldiers his party had killed. He said he had told them: "We are sorry, but this is a political process." ....... despite the high stakes and continuing acrimony, Prachanda appears relaxed ..... Even during the hectic peace negotiations process, he said, he liked to watch films in the evenings. ..... Some European "comrades" recently sent him DVDs of the slavery movies Sparticus and Amistad. ... "There are still some European communists," he said.
INTERVIEW - Nepal election chief warns on poll timing Reuters India, India
Breakthrough reported in arms management negotiations in Nepal Raw Story, MA
Nepal Preace Process: Breakthrough On Arms Issue, UML Has New ... United We Blog, Nepal 1. All of the rebels’ weapons will be stored and locked up in the respective cantonments where the combatants are cantoned before the Maoists join the interim government. 2. The Maoist leadership will keep the keys to the stores. 3. The UN will install fixed cameras to monitor the storage and will have the right to make inspections whenever it desires.
RIGHTS-NEPAL: Doubts Over Leaders Cloud Sustainable Peace Inter Press Service (subscription), Italy

Prachanda, Indian envoy hold parley NepalNews
Moriarty returns after consultations in India
NC discusses contentious issues of summit talks the meeting concentrated on the issue of Maoist arms management, fate of monarchy, forming an interim government and interim legislature ...... The meeting was held to find consensus in the party in the political issues that are yet to be settled in the summit level talks. ..... The NC meeting was held to find consensus in the party as there is dispute about the NC’s stance on the fate of monarchy among central committee members. A senior leader of the party, Narahari Acharya, has demanded a general convention of the party followed by the general committee meeting to decide the issues.
Maoist war: Change Battle Ground - By Ram Manohar Sah In the autocratic or king rule (guided practices), people are reluctant to change; whereas in parliamentary system (democratic practices), there is slow and peaceful change. But in revolutionary movement (authoritarian), like Maoism, there is quick and violent change. ....... The Nepalese Maoists claim to have more than 100,000 supporting cadres with its organization.

NT prepares to increase Internet bandwidth Nepal Telecom (NT) is preparing to increase its internet bandwidth to 155 Megabits per second (mbps) ..... The NT is preparing to have link through optical fiber up to Mumbai, India and from there, up to the United States, through under-water cable. .... cost of using internet and email service will come down. ..... At present, the ISPs in the country are providing the service through VSAT link.

Planes fully booked, Maoists step up threats and robberies In the Annapurna circuit - a Polish trekker was reportedly beat up for refusing to pay Maoists 'tax' and then told by a Maoist leader, "I could have you killed tomorrow." ...... according to locals, thefts have risen alarmingly in the area since police was removed five years back due to Maoist armed insurgency. ...... “Locals claim involvement of a certain gang behind the string of robberies.” .... "At the start of the trek, on about October 10, Maoists beat a Polish trekker with sticks when he refused to pay the Rs 100 a day as tax." .... "The Pole had said his country had been communist and he didn't like the political system and didn't want to pay. I arrived about 2 minutes after the confrontation. There was blood on the ground and I was pushed around by the Maoists, who were in a very agitated state. The Pole had pieces of his hiking stick embedded in his leg." ...... A receipt slip states that the fee is actually 'travel permission tax' going into the coffers of the CPN-Maoist for the creation of the Magarat Autonomous Area and Tamuwan Autonomous Area ...... There are no signs though of the rebels stopping many of their mobster-like activities. Their cadres keep demanding "tax" from foreigners in the Khumbu valley, Annapurna area and along other popular trekking trails. ...... At the same time, gangs are organizing in several areas of the country.

Maoist-supported Hotel Workers’ Union general convention.
Interaction programme on the current political situation.
Deputy Prime Minister Amik Sherchan speaking at an interaction programm

Another round of peace talks soon: SPA leaders