mikeldunham

After two years of utter failure, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly gives itself a second chance

May 29, 2010

  

Pushing the midnight deadline, the Nepali ruling parties voted in the 8^th Amendment, allowing the current “law makers” to continue for another year as a caretaker government. Of the 585 votes cast, 580 were in favor of the bill.

 

There’s one snag. And it’s a big one. Two years ago it was decreed that the Constituent Assembly – also serving as Nepal’s parliament – would automatically be dissolved on May 28, 2010 if it failed to promulgate a new constitution. By midnight of May 29, the legislation had come nowhere near penning a new constitution. The CA resoundingly failed the very people – the people of Nepal – who had voted it into existence.

It is true that there was a clause that allowed for an extension, but that was only permissible if the government declared a state of emergency, which, in turn, would be justifiable only if there was war or natural calamity. There is plenty of calamity in Nepal, but not of the natural or military varieties.

So how can the extension be regarded as legitimate?

At this juncture, the 601 members of the Constituent Assembly are far more interested in holding onto their jobs than they are championing adherence to the law. 

Here’s the eleventh-hour deal: The Maoists and Terai-centri Nepal Sadbhawana Party- Anandidevi (NSP-A) withdrew their objections after the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML agreed to include in the agreement that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal would pave the way within the next five days for the formation of a national consensus government. As per the deal, the parties will unveil a timeline for completing the writing of the constitution and take the peace process to a logical conclusion. Once the agreement is reached, Prime Minister Nepal will present it before the Legislature-Parliament and then resign.

 

Some may regard May 28, 2010 as a date for rejoicing. But the gross dereliction of duty illustrated by the Constituent Assembly these last two years hardly seems – at least to this writer – reason for celebration.

Parliament is adjourned until next Monday.

 

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Al Jazeera film clip: Birgunj drug capital of Nepal

May 27, 2010

Drugs, corruption and increasing violence are threatening Nepal's future. In the lawless south of the country, farmers are growing opium and cannabis instead of traditional crops with local police and politicians allegedly cashing in on the trade. Hamish Macdonald of Al Jazeera gained rare access to both the producers and users, in what’s fast becoming Nepal's 'drug capital' - the town of Birgunj. 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR AL JAZEERA CLIP

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Murder in the High Himalaya: Dunham's review of Jonathan Green’s new book

May 24, 2010

 

Once in a while, a book comes along that transcends its region-specific subject matter and addresses universal questions with calm moral clarity.

Jonathan Green’s Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy, and Escape from Tibet is such a book. It is a mesmerizing alpine adventure of horrifying consequences, a sober look at China’s crimes against humanity, and a reality check on the so-called heroics of Westerners who belong to the elite mountaineering community.

On the morning of September 30, 2006, a 17-year-old Tibetan nun, while attempting to escape to Nepal via the 19,000-foot glacial pass of Nangpa La, was murdered in cold blood – shot in the back – by Chinese border police.

When rumors began to surface, Chinese officials assured the international media that there had been no foul play. What the officials didn’t realize was that a Romanian mountaineer, on a quest to summit nearby Cho Oyu, (the world’s sixth highest peak) had not only witnessed the event but captured the carnage on video as well. A graphic film clip soon made its way to youtube.

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW FILM CLIP (Note: This clip was hastily cobbled together and broadcast before it became known that the victim was, in fact, a nun.)

The effect of the film clip was straightforward. Chinese propagandists had their heads handed to them on a platter. The international community cried out in protest at a time – less than two years before the Beijing Olympics –when China was doing everything in its power to win over the world with a more humane reputation.

Murder in the High Himalaya cuts back and forth between the Tibetan nun and her compatriots, who risked their lives traversing the highest mountains in the world in order to meet their spiritual leader, and Western mountain guides, who saw the Himalaya as a means to exact extraordinary fees from clients, commercial sponsorship and self-glory. The difference between the two groups could not be more apparent. The former had pendants of the Dalai Lama to inform and protect their progress; the later had Gortex, movies to watch in the evening and laptops with satellite connections.

The author begins the story by taking us to the Tibetan village where Kelsang, (the nun), and Dolma, (Kelsang’s best friend) grew up in harsh conditions (the village was situated at 14,000 above sea level) and the even harsher atmosphere of religious repression. Unlike Kelsang, Dolma survived unscathed the barrage of Chinese bullets at Nangpa La and eventually made her way to Dharamsala, India, where she had an audience with the Dalai Lama. In conducting his research, Mr. Green befriended Dolma and much of the two friends’ journey is seen through Dolma’s eyes.

We experience the girls’ trip that – from the very beginning – was fraught with danger. First, came the perils of being discovered while rendezvousing in Lhasa, a city rife with Chinese spies and bristling with video cameras. Next came the endless succession of Chinese check posts designed to thwart the thousands of Tibetans who attempt to escape Tibet annually. The two girls’ next challenge was purely physical: making it through the deadly conditions leading up to the 19,000 foot mountain pass in cheap Chinese shoes purchased in Lhasa, which had long since become all but useless.

Green writes: Once out of Tibet, over the border into Nepal, they would still be in grave danger. In recent years the Chinese assiduously courted Nepal with large sums of money and trained its military in an increasingly close relationship…The Chinese paid [the Nepalese border security forces] for the arrest and return of Tibetan refugees to China. So they too ran networks of informants and hunted refugees when they crossed the border on route to India. And they aided the People’s Armed Police (PAP) when the Chinese soldiers crossed the border illegally to capture Tibetans.

As for the shooting on September 30, Green’s unflinching eye darts between the Chinese patrol excitedly running along a ridge to get the best shot at the fleeing Tibetans, to the Tibetans themselves caught like ducks in a barrel, to some of the Western climbers who witnessed the shoot-out – first in groggy disbelief and, finally, ignobly, in self-interest:

…each year, climbers tried to outdo one another with their hardship stories in order to attain book deals and speaking tours”. Climbers had their careers to consider. What if they spoke out against the Chinese? Would they be banned from major peaks in the future? Many Western climbers simply turned their backs on what they had seen, refusing to bear witness. There was nothing to be gained by speaking up about Kelsang’s murder except banishment from the world’s most glorious mountain range.

This is an extremely relevant aspect of the book: The stark contrast of climbing for one’s life as apposed to climbing for one’s personal gratification. What is the meaning behind ascending mountains anyway? Wasn’t it once a heroic deed – when no paths had yet been blazed and people really did venture into the unknown? Concerning the flagrant commercialism of mountaineering in the 21^st century:

Today, in Everest Base Camp, there are regular reports of theft and prostitution in what has become known as the “highest garbage dump in the world.” …The approach to base camp from Nepal, once thick with juniper bushes, is now barren and rocky as successive expeditions have burned them all for campfires.

Green lets the most famous climber of all time have the final say on how far the once noble ideals of mountaineering have sunk:

Sir Edmund Hillary was disgusted. “Everest, unfortunately, is largely becoming a commercial, money-making opportunity. If you are reasonably fit and have $35,000 you can be conducted to the top of the world.” He sniffed, “It’s all bullshit on Everest these days.”

Throughout Murder in the High Himalaya, Green’s narrative is acutely atmospheric. Those who have spent time in Kathmandu, for instance, will instantly recognize the feel of semi-respectable Kathmandu hotels, where tens of thousands of dollars are surreptitiously counted out and handed from one mountain guide to the next.  Those who have visited Lhasa will be instantly transported to the bullying presence of Chinese security profaning the would-be spiritual experience of Buddhists circumambulating the Jokhang. And those who have ventured into the topographical splendor of the Himalaya will know that they have a seasoned adventurer in Mr. Green to guide them up and around the next curve in the trail.

 

For those readers who haven’t been to this spectacular region, they are in for a rare experience.

And what of Kelsang and Dolma – the two teenagers who risked everything for a taste of freedom? In one of the concluding chapters, Green writes:

Two girls from rural Tibet defied [China] by refusing to believe what they had been told about the nature of freedom and the Dalai Lama. They set out to find truth in defiance of China and it’s propaganda, whatever it might cost.

In doing so, Kelsang and Dolma, untainted by the great evil of our age, cynicism, acted as a perfect prism refracting the human condition. Their quest and its outcome shone a powerful light on how the West often acts only in self-interest. Climbing outfitters, escorting the wealthiest and most pampered members of Western society to Himalayan peaks, secretly disdain their Chinese hosts but outwardly act as apologists for them.

This is a deeply moral book to be treasured, to be discussed and to be passed along to loved ones. Highly recommended.

About Jonathan Green. Green has reported on jihadist militias from Sudan, on the cocaine trade for the guerilla-controlled jungles of Colombia, on the destruction of the rainforest in Borneo, and on human rights abuses connected to gold mining in West Africa. He has received the Amnesty International Media Award for Excellence in Human Rights Journalism, the American Society of Journalists and Authors award for reporting on a significant topic, and been named Feature Writer of the Year in the Press Gazette Magazine and Design Awards. His work has appeared in Men’s Journal, the New York Times, Fast Company, the Financial Times, British GQ, and Esquire. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife.

Murder in the High Himalaya release date is June 1, 2010. You can order your copy today by CLICKING HERE

 

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Mystery behind Dalai Lama’s Lord Chamberlain Solved: Lhamo Tsering’s History

May 20, 2010

  

One of the most tantalizing aspects of delving into history occurs when a long-buried story suddenly surfaces and sheds light on a key question previously thought unanswerable. It happened to me this week and it unfolds like a labyrinthine detective story with a large cast of characters.

The unsolved mystery was: In the 1950s, how much did Phala, the Dalai Lama’s Lord Chamberlain – who served as the gatekeeper between the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan freedom fighters – tell his master about the CIA connection?

The CIA never discovered the answer, nor did I unravel the riddle during my writing of Buddha’s Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Invasion, and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet.

Then, two days ago, I posted a four-minute clip from Kefiwork’s upcoming documentary CIA in Tibet, which included some rare archival footage of Phala (uncovered by director Lisa Cathey in Washington DC). In the post, I related the story about the late Roger E. McCarthy, (the architect of the CIA Tibetan Task Force and the top-secret training camp in Camp Hale Colorado,) bemoaning the fact that he had failed to debrief Phala before the Lord Chamberlain’s demise in Switzerland. Roger died convinced that the answer had been buried with Phala.

A few hours after publishing my post, I received an email from Warren W. Smith, Jr., a colleague in Washington. Warren is the author of the history Tibet Nation and the political treatise China's Tibet? Autonomy or Assimilation and is a research historian with Radio Free Asia's Tibet Service. Currently, he is deep into the Herculean task of translating into English the late Tsongkha Lhamo Tsering’s 15-volume account of the Tibetan Resistance Movement.

This is where the story gets interesting.

Who was Lhamo Tsering?

 
 

For nearly two decades, beginning in the late 1950s, Lhamo Tsering was a key resistance figure. He began as Gyalo Thondup’s personal assistant. (Gyalo is the older brother of the Dalai Lama, who was one of the CIA’s initial contacts.)

As the years rolled by – first operating out of Darjeeling and later out of New Delhi – Lhamo Tsering became the CIA’s main operative in India. He was the key organizer of the Mustang Resistance Force in Nepal (in close contact with General Wangdu) and the mastermind behind numerous undercover operations inside Tibet. During this entire period he kept meticulous and detailed records and documentation of each and every Agency operation that was carried out. Following the surrender of the Mustang Resistance Force to Nepalese troops in 1974, Lhamo Tsering was imprisoned in Kathmandu for seven years.

Following his release from prison in December 1980, Lhamo Tsering served in the Tibetan Government-in-exile before finally retiring as a Kalon (Minister) in 1996. He also embarked on a major project to write a detailed history of the resistance efforts based on his own records and the enormous collection of material that he had gathered over the years on behalf of the CIA. His Tibetan manuscript covers, among other things, the Agency-backed parachute missions inside Tibet, the undercover radio teams that went overland into Tibet, and the Mustang Resistance Force.

This, then, is the body of work my friend Warren Smith is currently translating into English. His email to me began:

Mikel,This is from vol 2 of Lhamo Tsering’s history (my edited version). I’ve attached the original unedited version below for comparison. Any comments on my editing are welcome. According to Phala, the DL [Dalai Lama] was fully informed [about the CIA’s involvement].

As I scrolled down through Warren’s translation I could barely believe my eyes. If only Roger McCarthy could have lived to read this! I immediately fired back an email asking if I could get permission from Tenzing Sonam to post the excerpt, even though it was still in rough draft format.

Tenzing Sonam is Lhamo Tsering’s son and has the copyright to his father’s work. (I first met Tenzing and his wife Ritu Sarin – both filmmakers – in the late 90s in Bethesda, Maryland. They were shooting a documentary on the CIA involvement in Tibet. There was a round table discussion being shot in the dining room of John Greaney’s home. Other retired members of the CIA Tibetan Task Force included Roger McCarthy, Ken Knaus and the late Frank Holober.) 

Hours later, Tenzing responded from Delhi that I was welcome to publish the passage that I had found so revealing.

The excerpt concerns Athar and Lhotse, two young warriors from the first batch of Tibetans trained by Roger McCarthy in Saipan in 1957. Athar and Lhotse were the first team to be successfully airdropped back into Tibet. They landed with crystal radio and other equipment on the sandy shoals of the Brahmaputra River, within eyesight of Samye Monastery. Chinese PLA troops swarmed the area, but by taking a circuitous route – first southwest before heading north – they eventually made their way to Lhasa incognito. From there they made their way to the Dalai Lama’s summer residence (Norbulingka), tasked with the assignment of making contact with the Tibetan Government, i.e., Phala, Lord Chamberlain. Athar and Lhotse were accompanied by Gompo Tashi, the general of the resistance army: the Chushi-Gangdruk.

That’s the back-story. 

Below, is Lhamo Tsering’s recounting of Athar and Lhotse’s debriefing on their contact with Phala – translated into English by Warren Smith (rough draft) and published here for the first time:

 

Meeting with Phala, Lord Chamberlain of Tibetan Government

When they were summoned to meet Phala, Athar and Lhotse were surprised to see what they thought were Chinese guards. But Gompo Tashi told them that they were Tibetans; all the Tibetan soldiers and bodyguards had been required to wear Chinese uniforms. They were led to the residence of Phala, where after a short wait, the lord chamberlain came to meet them.

Athar and Lhotse gave Phala a detailed account of their training by the CIA.

Phala said that he was pleased that they had completed their training in such a short time. He said that the situation had deteriorated and that it was very important to maintain absolute secrecy. He asked them what kind of demolition training they had received and what kind of arms they had with them. They answered his questions and said that more arms would be dropped but it was undecided when or where.

Phala told them that they should report to him about all their communications with their contacts in India. He said that he had informed His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the two of them. His Holiness had told Phala to handle all contacts with Athar and Lhotse and to report to him but that he [the Dalai Lama] could not be directly involved in it.

Phala gave them each a sungdu [blessing cord] and jinten [blessed pill] from the Dalai Lama and some fruits from himself. Athar and Lhotse then left Norbu Lingka and, passing through Nechung monastery, they returned to Gephel Ritse just as the sun set.

A few days later, Athar and Lhotse received a message from Adrug Gompo Tashi through his messenger. Gompo Tashi said that he and some others were planning to set up a military organization in Lhoka. He wanted to know if it would be possible for them to receive arms from the Americans. 

Athar and Lhotse replied that they did not know. Their instructions were only to establish contact with the Tibetan Government. They asked if Gompo Tashi had any advice from Phala. After few days, Athar and Lhotse received a letter from Phala through a messenger named Lithang Nagwang Dadrak. However, it was not clear about whether or not the Tibetan Government would request assistance from the US Government. So they had no option but to leave it as it was.

After a few days Adrug Gompo Tashi sent a message to Athar and Lhotse that they must come to Chokpori hill [next to Potala and site of Tibet’s famous medical college] under the orders of [oracle of] Gyalchen Shugden. They were told to leave their transmission equipment where it was. So they went along with the messenger to Chokpori hill.

 

Andrug Gompo Tashi gave Athar and Lhotse a message to be sent to India asking for training for about 40 men that he wanted to send to India. Athar and Lhotse sent the message and received a reply the next day telling Gompo Tashi to wait until they were ready to start training before sending his men.

 

Athar and Lhotse relayed the message to Gompo Tashi this but he had already sent the 40 men to India.

Later, Athar and Lhotse received another message from Adrug Gompo Tashi through his messenger. The message read, “The commander in chief of the Chinese artillery unit near Lhasa, Hothing, with a Tibetan named Lobsang Tashi has turned against the communist Chinese and surrendered to us. Right now he is with me. Taking him with us, our commander in chief Kharchen Chakzoe along with seventeen other officers and soldiers are soon leaving for Lhoka. You two must come with us and bring all your transmission equipment. Come immediately and wait near the Trunglha.”

A mule was also sent for them. However, Athar and Lhotse asked Gompo Tashi to first arrange another meeting with Phala for them.  When they met at Trunglha, Gompo Tashi told them that they could not meet directly with Phala but that they would be able to meet Lobsang Yeshi, his representative.

On 15 April 1958, Athar and Lhotse each put on monk’s robes and, accompanied by Penpa, went to Lobsang Yeshi’s residence. When they arrived, Adrug Gompo Tashi was also there. As soon as they finished introductions, Gompo Tashi said that he was leaving for Lhoka and that Athar and Lhotse should decide whether to come to Lhoka or to stay in Lhasa and continue to try to get what they wanted from the Tibetan Government. The two of them explained the situation to Lobsang Yeshi, who told them that he could make decisions on behalf of Phala. Athar and Lhotse told him that they had followed the orders of their supervisors to come to Lhasa in order to establish contact between the US and Tibetan governments. They would radio India about whatever decision the Tibetan Government made. They said that they were prepared to sacrifice their own lives so they would take the advice of Lobsang Yeshi about what they should do.

Lobsang Yeshi told them that they should go with Adrug Gompo Tashi to Lhoka. They could not meet directly with anyone in the Tibetan Government because even within the government no one could be trusted. He was sending them with Gompo Tashi not on the orders of the Tibetan Government but according to the prophecy of Gyalchen Shugden. He thanked them for their enthusiasm. Reflecting on this, Athar and Lhotse understood the inability and unwillingness of the Tibetan Government to establish official contact with a foreign government.

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More about Lhamo Tsering’s history, the Warren Smith, Jr.’s translation and how you can help.

In 1989, after Lhamo Tsering had written a first draft that ran into several volumes, Tashi Tsering, former Research Scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and presently Director of Amnye Machen Institute, took on the responsibilities of editor and advisor. The first four volumes of this massive work which now runs into approximately 15 volumes have already been published by the Amnye Machen Institute in Dharamsala. The second volume has the distinction of being the first Tibetan publication to be fully indexed.

Lhamo Tsering passed away in January, 1999. At the time of his death, he and Tashi Tsering had worked out the structure and contents of the remaining volumes. There remains some more editing and organizing of material to do, but the manuscripts are by and large ready for publication. There is no doubt that this tremendous undertaking will be a significant contribution to our understanding of recent Tibetan history besides also paying tribute to the sacrifice and bravery of countless unknown patriots who willingly volunteered to fight on behalf of their country and religion.

Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin are working closely with Tashi Tsering and the Amnye Machen Institute to ensure that Lhamo Tsering's monumental work sees publication in the way that he envisioned. Funds are constantly being sought to finance this venture, as well as Warren Smith’s translation.

For more information on how you can contribute to this extremely important historical project, you can contact Tenzing Sonam at:

 
 

CLICK HERE: White Crane Films

 

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Mikel Dunham on the CIA in Tibet: How much did the Dalai Lama know?

May 18, 2010

Below is a 4 minute clip from the upcoming documentary "CIA in Tibet", which ponders the unsolved mystery of how much information Phala, (Lord Chamberlain), related to His Holiness the Dalai Lama about the CIA's support of the freedom fighters in the late 1950s. 

 

 

 

 
 
 
By the time I began research on "Buddha's Warriors" in the late 1990s, Phala had long since passed away in seclusion in Switzerland. 

The CIA failed to debrief Phala after the Dalai Lama's escape to India. Roger E. McCarthy (who put together the CIA's Tibetan Task Force in Saipan in 1957 and, later, organized the secret training camp for Tibetan freedom fighters in Camp Hale, Colorado)  later told me -- on more than one occasion! -- the extent to which he regretted not having interviewed Phala before his death. "It was my biggest mistake," he told me, "for Phala was the key to just about everything that went on in Lhasa."

to view the clip link here to Kefiworks

 

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China and the West step into Nepal Crisis

May 16, 2010

  

Peter Lee, an American journalist -- who writes on East and South Asian affairs and their intersection with US foreign policy -- has written a well-documented piece in yesterday’s Asia Times. Personal disclosure: Impartiality cannot be claimed since Mr. Lee interviewed me and quoted me for the article.

 

The abrupt curtailment on May 7 of the bandh or general strike in Kathmandu called by the United Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) seemed to demonstrate the limits of the Maoists' popular support. However, this apparent setback reflects a deal to smooth the Maoists' re-entry into Nepal's government as China and Western powers try to bring an end to months of unproductive and potentially violent deadlock. Beijing looks forward to the formation of a consensus government incorporating the Maoists and responsive to China's concerns.

India, on the other hand, must ponder if it is ready to resign itself to the loss of a compliant if ineffectual client regime in Kathmandu.

New Delhi orchestrated the entry of the Maoist insurgents into mainstream politics. Then, alarmed by the Maoists' victories in the 2008 parliamentary elections, it propped up a rump government of democratic parties that has been able to exclude the Maoists from civilian power, but unable to win widespread respect and support. Concurrently, India ramped up its ties with the reliably anti-Maoist Nepalese army, raising the specter of military intervention and a return to civil war if the process of political reconciliation collapsed.

Faced with Indian stonewalling, the Maoists found a willing ally in Beijing - even though, on ideological grounds, the UCPN-M excoriates the current regime of the Chinese Communist Party as "revisionist".

During the brief period in 2008 after the election when the Maoists held power, in a conscious and high-profile break with precedent, the prime minister made his first official visit to Beijing instead of New Delhi. During the mortifying anti-Chinese demonstrations in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, the Maoist government ingratiated itself to China by coming down hard on restive Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu.

Soon after, the Maoists pulled out of the government in a dispute over successful (and somewhat unconstitutional) efforts by Nepal's (pro-Indian) president to block the Maoists' attempts to remove the (pro-Indian) chief of army staff.

Since then, in an atmosphere of increasing acrimony and anti-Indian resentment, the Maoists have struggled to push aside the tottering bourgeois edifice of coalition government nominally led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Nepali Congress. Together with their People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel rusticating in United Nations-supervised cantonements and thuggish Youth Communist League (YCL) street forces, the Maoists are increasingly seen and resented as a part of the problem.

Although the Maoists dominate large areas of the countryside, the urban insurrectionary nut has proved hard to crack.

At the beginning of May, the Maoists mustered over 100,000 supporters to Kathmandu to demand that a Maoist-led administration replace the current order. The government, reportedly with backbone inserted by the Indian government, declined to fold. Western powers met with the Maoists' leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (nom de guerre "Prachanda", meaning "awesome") to urge restraint.

The Maoists' claim to iron-handed control of the streets was challenged by an embarrassing counter-demonstration of some 20,000 white-shirt clad opponents. Prachanda decided not to escalate matters and called off the bandh.

There was a certain amount of exultant backslapping among the democratic parties that somebody had finally faced down the Maoists. However, the euphoria was short-lived.

If the India-backed government had its way, it would have weathered the bandh simply to kick the political can another year down the road by extending the term of the current Constituent Assembly - which, by virtue of the Maoists' boycott, has been able to accomplish nothing for a long, long time.

However, this prospect was apparently not pleasing to the European Union, the United States or China.

The deadlock has a cost. Financially and economically, Nepal is a basket case. According to government statistics, 66% of Nepalese households are short of food and half of the children in the country are malnourished - and no doubt providing a ready reservoir of future cadres for the Maoists. [1]

More importantly, the Maoists apparently have no intention of allowing the current government to extend its rule.

May 28, 2010, is the witching hour - this is the date, after over two futile and unproductive years, when the mandate of the Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution and make way for normalized, democratic business, expires.

The Maoists have declared that no extension of the assembly is acceptable and the current government will have its legality evaporate on May 28.

The Maoists have circulated reports that they are preparing a "final jolt" - another round of mass demonstrations and strikes designed to plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis and pave the way for the Maoists' triumphant return to government on their own terms.

Observing the Maoist display of muscle in Kathmandu and the continued helplessness of the coalition government as it stumbled into the waning days of its existence, the US and EU have apparently decided to remove the Nepal brief from New Delhi's hands and try to orchestrate a more peaceful transition.

China finds itself in the highly satisfactory position of lining up with the United States and against India on the matter of Nepal, which has been recognized - both by the West and by China - as well within India's sphere of influence for decades.

Already prior to the bandh, on April 26, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visited Kathmandu to encourage the Maoists to renounce violence both in the upcoming demonstration and in their political platform.

In return, various inducements were offered: removal of the Maoists from the US terrorist list and the promise that, if PLA combatants couldn't find a happy home in the army, the West would throw some money at the problem ("vocational training or other kinds of training," as Blake put it). [2]

On April 29, Admiral Robert Willard, commander of the US Pacific Command, visited Kathmandu to talk things over with the Nepalese army and, presumably, discourage them from the idea of pouring from their barracks to violently suppress the bandh.

Or, as the US Embassy put it:

[Willard] reiterated the United States' position that all parties should exercise restraint during the planned upcoming demonstrations and work to fashion a permanent peace through dialogue and constructive consultations. [3]

On May 4, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jiang Yu departed from China's stated policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and obliquely stated Beijing's support for a government that included the Maoists:

As a friendly neighbor, China sincerely hopes that all political parties in Nepal ... seek political common ground and properly handle internal differences through dialogue and consultation so as to jointly press ahead with the hard-won peace process ... [4]

After Prachanda obligingly pulled the plug on the irritating but non-violent bandh (featuring the usual heavy-handed intimidation and extortion of money, goods and services by the YCL, but little overt bashing with clubs, bricks and bars), the US, the EU and China stepped in to encourage the formation of a consensus government, that is, a government that included the Maoists and, on the basis of the Maoists' plurality in the 2008 elections, a Maoist prime minister.

The Telegraph Nepal, which often displays a resentment of New Delhi's interference in Nepalese affairs, reported on the state of play - and the perceived discomfiture of India's ambassador - with some relish on May 7:

[US ambassador Scott] DeLisi told [UCPN-Maoist number 2] Dr Bhattarai that the US was ready to play a positive role to bring a logical end to the stalled peace process of Nepal.

"We expect Nepal's two immediate neighbors, India and China, to play constructive roles to end the current political impasse”, the US envoy in his meeting with the Maoists' leader said, adding, "But, Nepalis themselves should find a solution to their internal dispute."

The US for the first time has seen the need of the Chinese regime to ""play" a role in ending the current Nepal dispute. A grand departure from the old practices indeed. [India's] ambassador Rakesh Sood has reasons to panic. [5]

On May 11, the Telegraph Nepal reported on rumblings in the local-language press concerning a meeting between the Western ambassadors and the Nepalese foreign minister:

Ambassador DeLisi preferred not to make any comments but yet when he came out of the meeting room he told journalists that the US had no objection to the formation of the Maoist-party-led government, but the strings remain attached, writes the Kantipur Daily, May 11, 2010.

The Nagarik Daily, May 11, 2010 on the other hand reveals quoting an unnamed source as saying that the ambassadors clearly hinted during the meeting that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal should tender his resignation to pave way for formation of a National Unity Government. [6]

The "strings attached" relate to the reconstitution of the UCPN-Maoists as a conventional political party through the dissolution of its military and paramilitary wings - the PLA and YCL.

A fortuitous announcement of American largesse seems to confirm that the US is encouraging the move to a deal with the usual financial inducements, as the Himalayan Times relayed an announcement from the US Embassy:

Nepal has been selected as one of 20 focus countries for US President [Barack] Obama's $3.5 billion Feed the Future initiative, a comprehensive approach that aims at reducing poverty in the developing world. [7]

China also joined the club with the announcement that it would provide 30 million Nepalese rupees (US$416,490) worth of food-related aid to 10 districts along the Chinese-Nepali border. [8]

The Times of India grimly confirmed the buzz out of Kathmandu and the unwelcome perception that, for the moment at least, New Delhi must share the coveted Nepal brief with the West:

Usurping the Indian role of playing big brother in Nepal's political affairs, Western governments, including the European Union, have begun mounting pressure on Nepal's beleaguered Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to quit. [9]

Premier Nepal, for his part, tried to disrupt the proceedings and sow discord within the UCPN-M by declaring he would not step down in favor of Prachanda - the brusque, determined "Mao Zedong" of the movement, as it were - and implying that his Chou Enlai (and rival for power), the silky, superior Dr Baburam Bhattarai, would be the preferred choice.

However, the West's apparent designation of Prime Minister Nepal as a lame duck seems to have tipped the post-bandh political balance back to the Maoists.

Bhattarai exploited the perception of Western dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Nepal (and attempted to dodge the awkward question of dissolving the YCL) to assert that the premier was reneging on a deal to step down after the Maoists called off the bandh.

China's state media helped keep the ball rolling by picking up a report from the website nepalnews.com with the UCPN-M-friendly title "Entrepreneurs urge PM to resign for consensus". [10]

However, Xinhua found it expedient to excise one paragraph from the original that was not particularly flattering to the Maoists:

PM Nepal also urged the entrepreneurs not to give donations to the Maoists, saying giving donations to Maoists would be like feeding milk to a snake. [11]

The People's Daily pulled the article altogether, leaving only the title. [12]

If reports in the Nepalese press are accurate, Western powers are expressing dissatisfaction with the government's foot-dragging on reconciliation and it appears the call to dissolve the YCL might become lost in the shuffle.

On May 12, the two main coalition parties, the Nepali Congress and the UML, resigned themselves to Prime Minister Nepal's departure but tried to throw a different wrench in the works by calling for the Maoists to announce a plan for eliminating PLA cantonements and committing to a "timetable" for writing the constitution as conditions for setting up a consensus government. [13]

For a party that has the word "Maoist" right there in its name, the surrender of military assets - particularly when squaring off again against the Nepalese army is a real possibility - is a difficult pill to swallow.

Nevertheless, Prachanda declared his willingness to resolve the PLA issue within four months and returned the focus to forcing out the unpopular prime minister. In the words of nepalnews:

Stating that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will not resign at any cost even if UML asks him, [Prachanda] finally said it was a tussle between progressive and regressive forces, which will determine whether republican Nepal will grow as an independent or dependent nation. [14]

If the coalition parties continue to throw up roadblocks instead of capitulating, the Maoists may decide to let the struggle play out on their terms after May 28 and turn to mediation from Western powers and China to put Prachanda in the prime minister's chair and keep the Nepalese army off the streets.

That would not be a particularly welcome outcome for New Delhi.

However, India may finally decide that reconciliation, at least on the surface, between the hostile parties is preferable to the resumption of a bloody, grinding civil war on its northern border near the "Red Corridor" where New Delhi is wrestling with its own nettlesome Naxalite Maoist insurgency.

India's problems are, to a large extent, of its own making.

As author and Nepal expert Mikel Dunham told Asia Times Online, "India is reaping what it sowed ... It always had the upper hand in its dealings with Nepal and treated them like poor country cousins. Now India can't make overt moves in Nepalese politics. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't."

China finds itself in a strong position in Kathmandu, no matter what happens. It has managed to keep its distance from the Maoists and position itself as a generous and relatively apolitical provider of aid and promoter of stability and development.

Dunham commented, "It doesn't make any difference who's in power. Anyone in power will subscribe to a one-China policy. And that is all Beijing expects of the Nepali government, at least at this juncture."

 

Notes

1. Nepal selected for Obama's $3.5 b programme, The Himalayan Times, May 12, 2010.

2. Press Conference by Assistant Secretary Blake in Kathmandu, Nepal, America.gov, Apr 26, 2010

3. ADMIRAL ROBERT F. WILLARD CONCLUDES VISIT TO NEPAL, Nepal.usembassy.gov, Apr 29, 2010

4. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu's Regular Press Conference on May 4, 2010 , Foreign Ministry of PRC.

5. US prefers China & India playing practical role in ending Nepal quarrel, Telegraph Nepal, May 7, 2010

6. Manage win-win situation for all in Nepal: Western envoys, Telegraph Nepal, May 11, 2010

7. Nepal selected for Obama's $3.5 b programme, The Himalayan Times, May 12, 2010

8. Chinese aid for 10 food crunch-hit hill districts, The Himalayan Times, May 11, 2010

9. West pressures Nepal PM to quit, The Times of India, May 10, 2010

10. Entrepreneurs urge Nepali PM to resign for consensus. Xinhua, May 9, 2010

11. Entrepreneurs urge PM to resign for consensus, Nepal News, May 9, 2010

12. Entrepreneurs urge Nepali PM to resign for consensus, People's Daily, May 9, 2010

13. NC, UML flexible on demand for national govt, Republica, May 12, 2010

14. Maoists ready to keep combatants under special committee, Nepal News, May 12, 2010

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Nepal: What Maoists are saying to Maoists

May 14, 2010

 

C. P. Gajurel “Gaurav”, Secretary of UCPN-Maoist, published an article this week in the new issue of Nepal’s Maoist English language journal Red Star. Gajurel addresses an issue much debated within the party: Is the international situation favorable for the Maoists to take over Nepal?

Born in 1948, Mr. Gajurel made headlines during the 10-year insurrection when, in 2003, Indian authorities apprehended him in Chennai. Although wanted for homicide, armed robbery and complicity in terrorism, India charged Gajurel with possession of false papers and “conspiracy against India”. After the CPN(M) and the government of Nepal signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, India dropped charges against him. He was released on November 28 2006 and returned to Nepal on December 1. Since then, Gajurel has acted, periodically, as a spokesman for his party.

Although there are no startling revelations in the Red Star article, it does serve to fine-tune one’s understanding of the inter-party effort to define itself at this point in time. There are three blaringly off-target remarks, however: 

1. Mr. Gajurel asserts that, “that during the middle of the 20th century more than half of the globe and the people inhabited in it were liberated from capitalism and were enjoying socialism.” I doubt that the millions of Chinese who starved to death during Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and the additional millions who were imprisoned and repressed during the Cultural Revolution would agree.

2. Mr. Gajurel claims that, currently, Beijing knows “that only the Maoist party in power can curb the ‘free Tibet movement’ in Nepal”. I see no evidence to substantiate this. It seems far more likely that any government – from UML, to Nepali Congress, to monarchists – would and will vociferously support Bejing’s One China Policy. 

3. Mr. Gajurel's assessment of the economic situations in Europe and the United States: He states that Western economies are so vulnerable that "such crisis will definitely be overcome by revolution." I would suggest that this is wishful thinking.

 

RED STAR

“International situation: Favourable or Unfavourable?

by C. P. Gajurel ‘Gaurav’ – Secretary of UCPN-Maoist

Communist Movement is an internationalist movement. Goal of all communists, provided they are truly communists, is communism. We should not be confused about vulgar distortions of communism whether it is ‘National communism’ or ‘Euro communism’. Internationalist nature of communists is characterized by the principle ‘either we all reach or none of us’. This is the basis of proletarian internationalism.

International situation is not same as proletarian internationalism.

Apart from the domestic situation, which is decisive, Communist movement is definitely influenced by international situation of the given time. Development of communist movement of a single country definitely depends upon the favourable or unfavourable international situation. Success or failure of revolution of individual country also largely depends on favourable or unfavourable international situation. In many cases, the question of ‘unfavourable international situation’ is being (mis)used by rightists or revisionists to justify their degeneration from a communist or revolutionary to a revisionist or a bourgeois politician. None of the revisionists of the world declare themselves as revisionists; rather they try to show that they are revolutionaries and are still communists. Capitalist class is an exploiter and oppressor class. So it is quite natural that the politicians openly representing the class interest of this class will not be able to garner support from the broad masses.

So in order to garner support of the broad masses, the revisionists, who represent the class interest of the bourgeoisie, disguise themselves as “communists”. They always distort the revolutionary line and situation in service of the bourgeoisie. They are the people who sabotage the revolution from within. Words like “Communism”, “revolution” are the masks of revisionists under which they cover their ugly bourgeois face. Revisionists of this era always prolong or delay or stop the revolution in the pretext of “unfavourable” international situation. They have regular and long time idea which states that no revolution can take place when there is “unfavourable international situation” and for them “unfavourable international situation” is permanent.

Thus the conclusion of this statement is that revolution cannot take place at this era. Therefore, while making assessment of the international situation, we should not be the victim of permanently “no favourable situation therefore no revolution”.

We should be realistic in making assessment of the international situation. We should adopt Maoist approach while making assessment of the international situation. Definitely there are some serious unfavourable factors which we cannot ignore. Side by side there are some favourable factors which we have to take into account. Let us try to make a brief summation of bright side as well as the dark side of the present international situation in making revolution.

Absence of international organization

We have no strong international organization or strong international centre of communist parties at this moment. The Third International which was initiated and led by Lenin himself was disbanded during the time of 2nd world war at the behest of capitalist and imperialist countries in order to pave the way for ‘Anti-fascist united front’ against fascist imperialist Germany.

It seems that the intention of Stalin, who was the main leader of the Third International after the demise of Lenin, was not to dissolve the Communist International permanently. Stalin formed COMINFORM (Communist Information Centre) under his leadership after the end of the 2nd WW. But it was far from being developed to an international centre like COMINTERN. Gradually, the Cominform became passive and virtually it became defunct.

Now, we have international embryonic centre of communist parties and organisations, the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). But its strength is limited.

Absence of socialist block

It is true that there was no international centre like Comintern during the time the Chinese revolution that became victorious in the year 1949. But there was socialist Russia and international socialist block which pro-vided very significant support to the Chinese revolution. We have no such international socialist block to day. This is darkest part of the present international situation. It seems that had there been international socialist base, the New Democratic Revolution would have been succeeded long before and the Nepalese society would have been grappling for socialism by now.

Dearth of international working class movement

It is also true that there was neither Communist International nor Socialist block during the time of Socialist revolution in Russia in 1919. But there was very strong working class movement in Europe and socialist revolution in Germany was very close to success. The strength of the working class movement was a very strong support to the Russian revolution. But we have no such strong working class movement in any continent at present.

Hostility among imperialist countries not in climax

There is one common international factor in Russian and Chinese revolution that the Russian revolution succeeded during the time of 1st WW and the Chinese revolution succeeded during the 2nd WW. It does not mean that WW is essential part of the success of every revolution. It is worth to be considered that during the time of WW, the imperialist powers were cutting each others’ throat. One imperialist country was enemy for another imperialist country. The hostility among the imperialist countries was so ferocious that one’s existence depended on elimination of the other. They had little time to fight against communist forces during the time of WW. There is no doubt that contradiction among various imperialist forces exists today, but it has not reached to the level of hostility of eliminating each other.

Situation—provided or can be created?

When we talk about the favourable international situation, there are some aspects to be considered. Firstly, the international situation is favourable in the given time and the revolutionaries can have the opportunity to utilize the favourable situation as outside support of the revolution. If this situation exists it is well and good. All the revolutionary parties will wish such a situation to prevail. Such situation is always welcomed. But our wish does not determine everything including the favourable international situation.

Secondly, the duty of the revolutionaries is to create such a situation which helps the revolution to grow and to succeed. Revolutionaries do not wait for a good fortune to arrive. Such a situation may or may not be completely favourable. If we cannot create completely favourable situation, we should try to create relatively favourable situation. If we cannot even achieve relatively favourable situation, we should try to create such a situation which is not harmful to the revolution. What often happens is that at the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution it is difficult for the communist revolutionaries to get a readymade favourable international situation.

Third, favourable or unfavourable situation is not a static phenomenon. It goes on changing depending on the changed situation. In many cases the revolution itself causes the international situation to be changed and the situation goes the other way round. The revolution is itself a force which brings change in the international situation and unfavourable situation turns to be relatively favourable or at least not harmful to the revolution. It is evident from the event of Nepalese revolution. When we initiated the historic People’s War (in February 13, 1996), the international situation was not at all favourable for the revolution. Eleven long years of PW has caused change in the national as well as the international situation. It is obvious that the international situation is less unfavourable for the revolution today than it was during the initiation of the PW. We will mention about some of the emerging relatively favourable factors at the international level.

Emergence of anti-imperialist forces

Mao while making assessment of the international situation arrived at a conclusion that Asia, Africa and Latin America are the ‘storm centers’ of the world revolution. Still it holds good to some extent. There was revolutionary wave in the Latin American countries during the time of Cuban revolution and consequently during the 60s and 70s. After the bloody coup in Chile in 1972, communist movement in Latin America had to face a big setback. Nevertheless, anti-imperialist struggle continued in most of the Latin American countries at different level. Since last six or seven years, there is a kind of anti- US imperialist wave in most of the countries in Latin America. Parties upholding the principle of ‘Bolivarian socialism’ are winning the presidential and parliamentary elections. Some of the governments like that in Venezuela have infuriated the U S administration by nationalizing the big oil companies owned by the US big capitalists. The other ‘socialist governments’ also follow the same line. The Hugo Chavez government further infuriated the US government when it (Chavez government) signed a large arm deal quite recently with Russia. The recent developments in Latin America should be considered as favourable factor at the international level. These developments in Latin America should be considered very significant especially in a situation when there is no socialist block to support the revolution.

Severe economic crisis

Severe crisis that engulfed the imperialist world has shaken the imperialist system itself. It is one of the severest economic crises shaking the imperialist system that has recurred after 70 years. The crisis has not been overcome. The economists assume that the counter shock of this economic quake is more dangerous which is yet to come. The imperialist system has been so weakened that it is struggling for its survival. The revolutionary movements in Europe and US appeared to be in hibernation since long years. The ruling class is afraid of revolutionary upsurge in its citadel. It seems that the imperialist system will not be able to withstand another crisis, which it is assumed may recur within some years, because there is no substantial recovery. Such crisis will definitely be overcome by revolution.

Attraction to Socialism

History of communist movement has proven that socialism or communist movement cannot be destroyed by outside intervention of the imperialist power; rather it is destroyed from within. Capitalist roaders within communist parties are real destroyers of communist movement and socialism that has been achieved through hard revolution. We know that during the middle of the 20th century more than half of the globe and the people inhabited in it were liberated from capitalism and were enjoying socialism.

The world was divided into two competing blocks—imperialism and socialism and there was balance of power. Socialism was rising power where as imperialism was declining power. Socialism was heading towards global victory and Marx’s dream of communism looked like to be fulfilled. But destruction of socialism started right from within. Restoration of capitalism started from the first socialist country of the world, Russia in 1956 under the leadership of Khruschev, then leader of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (CPSU). It spread like wild fire.

Later Russia degenerated to a social imperialist country. So the real socialism was destroyed. During ’90s, “anti-socialism” wave backed by US imperialism washed away the pro-Soviet Union block which they used to call “socialism”.

It seems that the anti-socialism wind has taken rest in western countries and socialism is being remembered. The reason is—the capitalist and imperialist countries provided some basic facilities to the masses to persuade them in order to prevent socialist revolution to take place in their country. When socialism has been destroyed capitalists have no compulsion to compete with socialism. So they are with-drawing step by step all the basic facilities they were providing in the name of “social security”. The poor do not get unemployment allowance, if they get at all, it is quite meager. The poor are unable to get treatment. So attraction to socialism is increasing, at least the trend of hate socialism seems to have stopped even in the western countries where “socialism” was destroyed by big mass actions. We should take it as a positive trend.

Inter imperialist contradictions still exist

At present there is no WW. But there are still wars going on as regional war and proxy war. These wars are producing new anti-imperialist forces and huge number of masses fighting against the aggressors. Inter imperialist rivalry for the loot of oppressed countries still exists and will continue to be so till there is imperialism. Lenin said “imperialism is war” which is always true. There is good opportunity for the communists to take advantage of these contradictions.

Growing strength of Maoist forces

After demise of Mao there was serious setback at the ICM. The initiation of PW in the ’80s in Peru and its subsequent development from strategic defence to strategic equilibrium created great enthusiasm among the communist revolutionaries at the global level. But unfortunately the Peruvian revolution suffered a big set back after the capture of its supreme leader Gonzalo and hosts of the senior leaders of the party during 1992-94.

Before this event could have caused big damage to the ICM, the PW initiated in Nepal under the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) developed in leaps and bonds. Within a span of 10 years the Nepalese revolution reached to the level of strategic offence which created tremendous enthusiasm throughout the world. In the last few years the PW in India is developing at the fast pace.

The central government of India very often states that ‘the Naxal movement (which is often said about Maoists in India) is major threat to the Indian state’. According to the information, the Maoist party of India has established proposed base area in Dandakaranya, whose total area is almost equal to Nepal. The growing strength of the Indian Maoist is positive development for the revolution in Nepal.

China-India-US factor

Nepal shares about 1800 km border with southern neighbor India and about 1000 km that with the northern neighbor China. Nepal lies in between these two giant states. In the past there was hostile relation in between China and India associated with Indo- China war in 1962. But such a hostile situation does not exist now. Similarly, USA and China had also hostile relation in the past. Apparently we do not see such hostility in between these two powers of the world. Presently China has good economic ties and has good trade relation with USA and India. But USA by virtue of being most powerful imperialist country and sole super power does not like “socialist” China as a prosperous and powerful country. Though US is a sole super power till the date, but it is a declining state. It has not come out of the economic crisis that it faced during couple of years. It is becoming increasingly difficult for US to compete with China economically. So far the relation between China and India is concerned, it is not so healthy. Even the old border issue between the two states has not been resolved amicably, especially in Arunanchal Pradesh state. Chinas good relation with Pakistan is also a factor causing unfriendly relation between the two neighbors. In short, there is under current contention going between China and US; China and India.

Under the given circumstances, US likes to control China in different ways. Tibet and Dalai Lama is one of the factors that US and also India are using to control China. Apparently, there is good trade relation between India and China. But still India boards Dalai Lama’s “Government in Exile” in Dharmasala, a town in Himachal Pradesh state of India. Dalai Lama is still fighting for “free Tibet” with the support of USA, India and many imperialist countries. Taking advantage of bordering state with Tibet and unstable and economically poor country, which has dependency with India and US, they are trying to use Nepal as a base to conduct “free Tibet movement”. Using Buddhist religion as a cover they are concentrating their anti- China forces in Himalayan region and also in Kathmandu. There is growing risk that Nepal may be used as battle ground for the “free Tibet movement”.

Present Chinese leadership has more than enough knowledge about the situation stated above. They know that most of the political parties are loyal to the foreign powers and these parties in power will be instrumental in facilitating the anti-China movement from Nepal. They also have sufficient knowledge that only the Maoist party in power can curb the “free Tibet movement” from Nepal. This is very significant factor which can be used as a favourable factor for Nepalese revolution and New Nepal.

Conclusion

What we have explained above clearly shows that present day international situation in not clearly favourable for any revolution led by genuine communist party in the world today.

To get readymade favourable international situation is well and good and definitely we all will be happy to get it. But to find such a situation is very difficult. Our responsibility is not fulfilled only by making such analysis and statement that the international situation is not favourable so there cannot be a revolution in Nepal and any part of the world. Now we can see that this unfavourable international situation has become a pretext for the reformist and degenerated “communist” parties to justify their degeneration into reformism and revisionism. What MLM teaches us that if situation is not favourable we should not sit idle, we should be active in changing the situation to make it favourable. Another important point is that the force of revolution can change the situation from unfavourable to favourable.

In our case when we initiated the great PW in Nepal, the international situation for us was unfavourable. It is favourable many times as compared to the situation during 1996. The development of the PW has created the situation more favourable or less unfavourable. We can conclude that present international situation is not very much favourable for the revolution, but it is not so unfavourable as well. If the initiative of the Maoist party increases tremendously this situation will further become less unfavourable and favourable to some extent.

Therefore for the genuine communist revolutionaries present international situation is not such a big obstacle and revolutionary movement can grow and revolution can succeed. Let us hope the Nepalese revolution may be victorious in near future!

 

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Maoists Cease Strike under Nationwide Public Outcry

 May 8, 2010

We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore

 

 

It is not the first time that Maoist leadership has miscalculated the pulse of the Nepali people. The most recent example is their scuttled “indefinite strike”, a six-day old travesty aimed at forcing Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to quit.

 

Instead, it produced a spontaneous uproar by Nepalis representing all walks of life, who, deprived of vital supplies and freedom of movement, rejected the virtual siege that the Maoists had forced upon them. For those requiring medical treatment, difficulties were compounded by lack of transportation, absent heath care workers and dire shortages of essential drugs and medicines. Nearly 8 million school children were banned from attending classes. Everywhere, stocks of food were running low. All highways were empty.

 

On Friday morning, tens of thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Kathmandu, demanding that the Maoists lift the strike. Wearing predominantly blue or white shirts (to distinguish themselves from the red-shirted Maoists) and representing civil society members, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, engineers, professors, journalists, artists and intellectuals, they ignored previous threats by the Maoists, braved considerable confrontation from YCL cadres wielding sticks and demanded that “enough was enough.”

 

Speaking for the protesters, President of Federation of Nepali Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kush Kumar Joshi said, “We don’t want strikes and shut downs, what we need is peace and consensus.” His words struck a chord with the entire nation, reeling after almost a week of Maoist-imposed hardships.

 

Other speakers at the demonstration were more forthcoming: “The Maoist strike is keeping 28 million Nepalis hostage.”

 

Later in the evening, an emergency meeting of the Maoist Standing Committee was convened and Maoist Supremo Prachanda announced that the strike was cancelled. 

 

However, Prachanda also promised that his party would continue with protest rallies, beginning tomorrow. On Sunday, he plans to encircle the main secretariat Singha Durbar “until the current puppet government steps down.”

 

The Friday demonstrations no doubt greatly influenced the Maoists’ halting of the strike, although, according to Republica analysis, other elements were in play.

 

It is not yet clear what was the final straw that made the Maoists withdraw the strike, but reports on television of Maoist YCL attacking peace rallies across the country probably convinced the leadership that the strike may be going out of control. There were also indications that the anti-strike citizen’s demonstrations were to spread across the country.

 

The flurry of diplomatic meetings between Dahal and the diplomatic community on Thursday and Friday may have also contributed. The standing committee met soon after Dahal met ambassadors from Denmark, Switzerland, the United States and India. The Norwegian ambassador had initiated a mediation effort of his own in his residence in Bhaisepati on Thursday evening.

Remembering the week

Beginning with the May 1 demonstration, the Maoists behaved themselves in the capital. But as the week wore on, things grew more ugly. Particularly in the hinterlands, which escaped the attention of most of the press.

 

March 5

 

Alarming reports came in that some of the Maoists were now armed with sticks. Numerous scuffles were observed. A journalist by the name of Sudharsan Ghimire, sub-editor of Sikchhak, was attacked in Baluwatar while returning to his office on his motorbike.

 

Other journalists – Arjun Bista of Bhaktapur, Gyanendra Niraula of Jhapa and Kashiram Sharma of Surkhet – were attacked by Maoist cadres wielding sticks and metal rods.

 

Anti-strike protesters, led by the ruling party’s youth wing, Youth Force, clashed with Maoists in Bhaktapur.

 

In a separate incident, Youth Force said a 20-year-old supporter was killed during a skirmish in Makwanpur district when he was hit by bricks allegedly thrown by Maoist protesters.

 

Anti-Maoist protests were also reported in remote Parbat district after the former rebels reportedly attacked a member of the ruling Nepali Congress party in his own residence and beat up his family members, including his grandparents.

 

Back in the capital, Nepal's Maoist opposition blocked streets leading to key government offices on the fourth day of their crippling general strike to demand the prime minister's resignation, but the government vowed not to bow to protesters' pressure.

 

Maoists hoped to disrupt the government by blocking streets leading to the Singha Durbar complex which houses key offices and ministries, but many government ministers already had entered the complex under police protection before sunrise. Home Minister Bhim Rawal told reporters that the prime minister was not going to bow to the pressure from the protesters and did not plan to resign. Instead, the government would work to bring life back to normal, including deploying police to protect banks, which were expected to begin reopening late Wednesday after heeding strike calls to stay closed. Rawal also said police would escort additional convoys of trucks carrying essential goods into the city, after escorting a few trucks with fuel and food early Tuesday.

 

March 6

 

In the southern city of Biratnagar, the Maoists took over 14 beds at the Koshi Zonal Hospital to be used exclusively (and free of charge) for Maoists, forcing other patients to retreat to more crowded areas in the facility. In fact, hospitals across the country were expected to bear the brunt of preferential treatment for Maoists. Many hospitals kept open only their emergency wards, as doctors and nurses struggled to get to work. “Two doctors are working 24 hours and a few nurses are working double shifts,” reported Dr. Shyam Ranjit of the B&B Hospital’s emergency department. “A lot of people have no access to medical attention.”

 

The National Human Rights Commission warned that remote hill districts like Bajura, Achham, Bajhang and Darchula were facing acute shortages of medicines and food for lack of transport due to the Maoist strike.

 

In the streets, more and more reports came in indicating that violence had erupted with normally apolitical people clashing with Maoist protesters. Furious locals in Budanilkantha, in the northern section of Kathmandu, tried to defy the Maoists, who had ordered all private and commercial vehicles off the streets and for all shops, offices and businesses to remain closed. Police used teargas to disperse the crowd.

 

Local residents also started spontaneous rallies in Pulchowk, Gongabu and Kirtipur, demanding that the bandh be stopped.

 

In Birgunj, Nepal’s major industrial town adjoining India’s Bihar district, more than a dozen Maoist leaders were hurt and two vehicles torched by Hindu vigilantes.

 

The local administrations of Parbat, Humla and Dhaunkuta districts declared curfew orders to avert further clashes between the agitating Maoist cadres and those defying the Maoists.

 

Thousands of international tourists were reaching their limit, likewise caught up in the unexpected deprivation of the Maoists’ strike. Foreigners confined to their Kathmandu hotels were the lucky ones. Tourists trying to get back to the capital from other areas found few solutions.

 

Republica journalist Bimal Gautam was harassed by a group of approximately ten drunken Maoists near Jadibuti in Bhaktapur. They kicked his motorbike, and briefly seized his identity card and mobile phone, before allowing him to pass

 

By the evening of the 6^th, organizers of the May 7 Peace Rally were receiving threats of bodily harm (from Maoists) if they proceeded with their plan to hold the rally. YCL leader Kul Bahadur Sonam announced to the press that his party would retaliate against anyone who dared to oppose the strike. “We will send YCL members to the place, take the opponents in control, and make their names public.”

 

May 7

 

The Peace Rally went ahead as planned. By the end of the day, the Maoists realized the full extent to which their strike had backfired on them. They called off the strike, shifted gears and went into full-throttle damage control. So ends one of the most self-destructive events the Maoists have yet orchestrated. And Madhav Kumar Nepal is still Prime Minister.

 

 

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Ujwal Thapa: Nepalis Photographing Kathmandu’s Paralaysis

May 6, 2010

Ujwal Thapa, an indefatigable Kathmandu blogger and businessman, recently created a Facebook Event in anticipation of the Maoists’ May Day demonstration and the nationwide strike that followed.

He called it “Understanding the Maoist Bandh. One thousand opinions and photos.”

Ujwal called for all concerned citizens to rub shoulders with the demonstrators and document their experiences and feelings concerning the mood on the street.

“Lets go in the streets and understand why they are so passionate in bringing Nepal into a halt!” Ujwal implored.

The response was overwhelming. Below are a few of the hundreds of posted opinions and photographs taken from May 1-3. (click on photos for enlargement)

 

“So, Maoists can travel in big cars during their own bandh and poor Nepali people are to walk under the scorching sun? Is this "andolan" for the janata or the Maoists?”

 

“Madhav Kumar Nepal [the current Prime Minister] might have to resign over the debacle in the end...it is inevitable. but in no way should the next leader be someone who calls only those people who follow their party's ideals as ‘Nepalese’".

“I talked to a young girl next door, who was one of the casino employees. She told me that she, (like most of the casino workers) had been forced to walk in so-called jana andolan. The Maoists had told her it's her right if she doesn't want to participate but she told me that if she doesn't comply with the union then she'll loose her job.”

 

 

“I watched the Maoist cadres dance and I hanged around for a while, had a little chit chat with them and asked them random stuff: ‘Why are you dancing?’… I asked a kid if he was in YCL [Maoist militant Youth Organization] and he said he was and asked me if was too. I wasn’t so they took down my name and address. (I didn’t give 'em the correct one though :P  Then, one of them asked for my number. I said I didn’t have one. He obviously didn’t believe me, so I told them I’d meet 'em later and just cycled away.”

“It's as if the bandhs are for the Maoists’ entertainment - all dancin n singin....n live karate performance n stuffs.....uFF///!!!!”

“Why should we ALL suffer because of your quarrel? Why should we walk for hours in the scorching sun? Who gave you the right to stop our business? Don’t we have our right to work and eat? What will u get by shutting all the shops and smashing vehicles if they run??”

 

 

“While I do not support the current government for its ineffectiveness, I do NOT support the Maoist strike as well. The principal reason for being against it is that this is ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS ANARCHY, denying people of their right to work and travel, which should in no way be acceptable to a citizen of a Democratic country. Another reason is that this is not a people's protest, this is just an effort by ONE party to fulfill its hunger to be the rulers again of the country. And we are almost definite that they will be no better rulers than anyone else!!”

   

 

 

“The Maoists are taking their self-interest and dumping it on the innocent Nepalis who are sick of these bandhs.”

 

 

“They have been successful in brainwashing all the herds and herds of young people from far-flung villages. We were too self-centered to think about the rest of Nepal, so we deserve all that is happening to us. They will use them...they will use us but it is our apathy that has led to this culmination...we are paying for it and how!”

 

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New film clip from "CIA IN TIBET" -- documentary with Mikel Dunham

May 4, 2010

The Origins of the Chushi Gangdruk

 

CLICK HERE for film clip 

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General Strike Paralyzes Nepal

 

May 3, 2010

Nationwide, daily life in Nepal has been amputated by the May 1 demonstration and the indefinite general strike enforced by the Maoists beginning May 2.

 

It came as a surprise to no one. Maoist agitation had been promised well in advance as a mean to impel the current government led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists Leninists) – UML – and it’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down so that the Maoists could form a new government with Prachanda at the helm.

 

On May 1, between 125,000 and 150,000 Maoists thronged the major intersections in the capital including Koteshwor, Chabahil, Gaushala, Maharajgunj, Gongabu, Kalanki, Balkhu, Satdobato, Padmodaya, Baneshowr, Ratnapark, Tripureshowr, among other places. Over 15,000 security forces were deployed to maintain law and order. No significant instances of violence were reported.

 

But the sea of protesters continued into Sunday in Kathmandu and other major urban centers. Maoists armed with bamboo sticks enforced a general strike (bandh) cutting off transport, closing shops, markets and industries and disrupting school examinations.

 

In effect, the nation has been shut down. The roads are empty, forcing people to walk to their destinations.

And in the hinterlands, violence and coercion are more apparent than in the nation’s capital.

 

There was fear and panic in Chitwan, the popular tourist area for viewing big game, after a powerful grenade was found near a bridge. Though security forces were unable to say immediately who had planted it, Maoist involvement was suspected as last week a Maoist platoon commander of their People’s Liberation Army was arrested while traveling towards Kathmandu with a grenade.

 

The Maoists’ dreaded youth organization, the YCL, stormed educational centers where 12th grade examinations were being held. The YCL tore up the examinees answer scripts and question papers and the students were forced to vacate the premises. As security forces intervened, a battle ensued with the invaders hurling bricks and the forces retaliating by firing teargas shells.

 

In Pokhara, another popular tourist destination, the YCL were reported to have forced their way in to private residences to intimidate homeowners.

 

In Birganj, Nepal’s biggest trade centre after the capital, a pressure-cooker bomb was found in a public are, adding to the fear.

 

In Butwal, a government office was attacked for defying the Maoists’ strike call.

 

On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Nepal reiterated that he had no intention of being coerced into stepping down. He accused the Maoists of orchestrating anarchy so that they could get their own way, pointing out that the general strike was yet another means for the Maoists to weaken the young democracy.

 

But the Prime Minister has his work cut out for him. Backstage, 60 central committee members of the PM’s own party submitted a memorandum to party chief Jhalanath Khanal, reportedly urging him to exit from the coalition government. The campaign, led by former Home Minister Bamdev Gautam, has the support of at least one heavyweight, trade union leader and former foreign minister Sahana Pradhan. It seems likely that the intra-party feud can only gather steam as the strike drags on.

 

For the Maoists part, spokesman Janardan Sharma (one of the commanders of the ex-rebels) declared that the strike “was not a protest by the Maoists alone, but a people’s movement.”

 

The question is: Which people?

 

There is no doubt that the 125,000 demonstrators’ frustration was genuine. Most Nepalis share similar dismay over issues ranging from inflation to corruption to chronic power outages to pervasive corruption. The difference between the demonstrators and non-demonstrators are that the latter aren’t so easily persuaded that the sole culprit is the current Prime Minister, who – so the Maoists insist – is a puppet of India, the country Maoists most love to demonize.

 

 

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