Model 1: Girija Is To Be Blamed

The NC was in power more than most during the 90s, and Girija was Prime Minister more than most. But instead of consolidating the democracy, the Girijas of the world became the new establishment. Massive corruption was institutionalized. The aspiratinos of the Madhesis, the Janajatis, the Dalits, the women, the poor were not given proper channels. Things fall apart when the center can not hold.

Girija's inflexibility that served so well in his quest for democracy became his bane post-democracy. A party with a clear majority going for mid-term elections is ridiculous. Girija does not know how to save face: he only knows how to corner his opponents into desperation. He does not understand compromise and coalition building is the name of the game in a democratic framework.

Because the moderate center did not perform, the left and the right came in to fill the vacuum.

Model 2: King G Is To Be Blamed

The king gets neither democracy nor constitutional monarchy, or he would not talk of being a "constructive monarch." He has acted a mirror image of the Maoists in trying to fill the vacuum left by the political parties. That might be cunning, and possible in the murky waters of today, but it is not magananimous. The king patronizingly refers to the country as his family. That shows a lack of gut-feel for basic premises in democracy.

King G got Chand to almost double the royal budget. That is NC style brahmaloot many times over.

Model 3: Deuba Is To Be Blamed

Why get rid of the parliament, bro! In the first place....

Model 4: The Maoists Are To Be Blamed

Not even the Chinese are Maoists anymore. The haat bazar in a remote village in Nepal is the market economy in action. The ancient Buddhist republics were democracies in action. Those twins are the necessary engines for growth. Gorbachev knows more about communist theory than Prachanda or Baburam, and he has said the market is it.

The LTTE have been far more lethal than the Maoists can ever hope to be, militarily. And the LTTE were not able to take over Colombo even after 20 vicious years. So the military option is out.

It is laughable of the Maoists to think the king will willingly give over power. Not this king. If anything King G will want to expand his role.

The dictatorship of the proletariat is not about to happen. Instead it is a game of who will blink first, and the two extreme sides do not care if the commoners suffer in the interim.

Supermodel 1: Panchayat II

There is a very real possibility the king decides he has had enough of it, and he plain takes over. Which will be the final blow of the right to the rest of the political spectrum. But such a move will, by definition, engineer a massive backlash. And more than Maoists will rally behind an all-out call for a republic.

Supermodel 2: "Jana Sarkar"

That does not exist in the rural areas either. It is more statelessness, lawlessness. And the urban centers hold strong. It can not be imagined Kathmandu can be taken over by the Maoists.

Not going to happen.

Supermodel 3: Constituent Assembly

This is the only option for quickie peace. But one suspects those now in power will not go for it. Instead they will wait and wait and wait. For the Maoists to possibly tire out. In the mean time, the people be damned.

Iraq will soon have elections for such a thing. And they will do fine for it.

Let the people decide.

But such a move will have to be simultaneous a total disarming of the Maoists.

Supermodel 4: Inflexibility

That Giriaj disease pervades the entire political spectrum. Mero goru ko barhai takka. This more than anything else is holding progress back.

Yes brother, I agree about the army thing I had have several unpleasant encounters with them and their indirect threats, it's life things as such happen. Anyway, truth and fact is the necessity not propagandas.

This guy Wheels. Is he out of his mind?

I have been trying to understand why there has been such an outpouring of support for the king here at Sajha. By now I think I have a good idea why. It is because the king represents the staunchest Nepali Speaking High Caste Male institution there is on the planet. And so all these homesick pale riders, these NSHCMs in the west, they are riding King G's tails, because they feel their identity affirmed.

They do not care about democracy or the country. All they care about is their narrow ethinc identity. People feeling lost in the winds of globalization are thankful one king gives them a sense of identity.

That is what is happening.

Wheel, I write under my real name. Maybe you should too. And enter a more meaningful dialogue.

I do not have to reveal my real name or identity to participate here at Sajha. But I choose to. My website has more stuff about me than you or anyone might care to know: http://www.paramendra.com

Well, dumbo, let me enlighten you. India is my motherland and country of birth. It means to me what Nepal means to you, you freaking lost cause. So don't go around badmouthing India. You pathetic sick soul. You would like to give an impression you love Nepal, but you don't. You don't have the capacity. Your entire "nationalism" can be defined as anti-Indianism. That is not love of Nepal, that is hatred of India. Not even hatred. Because you don't have the stature to hate India, never will. If you love your country, try expressing it in positive terms. It can not be expressed through hate speech of any kind.


And sagarlaure84 First of all, stop shouting. Get some manners. Second, you get your numbers straight. What are your numbers? Madhesis are half of Nepal. That is a fact.

Parmendra's posting are always controversial. It is his trait. Finally, he has come out to be honest about his background (I might have missed earlier). Given his background, it's understandable why he is always trying to incite fire amongst Nepalese. Only if he could succeed in making it a part of India, then he wouldn't have to worry about leaning towards fatherland or motherland. Oh yes, Madhesis do make half of Nepal. Common guys dont you know that Raxaul, Jaya-Nagar, etc are also part of Nepal!

Paramendra sorry if I hurt your feelings, and I did not know that you are an Indain. I spend my childhood in India. I used to play crickets with my Indian friends. I used to read about Subhasa Chandra Bose, Bhagat singh Rabindra Nath Tagore and many more. I was always inspired by them and love for their country. I used to admire India for its military strength demonstrated during those Independence day, celebrated every yea. I was always fascinated by the colours of India.

But, Parmendra since you know so much about India and Nepal I would like to ask you one straight question, do you think India has ever been fair to Nepal when it comes to times as such? Had, The government of India not played villaneous role in 1990 Nepal would have been a self-relient nation. Probably with democracy that is raised from the genuine voice of the Nepali people. We have trouble of our own and this is internal. Please, we do not want another musical instrument trying beat different tune in this unrythemic environment.
Besides, I do not have that kind of handsome face that I can post in Sajha.

Peace bro!!

Besides Parmendra, I believe human thing comes first and then probably follows nationatility\family\beliefs etc.

Peace Bro!!

NepaliCNN. Finally, he has come out to be honest about his background...

Oh, really? Finally? All that info is at my personal website. Go look. It has always been only a few clicks away to any Sajha reader.

.. why he is always trying to incite fire amongst Nepalese. Only if he could succeed in making it a part of India..

I am aware of a Nepal where people who speak for Madhesi and Janajati rights are labelled "communal" and not those who marginalize these communities in a systematic way.

By the way, I do believe a South Asian economic union is the only real solution to poverty in Nepal: http://southasianunion.blogspot.com

wheels: I did not know that you are an Indain.

I am not!

I was born in India to an Indian mother. But my father is Nepali, though both are from Mithila, so have the same cultural background. I hold a citizenship of Nepal. Though am also a Permanent Resident of the US. I hope to get citizenship also in the US, but only if I do not have to lose the one in Nepal. Heck, if possible, I would like to be able to acquire a citizenship also of India. I am a global citizen. I am a netizen. Need I say more?

Parmendar, in times as such in Nepal what is more imortant for you Nepal or India or our Madhesi community? To tell you something more about myself, my mother did part of her education in Ghandi Ashram in India and I was brought up by her to respect, serve and be loyal to my motherland Nepal. I do not judge people by their nationality or community.

Peace Bro.

This is my response to some of the comments here:

- http://www.sajha.com/sajha/html/openthread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=19507
OPEN LETTER TO KING
[ORIGINAL POSTING] To, H. M. 5. King Gyanendra Bir Bikram ...[MeriNepalAma] 02-05-05

I am just trying to keep my comments all at one place if possible.

MeriNepalAma: ".... Chiranjibi wagle use to be a street vendor of chill know as "khursani maila" now he has 60 million that is corruption in 60 fold....... that is just a example... "

Hello. I am the strongest critic of the Congress folks.I hope the Congress goes down to having 20 MPs or less: that should be their punishment. But don't ditch the system.

Tripathy in the 1990s brought some major anti-corruption legislation. Maybe guys like you should support him and not your own ethnics.

"..Right now we have to support him because it is last hope and its already proven that democratic leaders have no balls to deal with maoist and no way they are going to fight corruption...... "

How can one so corrupt himself go after corruption? And how exactly can he take care of the Maoist problem if he is not willing to go for a Constituent Assembly? The army is the same. How will they perform better under the king?

King G is indirectly responsible for the breakups in the Sadbhavana, the Congress, the RPP. Now he is trying to breakup the UML by inducting a Mainali bro into the cabinet.

"..
tyo chalauna lai desh lai maya garne mutu bhayeko neta chahincha....."

Wrong. The leaders do not matter. You need one person one vote. The people take care of themselves.

Some one tried to preach me US democracy, just turn your head and see how US is trying to establish democracy in Iraq.... they are doing so using force... and they have to do that because the force opposing them is with gun and power too..

The US helped organize elections for a Constituent Assembly in Iraq. Will King G go for such an assembly?

NK. Even yo? This is a you-too-brutus moment. I am surprised. So you support the king's move? Why? But why?

About America's role in international affairs. I am a strong critic and I believe this is the solution: http://un21.motime.com

I am a strong critic of race relations in America. I have major disagreements with the anti-progressives.

But then international relations are not democratic. And racism is lack of the democratic spirit.

newuserr: I am the son of a poor farmer brought up and educated in a democratic Nepal. I have excelled high in study and I am holiding a respectable job in a top corporation of the west at present.NO mandale can shake my position and no mandale gaali will shake my resillience against Tyranny in Nepal..........Why can't you convince people that your king is better then the leaders and prevent them from staging protests against autocracy. Why cut off telephone lines and put the country in darkness??

Way to go!

DeepBlue: Paramendra, don't try to be a Guru of Prajatantra here.We have seen your Madhisi color all over Sajha.Do you ever speak of entire Nepal and not of Madhishes?

If you have seen my Madhesi color, it must be something to do with the fact that I am a Madhesi. As for speaking about this or that group, I have spoken for Madhesis, for Nepal, for Tamils, for Palestinians, and so on. Depending on context.

orion makes a lot of sense.

A country does not have to be deemed fit for democracy; rather, it has to become fit through democracy - Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate

Great quote. He is the leading authority in the world on issues in human capital. Don't tell me Gyane has a greater insight into the ordinary Nepalis than Sen.

ritu: King's move will do nothing for us. Army had power in the past also and did nothing and it will do nothing now as well. Nepal is already divided, gyanendra will rule Kathmandu and district head quarters and Maoists will rule the rest.

Great. How has the king's move changes the Maoist situaiton for the positive?

madhav: The stability is only for King, the sufferers were the people prior to Democracy, during democracy and even under KING RULE. If nepal would be stable and developed under King rule, it would have been so hundred years ago. I don't support King's move.

Correct.

Democracy has shortcomings, god knows Nepali democracy in the 90s had numerous shortcomings, Girija foremost among them. But democracy is self-correcting. It allows you to speak against its shortcomings.

I think the Nepali Congress should split into four more factions and each end up with about 2 MPs each. That is how you punish their corruption. You don't take away the system.


People here claiming Panchayat was better than Democracy. It is like Bush supporters in America thinking Saddam was behind 9/11 and not Osama. Factually wrong, but politically very powerful.

wheels

It is Paramendra like in Gyanendra, not Parmendar like in Alexander, though Alexander is a bigger name.

"..in times as such in Nepal what is more imortant for you Nepal or India or our Madhesi community?...."

You are offering me a false choice, and it is everything to do with your anti-Madhesi, anti-India prejudice. I do not have to choose between Nepal or India or the Madhesi community. Madhesis are very much part and parcel of Nepal, so to me or to you, to think of Nepal is also to think of Madhesis at the same time. Think you?

O.K I understand you dont want to answer.

Good Luck.

More news.

- http://www.hindu.com
The government would take action against any opposition party or Maoist insurgents if they gave a call for general strikes aimed at disrupting normal life, the statement said, adding that a state of emergency has been declared in the interest of the public to consolidate the state of law and order in the country.

- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1013312.cms
They said the government is spreading ?terror and panic? and Nepalese people are living under an ?illegal? military rule violating international practices and legal standards, BBC said in a report. They also said human rights activists are being increasingly monitored and harassed.......... A body of the University teachers said the Lower House of Parliament (HOR) should be reinstated and a legitimate government formed to restore fundamental rights and individual freedom.

- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1013158.cms
Nepal today is reminiscent of the dark days of the Emergency unleashed by Indira Gandhi in India three decades ago. Only worse. If journalists were asked to "bend" by Indira Gandhi, King Gyanendra has ordered them to "crawl", roll over and play dead.

- http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=107176
Kandel defended the government's dismal performance to frequent interference by the King.

- http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-02/05/content_2552225.htm
..set up a Royal Commission within15 days to probe and take strong action against those who amassed huge property by evading tax and smuggling....The government will empower the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, an anti-graft body, both technically and infrastructure-wise, to facilitate its actions against corruption rampant in the country.......... The government will set up a land bank and make judicious distribution of land to squatters, landless peasants and freed bond laborers........... a long-term program to modernize farming, implement small and big irrigation schemes.....The disabled, underprivileged and lowest casted students will be provided with free education up to secondary level along with free textbooks and provision of scholarships.....The state of emergency in Nepal, instead of affecting normal lift in the country, has brought about a rare peaceful situation in the capital Kathmandu.....Street demonstrations, various strikes and vandalism on government vehicles, which were quite common in Nepal for the past several years, have disappeared since Tuesday.......... Shops, schools and gas stations are running as usual and no long queue is seen. And all kinds of foods are available on the market.........King Gyanendra's "historic and inevitable step will open up new avenues for the development of the nation by maintaining law and order, restoring peace, protecting democracy and consolidating real multi-party system as per the will of Nepalese people," said Manju Ratna Shakya, president of Nepal Journalists Association.

- http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=106892
...when he froze the country's telecommunications network, but he has inadvertently crippled ATM and credit card transactions and brought banking to its knees. ......So post-February 1, bankers no longer push buttons on an e-pad to communicate. They use runners............Every morning, the cars parked outside Nepal's main banks - Everest, Standard Chartered, Nabil and Nepal Banijya - make a strange sight. Top bank executives pass on message chits to their drivers, who flit from bank to bank and branch to branch, carrying instructions and confirming transactions. .........And for a country whose people work elsewhere so that they can send money back home, even the lifeline of remittances is now snapping....Airlines cannot confirm tickets as the online reservation system is out. Tickets are being given on first come first served basis, with passengers paying in cash............``Our clients will now move to India or southeast Asia,'' predicted the head of a Thamel BPO. ``Who will want to come here now?''

- http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb072005/i2.asp
..According to intelligence sources, some politicians have joined hands with the Maoists who were fighting the monarchy......the army would carry out ?more focussed? action against Maoist insurgents to disarm them and bring them to political mainstream.


- http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64229

Wheel,
Which Gandhi Ashram did your mother attend? Sabarmati Ashram?

If the premise that Parmendra is more Indian than others just because
he happens to be from the Terai (i.e. ethnically a Madhise), holds
true, then it should also hold the same for King G. After all, his
great-grand mother, mother of Grivanyugdha Shah, was a maitheli jha
bramhani, a madhisini, as you would have liked to call her. Likewise,
his grandmother, King Mahendra's mother belonged to the madhesh of
India. So, with all the mixing that has already taken place one should
refrain from calling each other a lesser or greater Nepali based on
his ethnic composition as long as luv for the nation overrides the luv
for ethnicity. Finally, knowledge of a particular ethnic group should
be welcomed since we would get to know each other more leading to a
stronger nation - again as long as ethnic knowledge is not a
jingoistic propaganda of ones enthnicity.

I was with a group of Nepalis who were from Terai. They speak great Nepali with thier teraii accent. Most people in Terai like Bhairawa ..birgunj...I have met are Nepali to me.

But I was in a teraii nepalis home once here in the and the group of these dark nepalis were talking about Sonia Gandhi and Indian politics......nothing abt Nepal..it was almost as if secretly they were all considering India nd NEpal as one.

I don't trust Teraii nepali born in India by a Indian woman..to be a Nepali citizen. Thats why nepal doesnt have dual citizenship..they fear rise in such indian population. I am sorry.

you mean one cannot trust a person solely based on who he/she was sired by, ie caste culture and creed or where they were born.
and that you would implicity trust someone who looks like you with your life.
WTF
and your phrase " dark nepali " made me lmao.
get with it gurl.
the colour of your skin does not dictate what you are as a person, kya.
but having said that,
the red on the neck of your fair and graceful body is quite distracting. :)

sorry fot the OT
carry on folks.

Pade_Queen_no.1. Thanks for the good words. Just one caution. The term is Madhesi, not Madhise.

NEPALKOCHORI. I don't need you to trust me. You are largely irrelevant to my idea of who I am and what my identities are.

As for the dual citizenship idea, that is the best thing Nepal could do to increase direct foreign investment in Nepal, and it is only a matter of time before Nepal puts the process in place, like India already has.

Nepal Update : The 5th Day after the King's Military Coup[1]

Nepal Democracy Desk(s), Kathmandu



5 February 2005



Latest:



Tara Nath Dahal, the President of Federation of Nepalese Journalists
(FNJ) was reportedly arrested by the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) this
morning from Kathmandu. Immediately after his arrest, the FNJ
nominated their General Secretary, Bishnu Nisthuri, to the post of
Acting President, in order to go ahead with the struggle for democracy
and the right to freedom of opinion, expression and the right to
information. Nisthuri was also reportedly arrested by the army this
afternoon. FNJ was one of the first civic associations to strongly
condemn the king's military coup and to have announced a resistance
for the reinstatement of democratic rights including the freedom of
opinion and expression. There are also unconfirmed reports that Netra
KC, the local correspondent of BBC Nepali Service, was arrested by the
RNA from Nepalgunj today.



Pro-democracy school teachers and political activists from Chitwan
district were also reportedly arrested by the RNA this morning.



There are reports of the RNA going around the town to big businesses
houses with prepared statements welcoming the king's takeover of
power, and forcing businessmen to sign the statements at gunpoint.
These statements are subsequently published in the newspapers and
broadcast through television and radio as advertisements paid for by
the businessmen themselves.



The cabinet meeting held at the royal palace, chaired by the king,
announced its programs for reforms in the country. One of the most
publicized programs is about the plan to form an anti-corruption
commission within 15 days, with the authority to investigate and
nationalize property got through corruption. It was not stated whether
the commission would have the jurisdiction to investigate the
corruption scandals involving the royal palace, king Gyanendra, the
army top brass and the panchayat-time corrupt politicians.



The Foreign Minister, Ramesh Nath Pandey, held meetings with the heads
of diplomatic missions yesterday and the day before yesterday, at his
office. The implications of these meetings are not known. The
government is publicizing the fact that the meeting took place. Aid
agencies are reportedly discussing about their strategies. According
to informal sources, they are seriously contemplating discontinuing
large parts of the development aid to the government.


Resistance



Jan Morcha Nepal, one of the four parties agitating for democracy and
also the one involved in anti-Maoist campaigns as well as nationwide
peace campaign until recently, has decided to launch a campaign for a
Democratic Republic of Nepal. In this connection, they will start
distributing pamphlets in Kathmandu from today, and in rest of the
country from tomorrow.



Pro-democracy underground newspapers have started being published and
distributed in Butwal since yesterday. CPN (UML) Central Committee
Members held a secret meeting yesterday and have decided to launch a
movement for democracy in coordination with all the major
parliamentary political parties including the Nepali Congress.



Leaders of all seven student unions have held underground meetings
together, and have agreed to form a joint front to struggle for
democracy. Most of the student leaders not yet arrested have regrouped
and reorganized their strategies. Their first protests will be
spontaneous, surprise demonstrations in Kathmandu and distribution of
pamphlets.



Civil society groups are meeting to plan pro-democracy protests
starting next week. After the government warned of serious
consequences to the people speaking out against the king's coup, many
political and civil society organizations have started openly defying
the warning. Several dozen political organizations and civil society
groups have issued statements condemning the coup and demanding the
restoration of democratic process.


Political arrests continued on Friday, conditions of detainees unknown



For the first time since February 1, the Nepali broadsheets have
carried news on the whereabouts of some of the leaders detained or
under house arrest, based on the information provided by the Home
Ministry yesterday (updated namelist will be included in the next
bulletin). Independent verification of these reports is obviously not
possible now. Moreover, the list of district level leaders arrested
from around the country have no been made public. In the absence of
media and international gaze, and the well-known records of blatant
disrespect of human rights by the king and the military, the
likelihood of mistreatment against them is very high. According to our
sources, a few dozen political leaders who had been detained at the
Armed Police Headquarters, Halchowk, Kathmandu were reportedly
blind-folded, put into army vehicles with opaque glass windows, taken
to Tibhuwan airport, and from there flown to Kakani and Panchkhal
barracks o helicopter, with a 'Russian pilot'. Their conditions are
not known. According to the Home Ministry reports, the government
charged some of the arrested or detained leaders under the Public
Security Act and put them under 'preventive detention' for three
months. However, the Royal Nepal Army spokesperson Deepak Gurung said
yesterday that the five former prime ministers, main leaders of the
parliamentary political parties, and their cadres were detained or put
under house arrest 'for their own security'.

--- cntd

Arrests of political leaders continued yesterday. The newly arrested
leaders include the central committee members of Nepali Congress
(Democratic), and ex-ministers – Prakashman Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi,
Homa Nath Dahal, Prakash Sharan Mahat and Minendra Rijal - who were
arrested from their party office in Kathmandu yesterday afternoon. On
Thursday, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) leaders had decided that
they would gather at their party office everyday as a symbolic gesture
of resistance against the coup and to discuss the future moves.

Newspapers also carried some reports of arrests of political leaders
and activists outside Kathmandu after the king's military coup. Senior
Nepali Congress leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ramchandra
Poudel was arrested from Tanahu. The General Secretary of Nepali
Congress, Sushil Koirala, along with over a dozen political activists,
was arrested from Nepalgunj on Wednesday. Thirty-five pro-democracy
protestors including Amod Upadhyaya and Ashok Koirala, Nepali Congress
leaders, and Guru Baral and Naresh Pokharel, CPN (UML) leaders, were
arrested from Biratnagar on Tuesday, who were reportedly moved to the
prison yesterday. They were reportedly charged under the Public
Security Act, and put under 'preventive detention' for three months.
Similarly, 21 pro-democracy protestors including the Nepali Congress
leader Ganga Dutta Joshi, who were arrested from Mahendra Nagar
earlier, were also reportedly moved to the Kanchanpur prison
yesterday. They were also slapped with the Public Security Act and put
under preventive detention for three months.

The army is raiding the houses of civil society and political leaders

Army personnel visited the houses of some human rights activists, who
were reportedly on the hit list of the army even before the king's
military coup. The human rights activists were not at home at the time
of these visits. The army personnel also raided several times over the
past week the house of one of the most popular democratic student
leader of Nepal, Gagan Thapa. They misbehaved with his family members
and took away his photographs from family albums. There were reports
of the Nepal Bar Association representatives being threatened or south
by the army.

News from outside the Kathmandu valley are very difficult to gather
and verify. The phone lines were active for about two hours yesterday
afternoon and additional two hours in the evening. The social and
political activists that our team had access to in the districts are
either in hiding, or even when at home, feel insecure to divulge
detailed information over the phone which they suspect might be tapped
by the army. However, in the last three days, our team members called
up sources in Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Nawalparasi, Chitwan, Birgunj,
Janakpur to gather information. From each of these places, several
dozen political activists and student leaders were reported to be
arrested. Their whereabouts are not known. Given the trend, it can be
safely assumed that arrests of political leaders must have taken place
in many of the remote districts around the country.
Firing from helicopter and torture against pro-democracy protestors

Our team received reports from very reliable sources of the torture of
the students from Prithvinarayan Campus, Pokhara. Fifty-eight
students, out of the hundreds who were peacefully protesting against
the king's coup inside the campus premises on 1 February were arrested
by the Royal Nepal Army personnel and taken to the nearby army barrack
the same day. Their hands were tied at the back and all of them were
blindfolded. They were then severely beaten by the army personnel with
fists, boots, sticks, and butts of rifles. Then they were made to
sleep inside a "trench" without any bedding outside in the open for
the whole night. Everyone of them visited by our source in Pokhara
reportedly had bruises on their body, which have been photographed.
There are very credible reports that the army fired tear gas shells
and rubber bullets inside the campus premises from helicopter. Out
team members are trying to get information on whether the helicopter
used was provided by the Indian or the UK government as military
assistance to the RNA and the King. The national Human Rights
Commission has confirmed that it has received the reports of over 250
pro-democracy students being beaten inside the campus, a helicopter
being used to fire tear gas shells and bullets against the protestors,
and a few dozen of the protestors being taken to the army barrack and
tortured. An NHRC official is quoted by an international newspaper as
saying that they plan to conduct a fact-finding mission regarding
this, but said that 'it is too dangerous for them to conduct a field
visit at this time'. One international newspaper has described the
Pokahara repression as 'Nepal's Tinanmen Square'.

Reports of clashes with the Maoists: No way to check the ground reality

--cntd


There have been unconfirmed reports of at least a dozen clashes
between the security forces and the Maoists in different parts of the
country. According to the reports of Nepal Samacharpatra daily, the
Royal Nepal Army has reported that the royal security forces killed at
least 8 'Maoists terrorists' since 1 February 2005 in Lamjung (4),
Sunsari (1) and Achham (3). The army has also confirmed that a major
clash is taking place in Rasnalu, Salu and Doramba of Ramechhap
district, and the Maoists launched an attack against the army in
Jogbudha of Dadeldhura district. The Maoists reportedly set fire to
vehicles along the east-west Mahendra highway. Although, there has
been no effect of the bandh closure called by the Maoists in
Kathmandu, reportedly, the rest of the country was virtually
completely closed for three days, 2nd-4th February.

National and international human rights organizations have documented
the consistent and systematic disregard of human rights and
humanitarian laws by the Royal Nepal Army ever since it was out of the
barrack in November 2001 to fight the Maoist insurgency. This happened
at a time when there were at least a relatively free press, active
national and international human rights organizations monitoring the
situation and some semblance of a civilian government. After 1
February 2005, it is extremely worrying that the RNA might go berserk
and unbridled in the rural areas, given the fact that they have
nakedly shown post February 1 they do not feel accountable to the
national or international community and despise the idea of democracy,
human rights and accountability.

For instance, on Friday the RNA claimed that one wounded Maoist under
their custody was shot dead as he tried to escape, in Fushre, Sunsari.
They also reported that the three Maoists were killed in Accham in a
'sudden encounter'. In Lamjung, they claimed that they had found the
corpses of four Maoists shot dead in the course of retaliatory fire,
and claimed that there were many more deaths. In the absence of free
media and monitoring by independent human rights groups, the following
questions remain worryingly unanswered: (a) exactly where and in how
many places did the clashes take place? (b) were non-combatant
civilians killed and then labelled as 'terrorists'? (c) have there
been extra-judicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests and
unlawful detentions of the captured Maoists even if they were
combatants or Maoist political workers? (d) are the pro-democracy
activists belonging to the parliamentary political parties arrested,
detained, tortured, or extra-judicially killed in the name of the
Maoists?, and (e) are the families of the RNA, Armed Police Force and
the Nepal Police who might have died in the clashes deliberately
denied the information about their deaths or abduction in the name of
preventing 'loss of morale' among the state forces?


There are reports that the RNA has started major operations in several
parts of Nuwakot district adjoining Kathmandu. According to the
report, the RNA is rounding up every one in the villages, killing
civilian villagers indiscriminately, while the Maoists have escaped
and regrouped elsewhere.

---cntd

The spokesperson of the RNA publicly announced yesterday, and was also
quoted by Reuters on February 4, that 'Now we can solely go after the
Maoists in a single-minded manner without having to worry about what's
going to happen on the streets, people's agitation.' The Chief of RNA
reiterated the commitment towards human rights and the Geneva
Convention in the course of fighting the Maoists, and also vowed to
crush the Maoists militarily so that they would come to the
negotiating table. These words are obviously hollow for the following
reasons: (a) it is now accepted nationally and internationally that
solely military action will not resolve the civil war in Nepal, (b)
the RNA and the king do not have any political organizational base in
rural Nepal, and pushing the political parties into total opposition
will weaken their capacity considerably, (c) the latest military coup
by the king hurts the pro-democracy political forces in the short run,
but will bolster support for and morale of the Maoists, who are used
to fighting the RNA anyway, (c) there will be strong opposition to the
RNA getting further military support from India, UK and the US, which
it and the king clearly misused to clamp down on democracy and to
further their authoritarian grip on power, (d) the coup has suddenly
made the prospects of pro-democracy political parties or at least a
large section of their cadres negotiating with the Maoists for
toppling monarchy, (e) the claim or hope that there will be no
pro-democracy peaceful movement on the streets is very naïve, and (f)
it is totally unbelievable that the RNA and the king, who have so
nakedly clamped down democratic rights in Kathmandu despite near
universal condemnation, will respect the human rights and humanitarian
laws in rural Nepal, which will in a very short period anatgonize even
more rural people against them. There is a distinct possibility of
some of the political activists of democratic dispensation getting
radicalized and led into believing that the international and national
community recognizes and negotiates only with those with guns and
army, if they feel they are cornered only because they are unarmed.
This could lead Nepal into a disaster.
Free media remains dead: creative resistance reminds of Panchayat days

The Kantipur and Rajdhani dailies in Nepali did not carry any
editorial today. Kantipur yesterday carried an editorial on women's
cricket in Nepal, and on the need for internationalizing the Nepali
tradition of archery, the day before. The Kathmandu Post's editorial
today was on 'Socks in Society', and yesterday on the nice weather in
Kathmandu which the editorial complained was not usually appreciated
by the Nepalis. The Nepali Times weekly yesterday carried the
editorial titled, 'Hariyo Ban, Nepalko Dhan', the Panchayat time
rhyming cliché, 'Green forests are Nepal's wealth'. The Nepal Samachar
Patra daily's editorial today complained about the frequent 'load
shedding', the power cuts, in Nepal.

The announcement on Thursday by the government that nothing critical
of the king's move may be printed, published or broadcast for the next
six months were repeatedly broadcast from the television channels,
published as notices in the major newspapers and repeatedly emphasized
in the news and bulletins of the government-owned media. The notice
that the FM radio stations, community radios and private television
channels were forbidden from broadcasting any news, views or opinions
not favourable to the king's address were also advertised or broadcast
many times today. The free media remains completely crippled and under
close and continuous surveillance. Kantipur daily, for instance, was
made to publish on Thursday the report of the last meeting of the
Royal Council Standing Committee, a rights wing group of royalists who
had drawn much criticism from Kantipur several weeks ago.
Communication remains disturbed The phone lines were operational for
about two hours last night and also for about two hours this
afternoon. The mobile phones and internet services are not yet
operational. According to sources at the Nepal Telecommunication
Corporation, there are rumours in their office that the phone lines
will not be fully operational for at least another 11 days and that
mobile phones will not be operational for about one month.

________________________________



[1] Regular E-Updates by the Nepal Democracy Desk(s) in Kathmandu:
dozens of pro-democracy activists based in Kathmandu have started this
e-update from 5 Feb 2005, five days after King Gyanendra staged the
military coup on February 1 2005, suspended all civil liberties,
jailed political leaders, muzzled the media, and continues his reign
of terror with daily arrests of political and civil society leaders
despite the near universal condemnation of his authoritarian move.
this is dedicated to the people of Nepal who deserve more, not less,
democracy to correct the ills of our country)

Press Statement signed by Girija Koirala, President of Nepali Congress, smuggled out of his residence

The press statement signed by G.P. Koirala on 2 February 2005 was smuggled out and is being circulated clandestinely. He termed the royal address as a coup d'etat, and denounced it strongly. He has stated, "The King's unconstitutional moves from the day one have been opposed by all of us." He has further stated that "In this grave political situation, when hundreds of political leaders and party workers, including myself, are under house arrests, I appeal all democratic forces to join hands and move ahead collectively against the royal coup d'etat in order to restore the sovereignty on the people again and protect the 1990 democratic constitution".


Statement by Nepali Congress Spokesperson: "An all out rejection of the royal takeover"

Arjun Narsing K.C., the Spokesperson and Central Committee Member of Nepali Congress (NC), issued a strong statement against the royal takeover on 5 February 2005, titled, "Saddened and Outraged: An All Out Rejection of the Royal Take Over". The statement states that, "Nepali Congress, a democratic party that fought several times for the establishment and restoration of Democracy in the country since the last 60 years or so, is deeply troubled by the royal takeover of February 1, 2005. Ever since the restoration of democracy in 1990, extreme rightists and reactionary elements were working in secret to defame and destroy the multi-party system and the democratic institutions".

In the three-page long release, K.C. has warned, "Despotic rule of monarchs and feudal lords and authoritarian regime rampant till 18th and early 19th century is an out-modeled concept, rejected by modern day man. Revival of such model of political dispensation is not sustainable and bound to fail." The statement states that the "NC urges all the democratic forces to set aside their differences and spearhead toward establishing a full-fledged democracy in the country."

Nepali Congress has expressed "its sincere thanks to our well-wishing nations India, United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union, and to those human rights organizations dedicated for the cause of democracy, all of whom immediately condemned the royal takeover and requested the monarch to restore multi-party system and democratic dispensation as enshrined in the 1990 constitution".

More draconian directives from the king on 6th February 2005
(from The Kathmandu Post)

His Majesty the king in accordance with Clause 7 of Article 115 of the Constitution of Nepal 1990 has issued various orders.

According to a notice published today by His Majesty?s Press Secretariat, travel buying and selling of assets and stay in the country are allowed but that should not disturb the sovereignty, integrity, peace and security and should not have adverse impact on the state of emergency. The order has also mentioned that the local administration can prohibit the aforementioned activities if needed.

According to the order, if His Majesty?s Government feels it necessary then the regional administrator, chief district officer or any assigned official can temporarily or permanently transfer ownership of any tangible and intangible asset after due compensation.

The order has also mentioned that activities like seminars, gatherings, meetings and interactions, which do not affect the sovereignty , integrity, peace and security of the Kingdom of Nepal and do not go against the state of emergency, can be organized in a predetermined venue, after receiving prior permission from the regional administrator, chief district officer or any assigned official.

According to the order, His Majesty?s Government can appoint , transfer, depute, delegate authority or place appointments in vacant posts, temporarily to government employees for the period of the state of emergency.

The employees of the Secretariat of His Majesty?s government , Ministries or the departments under it, and other offices or the offices under His Majesty?s Government are prohibited from setting up any kind of organization having political affiliation, and any such existing organization should stop all activities, that affect the sovereignty, integrity or peace and security of the Kingdom of Nepal, the order says.