King G, Active Politics, and Media Interviews

King G really should get off the throne and come into active politics. The guy so loves giving media interviews. Maybe he is right, he is incapable of being a Constitutional Monarch. He is too restive.

Even after his said three year period, he has Panchayat in mind. He intends to "Nepalise" democracy. That is codeword for Panchayat.

Ashok Mehta's article throws a lot of light on the RNA.

• Nepal king criticises military aid freeze after power grabChannel News Asia, Singapore King Gyanendra, in his first meeting with journalists since his power grab on February 1, said the aid-freeze was sending out the wrong signal about the country's battle against "terrorism".
• Is EU preparing to do business with Nepal Maoists?: New Kerala ..... a coordinated international response to the suspension of democracy and civil rights in this Himalayan kingdom is taking shape. ..... soon Kathmandu and other towns will face severe food and fuel shortages that could erupt in street riots. ..... now finds himself caught in a pincer move by two unrelated forces opposed to his "royal coup". ..... India, Britain and the US, which have been shoring up Nepal's security, are loath to rescue King Gyanendra from the political mess in which he finds himself. ..... the Maoists, making full use of the king's isolation, are trying to make the best use of the situation to their advantage. ..... European diplomats posted in Nepal have been increasingly interacting with the Maoists ..... "The European Union has generally been well received by the Maoists ..... if push comes to shove, the European Union and its member states will not hesitate to do business with the Maoists - better the far-left insurgents than a king who believes in absolute monarchy, seems to be the message. ..... The Royal Nepal Army lacks the capacity to maintain military rule and wage a successful campaign against the Maoists. It could never be the alternative state that the military has become in Pakistan. ..... Political parties still have considerable support. ..... about a third of Nepalese maintain an affiliation with a party. ..... Peace is unlikely without a broad national consensus on the problems of poverty, ethnic and caste exclusion and corruption ..... the king has little political experience and few solid international connections ..... a rather bleak scenario for King Gyanendra and the "military leadership", who according to the ICG report, "pressed the king into taking this step". ..... Gyanendra lacks the wherewithal, material and political, to take on the Maoists and defeat them ..... India is believed to have conveyed to the emergency regime in Kathmandu that it is willing to initiate back channel discussions with the Maoists for a peaceful settlement ..... Nepal's Maoists are irrevocably opposed to what they describe as "Indian expansionism" and have been actively promoting an alliance with far-left Maoists in several Indian states who pose a serious internal security threat to India ..... Prachanda .. has on more than one occasion promised to turn on India after seizing Nepal. ..... Pushed to the wall, especially by India, King Gyanendra may just decide to go for broke. Claiming that India has violated the letter and spirit of the 1950 and 1965 treaties that impose restrictions on Nepal seeking arms from another country, he may turn to China and Pakistan who have refused to comment on the "palace coup"...... The "royal coup" and its political fallout provide an excellent opportunity for Beijing and Islamabad to shore up their relations with Kathmandu. .....
• Nepal's Dalits: Fodder for the Maoist machineTimes of India, India He is a dalit in Nepal and nobody sells milk to dalits here. ..... Even in Kathmandu, a city full of hip dance bars, Versace showrooms and mind-numbing stream of foreign cars, no one will let out houses to dalits. ..... Maoists came in, turning a community into a fearsome death force ..... Maoists got a ready-made army. "Any one could sense that dalits were a force, imploding with centuries of hurt, waiting to be tapped. ..... Dalits in Nepal constitute 20% of its population, but own just 2% of its land. ..... the per capita income in Nepal is $210, for a dalit it is just $39 .... The upper castes still believe dalits are beneath involvement in cash transactions. ..... "You hand a gun to our people and they suddenly feel a surge of empowerment. The gun is a powerful metaphor of power," says a dalit student. ..... Though figures of dalit and tribals in the roughly 7,000 Maoist fighters and one lakh active supporters is not known, most analysts say it could be anything between 30-40% — a lot of representation for a community who have no officers, judges or bureaucrats and are still not allowed into Hindu temples or into restaurants.
• Nepali Congress demands new democratic constitution: New Kerala ..... the Nepali Congress (Democratic) today demanded drafting a new democratic constitution, incorporating the main political demand of the maoists after intensive negotiations with the rebel leaders ..... Arjun Thapa said that the drafting of the constitution should be carried out through an elected constitutional assembly.....
• Army and the King Delhi Pioneer Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who later threw a glass of hot water into the lieutenant's face ..... aircraft dropped leaflets over different district headquarters, explaining that the King's action was to save the nation..... Nehru was livid. He called the King's coup a "complete reversal of the democratic process"..... the RNA killed more than 300 Nepalese during this second revolution ..... With such an anti-people record, it was paradoxical that King Birendra would not allow RNA to be employed against the Maoists till its post at Dang had been attacked in 2001 as the RNA could not be "used against its own people"...... With the promulgation of Emergency the RNA was immediately empowered to act against its own people...... The modern RNA was trained and reorganised by the Indian Military Mission in Kathmandu from 1952 to 1970 when it was squeezed out. The Palace ensured the RNA became the King's Army in letter and spirit...... Surendra Bahadur Shah, who translated it into Nepali, inserted the word "Naresh" (King) alongside Desh (country). This meant the King's safety, honour and welfare, the primary task for the RNA, was at par with the nation..... the RNSA could not protect the King during the palace massacre of June 1, 2001. Inside the 1 km x 1 km Narayanhity Palace are crammed the elite Royal Palace Guard brigade, air defence and artillery batteries, military police and armoured personnel carriers. It is the most fortified complex in all of Nepal...... The RNA is ferociously loyal and faithful to its supreme commander and has virtually refused to take orders from the elected political authority which it holds in utter contempt. ..... The class and caste composition of the senior echelons in the RNA shows Rana, Shah, Thapa, the erstwhile feudal combine's continued monopoly of Higher Command and Staff appointments. This clique swears by the "Sarkar" and worships the Royal family...... Barring its experience in anti-democracy movements and a brief brush with Khampa rebels in 1976-77, the RNA has no combat experience ..... an impeccable UNPKO record. It has not missed any UNPKO since 1978..... But for the lure of UNPKO which accounts for the Rs 9 billion Army Welfare Fund, not many would join the RNA. In fact, UNPKO is what is keeping the RNA together...... Nearly 40,000 soldiers are in Kathmandu valley alone...... the RNA which took a hammering from the Maoists till end 2002 when it emerged shaken out of the "Duffers-Drift" syndrome ..... By the year 2010, RNA is expected to become a modern 100,000 Army...... shown little evidence of its ability to force the Maoists back to the negotiating table, leave alone bringing them down to their knees, a feat many RNA Generals have frequently boasted about..... from where will Gen Pyar Jung Thapa find soldiers to fight the Maoists who control 80 per cent of sovereign territory..... where will the will to fight come from..... Talks are on between some of these groups and the Maoists to form a front...... The Nepal Maoists are not a major threat to India; they are only an irritant. That the Maoists of India and Nepal will together forge a red corridor from Amlekhgunj to Adilabad is an exaggerated fear. The two movements are different in composition and character. ..... One of the key demands of the Maoists has been weaning away the RNA from the palace and putting it under civilian control. Only when that happens will RNA become a normal people's army putting national interest before the Naresh's.
• Indian companies wilt under new regime in NepalEconomic Times, India ..... the likes of ITC, Dabur, Coke, and Berger Paints ..... Surya Nepal Tobacco is one of the largest companies in Nepal with a turnover of over Rs 500 crore...... a policy of wait and watch for big companies. Most companies are keeping their fingers crossed that the situation will improve soon.
• UN envoy offers mediation in Nepal again:New Kerala, India ... Kul Chandra Gautam, the UN assistant secretary general, has told BBC Radio's Nepalese Service that the UN, with its experience in mediating in international disputes, could help establish an accord between the two sides based on international laws and democratic values...... no evidence to suppose that if a third round of dialogue could be started between the new government and the rebels, it would be successful..... both sides were displaying extreme positions..... The king is seen as wanting to strengthen monarchy while expressing commitment towards multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy. The Maoists, on the other hand, are killing people and resorting to violence while saying they are not against the democratic system.
• Nepal's 'Ranvir Sena' takes on Maoists:New Kerala, India .... Pandey was training about 500 young men in armed combat and boasted that his outfit possessed AK-47s, shotguns and explosives..... Pandey's group, reports from Kapilavastu say, has been setting fire to houses belonging to hills people, raising fears of ethnic tension between hills people and the plains people, pejoratively called Madhesias..... The private army has raised Maoist hackles. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, former MP and spokesman of the Maoists, issued a statement from underground Wednesday, condemning the band..... Pandey and his band apparently shot back this month, killing 21 Maoists in different areas in Kapilavastu.
• Rebels face rebellion Calcutta Telegraph .. the Royal Nepal Army, which is yet to penetrate the rural belt in its mission against the Maoist rebels..... the grim story of the rise of a private army which is trying to whip up local anger against the Maoist rebels..... “The ferocity of Maoist attacks, especially targeting the Madese people, provoked anger and I had to use this to defend the people here,” he said. ..... Last night, villagers in Sheopur burnt at least 350 houses of hill settlers suspecting them of harbouring Maoists.
• Terrorism vs peace, no third force left: His Majesty Nepalnews.com Talking to a group of Nepali journalists at Fohara Garden of the Narayanhiti palace ..... If their agenda is one party communist type of rule, it is unacceptable ..... democracy must flourish, but we must pursue a democratic dispensation that is suited to the genius of the people of Nepal and the soil of Nepal. “We all value democratic norms, democratic values. What do we understand by this. We understand features like open society, transparency, mass participation, mass communicating of ideas. But we have to Nepalise them. We need to make it suit for this country and for the people of Nepal,” His Majesty said. ..... “We felt that the nation was also in a process of fragmentation, not the physical fragmentation. But the harmony among ethnic communities .....

Indo-US Alliance For Democracy In Nepal Needed

The US is the world's oldest democracy, and India its largest. A total expansion of democracy is America's officially stated goal, with most of the remaining work in the countries of the Global South where India, for cultural reasons, might be in a better position to understand the local realities and contribute.

I laud the India-UK-US alliance that has emerged as a counter to the king's autocratic move and think the cutting of military aid was a great first step. And I also think it wise that the three powers have thought India should take the lead on the issue because of its proximity. That makes a lot of common sense.

But now the king has countered by suggesting he will instead go and deal with China and Pakistan. India alone might not be in the best position to counter that move, but the US is. The US has seen an ally in China on the North Korea issue, and is a close partner with Pakistan in its stated War On Terror, of Cold War proportions.

And so I urge the US to make diplomatic moves to deny the king the so-called Pakistan and China cards. In this greatest hour of need, the Nepali people should be able to expect help from democracies like the US and India. The king has to agree to the idea of a negotiated settlement with the rebels with possible international mediation. There is no better way.



I am sending this blog thread to the US Embassy in Delhi, and to the Foreign Ministry of India at their email addresses: ndcentral@state.gov, usxps@mea.gov.in. I hope Ambassador Mulford will look into this.

Some news I skimmed through a few minutes back, as I do on a near daily basis.

• UN Security Council condemns use of child soldiers Reuters India, India ..... called for sanctions and political measures against governments and groups that continue the abuses, saying "carefully calibrated and targeted measures" are effective ..... Abductions were common in countries like Uganda, Nepal and Burundi ..... A report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan listed 42 armed groups in 11 nations that should be punished for recruiting or using children in war. On the list are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Colombia.
• Nepal Military Aid Suspension Will Assist Rebels, Army Says Bloomberg An estimated 1,000 political and student leaders and other officials were detained under emergency rule, Agence France-Presse reported earlier this month. Some leaders remain in hiding and others have crossed into India. ..... The political changes in Nepal shouldn't prompt international donors to cut off aid, Finance Minister Madhukar Shumsher Rana said ..... The U.K. and India have returned their ambassadors to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to call for a restoration of democracy.
• NDA lauds military aid cut to Nepal: New Kerala The main Opposition alliance, the NDA, today lauded the Centre government's decision to stop military aid to Nepal ..... The Opposition alliance said this after a meeting with several Nepalese political parties in the Capital. ..... We have to snap relations of any kind with them. They should take up this issue in the international community, not only with the immediate neighbours. We are with the government on whatever steps the federal government decides to take on the issue. Rather we all are one on the entire situation," NDA Convenor George Fernandes told reporters .....
  
• Blow to business along Indo-Nepal border The Tribune, India Trade along the border has been a way of life for the traders over the generations ..... nearly six trade posts along the Indo-Nepal border that boast of a total business to the tune of Rs 50 crore annually ..... business has been slack due to an increase Maoist activities along the border but the emergency in Nepal has led to a trade collapse..... Odd traders in Nepal’s Jullaghat play cards and carom board while many others remain compulsively glued to the tea stall for want of anything better to do...... it’s the daily foodstuff, including foodgrains, jaggery, sugar and oil, among other things that people from Nepal depend on this market for ..... traders cross over to the Indian side every night ..... But the alcohol shop owners do a "no pain, no gain" business. The Maoists do not like this business and to drive the point home a few months ago they drained out bottles of liquor worth lakhs of rupees from the shops here ..... Last year the Maoists had banned Indian goods after the governments of the two countries were in dialogue over added military aid. But the ban was soon lifted .
  
• Five Editors in Nepal summoned over blank editorial pages: New Kerala, India ..... authorities here today summoned Editors of five Nepalese weeklies seeking explanation over blank editorial pages in their publications since the imposition of press censorship ..... Gopal Budhathoki of 'Sanghu' weekly, Kabir Rana of 'Deshantar', Rajendra Vaid of 'Bimarsha', Nawaraj Timilsina of 'Prakash' and Shashidhar Bhandari of 'Hank' ..... A team of senior advocates led by Nepal Bar Association Chairman Shambhu Thapa has provided legal consultancy to the scribes free of cost. ..... Seven Nepalese journalists, including General Secretary of Federation of Nepalse Journalists (FNJ) Bishnu Nishthuri, have been detained
• 'Nepal committed, India should reciprocate': New Kerala Nepal says it will honour all commitments made to the Indian government and expects the same from New Delhi.
• Nepal's political bosses hide, plan political movement against ... China Post Decades ago, Khadga Prasad Oli rebelled against the king and was sent to jail for 14 years. Then he became home minister. This month, the top communist leader was imprisoned again, in his own house, for 14 days..... Nepal's political roulette wheel has spun again, and politicians who dominated the country for 15 years are now detainees, fugitives or in hiding, with the rest plotting a political movement against King Gyanendra's regime that has yet to take off...... dozens of political bosses, student leaders, journalists, professors and other possible opinion leaders have been detained ..... To the 53-year-old Oli, it is a throwback to the 30-year "Panchayat" rule, the era of the Shah kings' authoritarian regime, when political parties were banned and civil liberties limited..... "It seems like those days again, when we could not raise our voice," said Oli, sitting at his home outside Katmandu. Until a couple days ago, it was surrounded by 15 armed police officers who built sandbagged positions and refused to let him out or anyone come in. The house arrest ended without explanation over the weekend...... Ram Saran Mahat, the top leader of the country's largest party, the Nepali Congress, sits on his sunny lawn sipping tea and meeting the rare visitor. Mahat, a former foreign and finance minister, is the most senior Nepali opposition leader currently not in custody. But he knows he is being watched. ..... "I will go and make a public speech only when I am prepared to be jailed," he said. ..... "We are not underground like the Maoists. Our protests will be on the streets," said Mahat. ..... "In the past, when mobile phones were working, it would take us just 10 minutes to arrange a crowd of 4,000 or 5,000 people. Not any more," said Keshav Singh, president of the Nepal Students Union ..... His group has hundreds of thousands of members across 300 colleges. .... "I haven't slept in the same place for 18 days now. ..... Singh's home was raided last week, and security forces took away his telephone diary, his photographs and documents related to the students union, the country's largest. ...... "We are trying to build up a movement against the royal move. We are going door to door, distributing flyers, organizing low key awareness programs," said Singh. "We can't forever remain underground. Students have to be on the streets."
• Nepal says no information on military aid cut Tehran Times The king's move has triggered a global outcry but domestic public protests have been muted because of a heavy presence of security personnel...... The Maoists have imposed a nationwide transport blockade to protest the royal power grab disrupting road transport and supplies of foodgrains and vegetables in the mountainous nation for the past 11 days.
• Nepal: Civil War Atrocities Follow Royal Takeover Reuters AlertNet, UK ..... both Maoist insurgents and the Royal Nepali Army continue to attack civilians ... violating the laws of war ..... the lives of some 11,000 people, mostly civilians ..... Maoist fighters have attacked civilian cargo trucks and passenger buses, and threatened to cut off the hands of drivers who defy the bandh. ..... "There is a real danger that war crimes in Nepal will spiral out of control." ..... The Maoist insurgents' bandh has stopped nearly all motor traffic on the Mahendra highway and nearby roads, cut the flow of commerce, including scarce petrochemical products, and closed down schools. Meanwhile, government security forces heavily censor all local press and monitor the activity of local human rights monitors. ..... Maoist forces on February 22 stopped and blew up an ambulance at a roadblock on the Mahendra highway near Kohalpur village, 18 kilometers from Nepalgunj and about a kilometer and a half from the Kohalpur Army Barracks...... Under the laws of war, medical transport is protected at all times from attack. ..... including the bride and groom, who were walking past an army checkpoint at approximately 7 p.m. Troops manning the checkpoint demanded they stop and put their hands in the air. Nearly immediately, some of the troops fired between five to ten rounds at the group. ..... The army has not claimed, as it has in some similar circumstances in the past, that its actions were in self-defense or otherwise justified. Nor has the army announced any investigation of the troops responsible for shooting at the group. ..... "Both sides claim to be fighting on the side of the people, but in fact their main targets have been Nepal's civilians."
  

Burma Option Or Pakistan Option

I skim through the news today, and looks like the king is actively looking at both options. I think he would have preferred the Pakistan option whereby he makes hay in Nepal and the international community largely supports him, or turns a blind eye at the least. That not forthcoming, he has been touting the Burma option today. That is a tough stance for a country that is essentially India-locked. This withdrawal symptom only adds to the image of the autocrat he has been garnering. The Burma option is not an option for any faction in Nepal.

Looks to me like the democrats have their organizational work cut out for them. As I have said earlier, the two-word mantra of Democratic Republic to bring all forces except the Monarchists together. And if the Monarchists keep acting up, then skip the second phase two-word mantra of a Constituent Assembly, and just stick to the Democratic Repubic until it is realized.

The Nepali people will have to earn their democracy plain and simple. It is an uphill climb, but worth it. The seeds of freedom reside in every heart.

• Nepal 'can solve' Maoist crisis Hindustan Times, India Gyanendra seemed intrepidly unmindful of possible international sanctions while disbanding democracy ..... the present cabinet set-up that he surveys has, it seems, completely ignored India, and in the process the UK and the US ..... Nepal on Tuesday ruled out 'international mediation' to resolve the Maoists crisis. It also said that it is capable to meet its defence needs...... asserted that 70 per cent of its defence procurement and spending was financed by internal sources......
  
• Nepal says arms cut unfortunate, could help rebels San Diego Union Tribune ....poorly-equipped Nepali army..... "We are the ones fighting for democracy in Nepal. If they don't provide us with military aid, it will indirectly benefit the Maoists," he said...... the vice-chairman of the ruling council, Tulsi Giri, and Gurung said they had no information on the suspension of arms supplies...... The Maoists have imposed a nationwide transport blockade to mark their protest against the royal power grab, disrupting road transport and supplies of foodgrains and vegetables in the mountainous nation for the past 11 days.
• External powers must act to save Nepal Financial Times ..... in crushing fledgling democratic institutions and locking up mainstream politicians, journalists and human rights activists, it is the king who has strengthened the rebels' hand......
  
• Maoists rule Nepal highways Calcutta Telegraph Maoists have crippled Mahendra Raj Marg, Nepal’s main highway and link to India..... last week, 65 tankers carrying petroleum products from Gonda and Allahabad in India took 11 days to cover 10 km along Rupardih-Nepalgunj road in western Nepal..... Over 18 trucks on way to Kathmandu with food and other essentials offloaded their material after seven days of waiting near Nepalgunj..... Last night, Maoists detonated a bomb at the Kohalpur-based power substation of the Nepal Electricity Authority and disrupted power supply to four adjoining districts — Banke, Bardia, Surkhet and Dailekh...... the Nepalgunj-Kohalpur and Nepalgunj-Surkhet roads are eerily deserted..... Nowhere does the Mahendra highway look so desolate as when it leaves behind the mini industrial zone of Nepalgunj and enters the hilly jungle terrain.
• Nepal defiant on military aid cut BBC News Nepal says it will approach other countries for military supplies if India and the United Kingdom stopped such assistance...... Nepal could approach its giant communist neighbour China and India's traditional rival, Pakistan......
  
• Uneasy days ahead for Nepal's crown Times of India, India Growing international pressure, the regrouping of democratic forces and renewed protests and blockades by Maoist insurgents have imperilled the survival of the institution of monarchy in Nepal. ..... public opinion in Nepal is sharply polarised on the issue ..... the continuation of monarchy is being openly questioned for the first time in the country's history. ...... the Nepali Congress (is) publicly demanding the abolition of monarchy ..... Nepali political leaders who fled to India in the wake of the king's action have demanded convening of a constituent assembly elected by the people to decide the future of monarchy ..... Pradeep Giri of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) also stressed on the creation of an elected constituent assembly as the top priority of the political parties. ..... The acceptability of a constituent assembly has kindled the possibility of a grand alliance of the Maoists with political parties, though fundamental ideological differences between them persist. ..... the Maoists are said to have extended their control to over 60 of the country's 75 districts where their writ is supreme...... Chaos and instability work to the advantage of Maoist insurgents who are shrewdly moving into the space previously occupied by notoriously fractious political parties. ...... "If the king is adamant on using Royal Nepalese Army as a tool in dealing with the Maoists, he runs the risk of a popular uprising," warned security expert Major General (retd) Ashok Mehta. ..... "The only way to deal with the Maoists is through a legitimate political authority. This could take the shape of an all-party government. Let's face the fact: the king is not a legitimate political authority," Mehta said...... the political parties have already formed a broad political front ..... The international isolation of the king is near complete ..... there are reports of France, Denmark, Norway and Germany doing likewise...... Unless he changes course, he will be dumped into the dustbin of history
• Nepali parties decide to launch united fight Sify five political parties of Nepal have decided to launch a united agitation for restoration of democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom as they sought to mobilise the support of Indian parties in this respect...... The Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (Democratic), Sadbhavna (Anandi), Janmorcha and the MCP (United) have passed a resolution, deciding to work under the leadership of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala for ending emergency in their country..... efforts were on to bring other parties in the fold...... leaders who attended these meetings included Sujata Koirala, daughter of G P Koirala, and her cousin Shekhar Koirala (both Nepali Congress), Pradeep Giri (Nepali Congress-D) and Rajendra Mahto of Sadbhavna (A)
• Journalists slip information out of Nepal International Journalist's Network One example is a Web site named Radio Free Nepal: http://freenepal.blogspot.com/. ..... the king has begun shutting off Internet sites .....