[from Heikki Sipila] [From "The Kathmandu Post" 24 December 2002]
Three injured in security action, CDO's home set on fire KATHMANDU, Dec 23: Three people sustained injuries after security personnel on patrol opened fire for self-defence when a group of unidentified persons allegedly pelted stones at them at Natol, Lalitpur on Sunday night, according to the Defence Ministry. The Ministry said that a soldier was also injured in the incident. Meanwhile, a report from Baglung said that Maoist rebels on Sunday set ablaze the house of Nanda Prasad Sharma, Pyuthan Chief District Officer (CDO), at Tityang Village Development Committee. Locals said that the rebels, hundreds in number, forced the family members out of the house and set it on fire. In yet another report from the district, the rebels looted Rs 10,000 in cash and 27 tolas of gold from Narjung Argeja's house in Khunga VDC. Krishna Thapa, office secretary of the Janmorcha (People's Front) Nepal, said that they would organise a mass meeting to protest the incident. Our reporter in Parbat said that the rebels have imposed a ban on movement at night in the southern part of the district. Locals said that the rebels imposed the ban after their two regional-level leaders fell to army action in Uram Pokhara VDC about one-and-half months ago. The rebels also conduct inquiries and checking to the strangers who pass through these VDCs. The VDCs, located on the southern part of the district, are believed to be Maoist strongholds. Meanwhile, a report from Dolakha said that Dolakha district committee of the CPN-UML has condemned the rebels for locking the house of Basant Raj Karki, a UML cadre and former chairman of Jafe VDC. The rebels sealed off his house forcing all his family members out of the house last week. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/dec/dec 24/local.htm#6 ...................................................................... [From "Kantipur Online" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Police officer shot dead in Lalitpur KATHMANDU, Dec 24: A group of armed Maoists have shot and killed a police officer at his own home in the southern edge of Kathmandu Valley. According to eyewitnesses, a group of armed Maoists shot and killed inspector Pradip Thapa, working with the National Investigation Commission, at his own home in Champi VDC in Lalitpur district early Tuesday morning. Inspector Thapa succumbed to his injuries while being transported to hospital in Kathmandu. Father and brother of the deceased policeman were injured in the indiscriminate firing and the subsequent bomb explosions carried out by the Maoists outside the house. Both are reported to be out of danger and are recovering in hospital. Security personnel sealed off the area and are reportedly searching for the Maoists involved in the attack. (rk) http://www.kantipuronline.com/kol_news.html#Police%20officer%20shot% 20dead%20in%20Lalitpur .................................................................... [From "The Himalayan Times" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Maoists kill soldier KATHMANDU: A soldier died on Sunday when an electrical ambush laid by the Maoist went off in Nangin in Panchthar district, said the defence ministry. Two soldiers sustained injuries in the incident. Security personnel initiating search operations in Rajapur in Bardia seized explosives, multimetres, air gun and office equipment. In a separate incident, three individuals sustained injuries when security men searching Natole area in Lalitpur opened fire in self- defence after being pelted with stones, added the ministry. http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp? filename=aFanata1pdqzqa5a2Ua6va.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSite Date=20021224 .................................................................. [From "Hindustan Times" (New Delhi) 24 December 2002] Maoist rebels kidnap 45 schoolboys in Nepal: report [Agence France-Presse] Kathmandu, December 23: Armed Maoist rebels kidnapped 45 boys at a school in southwestern Nepal that stayed open amid a strike called by supporters of the guerrillas, a newspaper reported on Monday. The Nepali-language Sandhyakalin said three gun- wielding Maoists barged into the secondary boys school on Saturday in the remote town of Lekgaon in the Surkhet district and took 45 students away. It said there has since been no sign of the children. Home ministry spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey said he had received no news of the incident. The school has since shut down fearing another Maoist attack, the newspaper said. It said police learned of the kidnapping from students who had gone searching for the missing boys, who were in their early teens. Maoist students had called a strike from December 9 to press for lower tuition and other demands, but the shutdown was only supposed to affect the Kathmandu Valley. The newspaper said parents of the missing children hoped the boys would be released after the Maoist students Monday ended their strike. The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to topple the constitutional monarchy, in an insurgency that has claimed more than 7,300 lives. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_125229,00050002.htm ................................................................... [From "Space Time Today" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Maoists attack gambling den By Our Correspondent Janakpur, Dec. 23: Less than a week after the revenue patrolling team raided a gambling den at Janakpur, the Maoists have taken similar action at the gambling site that lies close to Janakpur municipality. About half a dozen Maoists attacked a gambling den at Laxminiya Bazaar adjoining Janakpur municipality on Sunday, according to eye witness accounts. The masked Maoists who came on bicycles attacked the den all of a sudden and even manhandled about eighteen gamblers who were gambling at that time. The Maoists tore off the playing cards, forced the gamblers to chew them and threatened the gamblers of dire consequences if they happen to gamble, narrated one the eye witnesses. According to locals, gambling had been going on at a saw mill and in some of the houses of Laxminiya bazaar since a long time back, however, police did not take any action even when the complaint was lodged. After the warning from Maoists it is expected that the gambling would not resume in the town. The assault of the Maoists has frightened the gamblers at a time when gambling was on rise in and around Janakpur areas. Although some of the gambling dens were closed down following raid by the revenue patrolling team of the army in the municipal areas but it is believed that half a dozen dens are still operating illegally. http://www.spacetimeonline.com/Pub/Dec_24/ST_Today_Country.htm#6 .................................................................. [From "The Himalayan Times" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Maoists kill UML activist KALAIYA: Maoist terrorists murdered Janak Prasad Sharma of Nijgadh village development committee ward no 5, Bara district on Saturday night by hacking with a khukuri while he was sleeping in the house. A group of 15 to 20 Maoists entered into the house and asked donation and suddenly attacked him with khukuri causing deep wound, but he was shot dead by the Maoists outside while he somehow managed to run out of the house. Meanwhile, CPN-UML district committee, Bara has condemned in strong words the cowardice and heinous killing of Janak Prasad Sharma. Issuing a press release here on Monday the party has said that on the context of Maoists' declaration not to murder any political workers, the killing of party cadre Sharma has proved Maoists' double stand of saying one thing and doing on the just opposite. http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp? filename=aNPata1wjqzqa5a2Ua5a8a.axamal&folder=aNPataiaoanaaal&Name=Nat ional&dtSiteDate=20021224 ................................................................... [From "The Kathmandu Post" 24 December 2002] Spreading Maoist tentacles [by] Puran P Bista It was in October 2002 when I met the state president of the cultural wing of the Bharatiya Nepali Ekta Samaj (BNES) in Kohima at the Nepali students' golden jubilee celebration. At that time Delhi had not banned BNES. The state president, who hailed from lower caste Hindu, spoke in a typical Nepali accent of western and mid western regions. I asked him: "Are you from western Nepal?" He replied "Yes". There are over five thousand Nepalese people from Nepal's western regions working in India's Nagaland state. Some of them, who have converted themselves into Christianity, are closer to native Nagas than the local Nepalese since cent percent of the native Nagas are Christians. Moreover, the Nepali Baptist Church, which was set up with the support of Naga Church Federation, holds sermons in Nepali language. The dark and medium height BNES state president said that the Assam state police at Sri Rampur harassed the Nepalese travelers while returning from Nepal. He narrated an incident of a Nepali, who was a Nagaland state police personnel but dragged out of the bus he was travelling in by the Assam state police in 1997. According to him, the victim neither returned to Nepal, nor did he report to the Nagaland state police force. Later, BNES with the help of the Nepalese of Guwahati filed a case at the Guwahati High Court against the Assam state police force. But the police personnel could not be traced after the incident. However, the incident the BNES state president suspiciously narrated to me proved otherwise. Kohima's local Nepalese said BNES filed the case in the Guwahati High Court in order to prove the death of the police personnel since it knew that without any evidence the state government would not release the pension as well as the money the victim was supposed to get. What could be true was the police personnel must have been killed in Nepal itself, possibly in an encounter with the Royal Nepal Army. If BNES has a cultural wing in Nagaland, then one cannot deny the fact that the Maoists have ties with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). And both Maoists and NSCN carry the same ideology. NSCN is a communist extremist group fighting since the late 1960s for a sovereign communist Nagaland. And it is the mother of all extremist groups in northeast India. They have trained United Liberation Front of Assam, People's Liberation Army of Manipur and other extremist groups in Tripura and Meghalaya states. Besides People's War Group of Andhra Pradesh and the Maoist Coordination Committee as mentioned by India's ambassador to Nepal Shyam Sharan, the Maoists do have relations with the ruthless NSCN, perhaps with both Khaplang's and Issac-Moiva's. BB Chhetri last October said to me: "The people backing the Maoists are none other than the Nepalese people who have come to India in search of unskilled jobs. And most of them work as night security guards, guards in apartments, scraps and industries in different parts of India. If you visit Kerala, you can find them there, and that they have come to India due to poverty is an obvious reason". Chhetri is a former editor of Nepali vernacular daily called Sunchari published from Siliguri. Chhetri is also an active member of Bharatiya Nepali Rashtriya Parishad. Former chief minister of Sikkim Nar Bahadur Bhandari is its current president. Chhetri has traveled India extensively. And he still meets the Nepalese people living in different parts of India. It is also a fact that the Nepalese people from Nepal's western regions have controlled the total milk market of northeast India. And I have not yet come across a night security guard other than the Nepalese, especially those who are from Nepal's western regions. Wherever they are the organization formed by this community is well organised and have a solid backing of the lower class Nepalese working in different parts of India. Badra Nath Pradhan, a former CPM parliamentarian of Rajya Sabha often presided over BNES meetings and R B Rai who was also a CPM parliamentarian attended such meetings. Chhetri spoke to me at length a day after the formation of the Siliguri-based Nepalese National Democratic Front of India (NNDF) which, he claimed, is an offshoot of BNES. Delhi banned BNES after POTA, so the local BNES activists, who were supporting the Maoists in Jalpaiguri and Siliguri, were looking for an alternative organisation in order to support the Maoist cause openly. Now the newly formed Siliguri-based NNDF claims that it does not have any members who have come from Nepal. The Maoists are active in Duars that borders Nepal. People working in tea estates are the ones who support them. In fact the members, either we call them, of BNES or newly formed NNDF, are the same leaders emerged out of tea estates. They have basically come from Nepal's western regions and some of them have lived there for decades and speak the local language fluently. The total population of the unskilled Nepalese laborers who hail from western regions working in India's different cities and towns is more than one million, according to Chhetri. There are one hundred thousand in Bombay alone. Pune has over thirty five thousand of such population. If the Maoist movement is really backed by this section of Nepalese, then the government must think twice before it really deploys the Belgian manufactured Minimis or US made M-15s against the Maoists. There will obviously be short term improvement of the situation but not the solution unless the handpicked government realizes the core problems and initiates radical measures in order to reform the Panchayat-groomed system. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/dec/dec 24/features.htm#4 .................................................................... [From "The Himalayan Times" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Habeas corpus petition Kathmandu: Adibashi Janjati lawyers' group today filed habeas corpus writ petition at the Supreme Court against home ministry and chief district officer Kathmandu demanding release of Krishna Bahadur Rai and Bhujendra Rai, who have been under police detention.Advocate Shankar Subba filed the writ petition demanding order against the respondents that respondents took them into the custody illegally. The petitioner claimed that they were detained twenty days ago, on charge of being Maoists. The petitioner claimed that the both detainees were not Maoists. http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp? filename=aNPata1wjqzqa5a2Ua5a8a.axamal&folder=aNPataiaoanaaal&Name=Nat ional&dtSiteDate=20021224 ................................................................... [From "The Kathmandu Post" 24 December 2002] AI concerned over threats to victims KATHMANDU, Dec 23: The Amnesty International (AI) today expressed serious concern at the report of victims and their relatives, who have figured in the latest AI report, receiving threats to their lives ostensibly from members of the security forces. "AI is gravely concerned that the families of the human rights victims named in its recent report, Nepal: A Deepening Human Rights Crisis published on December 19, are subjected to threats to their lives and other reprisals," the statement said. The statement further said that the organisation is closely watching the situation of the individuals named in the report, including family members of the victims. "The Nepalese authorities should assume full responsibility to ensure the protection and safety of the victims and witnesses in all cases of alleged human rights abuses and violation," the statement further said. Among others, the report had claimed that army and armed police subject detainees to inhuman form of torture and rapes. In fact, AI had in early November submitted 57 such cases, including repeated rapes of Tarnum and Tabsum in army barrack inside the Royal Bardiya National Park. The reason cited for their arrest was disappearance of their close relative Masgit Maniyar. Although the army had promised investigation into incidents of torture and rapes reported from other parts of the country too, the AI had not been informed of any such cases whereby anyone who might have been found guilty of abusing the authority might have been punished. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/dec/dec 24/index.htm#5 .................................................................... [From "The Himalayan Times" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] It's Belgium's headache: PM KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand appearing before the Government Assurance Committee of the National Assembly today maintained that it was Belgium's responsibility to deliver the arms stuck in Kazaksthan. Stating that Belgium should hold talks with India on the issue, Chand noted that it should make things clear. Regarding talks with Maoists, Chand confirmed that the government hoped to conduct the parliamentary polls at the earliest and denied that polls would be held only after solving the Maoists crisis. He also said that the recent amendments in the working execution regulations 2047 was made as per the spirit of the regulations 2047. On the citizenship issue, Chand said citizenship certificates would be distributed to bonafied Nepalis in a systematic manner. http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp? filename=aFanata1pdqzqa5a2Ua6va.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSite Date=20021224 ................................................................... [From "The Kathmandu Post" 24 December 2002] `Arms delivery Belgium's responsibility': Phase-wise polls can be conducted: Chand KATHMANDU, Dec 23: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand today hinted that the government could hold phase-wise elections after the security situation improves in the country. And even if the government cannot make significant headway towards the resolution of the Maoist insurgency, the dates for elections could be finalized after holding consultations with the political parties. "The Prime Minister has said that the elections can be held in different phases - if the government cannot find an exit towards the resolution of the Maoist insurgency," members of the Governmental Assurances Committee of National Assembly, the Upper House of parliament, quoted Prime Minister Chand as saying in the meeting. According to the parliamentarians present at the meeting, Prime Minister repeatedly said that the government was ready to hold elections in the country in different phases. He also said that the government would soon convene an all-party meeting to discuss the possibility of holding phase-wise elections in the country within a week. This was Chand's first ever visit to a parliamentary committee after he was appointed as the country's Prime Minister by His Majesty the King in early October. The Prime Minister informed the committee about the executive power, controversial statements of the ministers, citizenship controversy and Maoist insurgency, according to parliamentarian Kedar Prasad Neupane. On the status of the arms being delivered to Nepal by the Belgian government, Chand said that it was the responsibility of Belgium to deliver arms to Nepal, but hastened to add that he didn't know much about it. An aircraft carrying sophisticated machine guns to Nepal has got stuck in Kazakhstan for more than a week after India denied overflying permission to the yet-undisclosed cargo carrier. On Sunday, officials in Nepal said that the plane would fly to Nepal soon after offices reopen on Monday, but the status of the plane was not clear until late Monday. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/dec/dec 24/index.htm#1 .................................................................. [From "Space Time Today" (Kathmandu) 24 December 2002] Govt deliberating removal of `terrorist' tag Kathmandu, Dec. 23: Minister for Physical Planning and Works Narayan Singh Pun on Monday explicitly said it was not true that as per international norms no government could officially hold dialogue with terrorists. Minister Pun made this statement at a talk programme organised by Reporters' Club here Monday while fielding media queries on what future course of action the government is hammering out for initiating peace talks with Maoists. As creating conducive environment and holding peace talks are time-consuming attempts, such things do not come out of the blue and we should not hasten with these things too, he said. "Discussions are underway at the government level whether to withdraw the `terrorist tag' or continue with it," he said, adding, "We will arrive at a conclusion after holding talks with major political parties." Dwelling on the present political scenario, he underlined the need for consensus among political parties to seek a permanent way-out of the prevailing impasse. Ruling out any possibility of holding elections in such difficult times, he said all major political parties should firstly forge a collective perspective towards the Maoist problem, as there seems little possibility of elections in the midst of flaring Maoist violence. General Secretary of Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala said the reinstatement of parliament is the only option left for taking the nation out of the existing political stalemate. Realising the necessity of national unity, he said all parties should } form a unity to battle emerging threats facing the nation. "The King, political parties and other forces must sit together to rescue the nation from the present quagmire of political deadlock dogging the country," he added. Touching upon the Royal move, CPN-UML leader Bam Dev Gautam said the yawning rift between political parties and the palace could be fatal for the country. Therefore, the King should follow the constitutional line to form an all-party government based on article 128 of the Constitution, he added. He said, "if the King does not correct the constitutional error, we will take to the streets to restore the snatched democratic rights of people," he warned. Voicing the same need, Nabaraj Subedi, senior leader of Peoples Front Nepal highlighted the necessity of unified political move to counter the unconstitutional intervention. Focusing on the Maoist violence, he said that Maoists cashed in on the static political situation of the last twelve years. "Now, political parties and the Maoists themselves should understand each other in the recently changed political scenario and find a permanent outlet to the problem," he added. http://www.spacetimeonline.com/Pub/Dec_24/st_today_cover.htm#1 ................................................................... [From "The Kathmandu Post" 24 December 2002] Over one thousand families deprived of electricity MANTHALI, Dec 23: Over one thousand families in Ramechhap and Dolakha districts are deprived of electricity for the past three months following the destruction of Jhakre Hydro-electricity Project (JHP). The 600-kilowatt capacity JHP was being developed as the first co- operative electric project in the country. The rebels stormed the powerhouse at Jhisepu of Thulopatal VDC of Dolkha as it was readied to be handed over to a co-operative organisation three months ago. Maoist vandalism has caused the loss of over three million rupees to the hydro project, according to Madan Upadhyaya, the Chief at Jhakre Rural Electricity Development Project (JREDP). JHP was constructed to supply power for the construction of Khmti Hydro-electricity Project (KHP), a mega project. JHP catered electricity to eight VDCs in both the districts, the sites affected by KHP. The beneficiaries were enjoying the electric facilities at Rs.1.50 per unit, which is very cheap in contrast to the facility provided by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). With two turbines were destroyed by the Maoist attack, only one turbine is functioning at present. The rebels also destroyed other tools worth over twenty million rupees being transported to JHP for repair works on the way, according to Upadhyaya. "Consumers throng to the office demanding prompt repair of JHP. The present insecurity situation has threatened its repair works," said the Chief Upadhyaya. Owed by the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) and Himal Power Company, JHP aims to light around 4,000 households after the completion of its five-year master plan, informed the sources. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/dec/dec 24/local.htm#9 ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international -- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
