मुलुकको सङ्क्रमणकालीन अवस्थाको अन्त्य र जनआन्दोलनका उपलब्धि संस्थागत गर्न संविधानसभाको निर्वाचन मङ्सिरमा सम्पन्न गर्नु जरुरी छ, त्यस अनुरूप निर्वाचन आयोगले तयारी पनि गरिरहेको छ तर तपाईंहरूले चुनाव नजिकिइरहेको बेला सडक सङ्र्घष्ाको घोषणा गर्नुभयो, के माओवादीले मङ्सिरमा चुनाव नचाहेको हो -
ँ त्यो हुँदै होइन, हामी संविधानसभाको निर्वाचन जसरी पनि सफलतापर्ूवक सम्पन्न होस् भन्ने चाहन्छौं । यहाँ संविधानसभाको निर्वाचन नहोस्, त्यसले सफलता नपाओस् भन्ने तìवहरू छन् । संविधानसभाका बाधकका रूपमा रहेका ती तìवलाई यथावतै राखेर निर्वाचन हुन्छ जस्तो हामीलाई लाग्दैन । निर्वाचन जसरी पनि सम्पन्न गर्नुपर्छ र त्यसका लागि अवरोधक तìवहरूलाई पन्छाउनर्ुपर्छ भन्ने हाम्रो भनाइ हो ।

संविधानसभाका अवरोधक तत्त्वहरू के के देख्नुभएको छ -
ँ पहिलो, संविधानसभाको पहिलो अवरोधक राजतन्त्र नै हो । त्यसकारण संविधानसभा निर्वाचनको वातावरण बनाउन राजतन्त्रको अन्त्य र गणतन्त्रको घोषणा गरिनर्ुपर्छ । दोस्रो कुरा, वर्तमान सरकारको नेतृत्व एकाधिकारवादी ढङ्गको छ, त्यहाँ सच्याई सबैको सहमतिका आधारमा सरकार सञ्चालन गरिनर्ुपर्छ । एकलौटी रूपमा सरकार सञ्चालन गरिनु हुँदैन । तेस्रो कुरा, जनताका समस्या, उनीहरूका आवाजलाई सम्बोधन गरिनर्ुपर्छ-तर्राईमा थुप्रै समस्या छन्, जनजातिका समस्या छन्, विभिन्न जनवर्गीय सङ्गठनका समस्या छन्, यी यावत् समस्यालाई सम्बोधन गरिनर्ुपर्छ । चौथो, निर्भय र निष्पक्षरूपमा चुनाव सम्पन्न गर्न शान्तिसुरक्षाको वातावरण सुनिश्चित गरिनर्ुपर्छ ।

राजाका सवालमा संविधानसभाको पहिलो बैठकबाट निर्ण्र्ाालिने सहमतिका साथ अन्तरिम संविधानमा व्यवस्था भइसकेपछि फेरि किन व्यवस्थापिका संसद्बाट गणतन्त्र घोषणा गरिनर्ुपर्छ भन्दै हुनुहुन्छ -
ँ संविधानसभाको निर्वाचन जेठमा गर्ने सहमतिअनुसार राजाका बारेमा संविधानसभाको पहिलो बैठकबाट निर्ण्र्ाागर्ने भनिएको हो, जेठमा निर्वाचन सम्पन्न भएको भए यो कुरा उठ्ने थिएन । जेठमा चुनाव गर्नसकिने स्थिति थियो तर माओवादीका पक्षमा जन उभार देखेर त्यो अवधि टारियो । र्टार्नका लागि राजतन्त्र र वैदेशिक शक्तिबाट पनि थुप्रै चलखेल भएको हामीलाई लाग्छ । त्यसकारण तोकिएको समयमा चुनाव नभएपछि परिस्थिति बदलियो । राजतन्त्रबाट चलखेलका प्रक्रिया धेरै अगाडि बढेर गए, त्यसैले यो स्थितिमा गणतन्त्र घोषणा हुनर्ुपर्छ हामीले भनेका हौं । (more…)

Kathmandu, Aug. 24: The CPN-Maoist, in an effort to solicit suggestions and muster support of civil society and the people for its 22-point demands that were announced a few days ago as the pre-conditions for the constituent assembly election, organised a massive interaction programme in the capital on Friday in which the Maoist leadership vowed to launch a decisive struggle to abolish monarchy and establish a democratic republic.

“We are in the historic process of holding the constituent assembly election, which is a great opportunity for the Nepalese people to shape the fate and future of the country but there are equally strong challenges and hurdles before us in accomplishing the goal of creating a new Nepal,” said Maoist chairman Prachanda.

He said that the feudal elements under the patronage of monarchy are the biggest hurdle in holding free and fair constituent assembly election and abolition of monarchy and declaration of a republic was a must prior to the CA election. The Maoist supremo, however, believed that such hurdles could be easily overcome only through the united efforts of the political forces and the people.

The Maoists had earlier unveiled 22-point demands as the condition for ensuring the smooth conduct of the constituent assembly election and had announced that they would launch a movement if their demands were not met. The demands included, among others, abolition of monarchy, declaration of a republican set up, fully proportional representation election system and action against those who have been indicted by the Rayamajhi Commission.

In the interaction, leaders and members of civil society and professional groups had raised several issues relating to the CA election and current political situation. According to them, constituent assembly election must be held under any circumstance and the ongoing political and peace process must not be aborted.

There was unanimity that monarchy was the main hurdle but the speakers were divided on the modus operandi of the Maoist agitation. (more…)

माओवादीले घोषणा गरेको संघर्षको कार्यक्रम संविधानसभा बिथोल्न ल्याइएको भन्ने आरोप छ नि -
बच्चा जन्माउने बाबुआमाभन्दा अरूले बढी माया गर्छु भनेर कसैले पत्याउला । संविधानसभाको माग राखेर दस वर्षम्म जनयुद्वमा होमिएर हजारौं सहिदले बलिदान गरेका छन् । संविधानसभाको हाम्रो माग पूरा नगरिदिँदा हामीले दुइ-दुइपटक वार्ताबाट र्फकनुपर्यो । १० हजारभन्दा बढी मारिए ।
राजतन्त्रकै कारण २००७ सालदेखि संविधानसभा हुन नसकेको इतिहास र शान्ति सम्झौतायताको नौ/दस महिनाको अवधिले पनि राजालाई यथावत् राखेर संविधानसभा हुन सक्दैन भन्ने निष्कर्षहामीले निकालेका छौं ।

बृहत् शान्ति सम्झौतादेखि संविधान निर्माणसम्म राजाको विषयमा भएको सहमति बिर्सेगणतन्त्र र समानुपातिक प्रणालीको माग निर्वाचन भाँड्ने अत्तो भएन र ?
- पहिलो कुरा सम्झौता वा समझदारी भनेको आधा सहमति र आधा विमतिको दस्तावेज हो । अन्तरिम संविधान गणतान्त्रिक बन्नुपर्छ भन्ने प्रस्ताव हाम्रो त्यतिबेलै पनि थियो । जेठमा संविधानसभा हुने भए ठीकै छ भनेर हामी सहमतिमा पुगेका हौं । तर तिनै राजावादीले जेठमा संविधानसभा हुन नदिएकाले हामीले गणतन्त्र घोषणाका लागि शान्तिपूर्ण संघर्षको कार्यक्रम ल्याउनुपरेको हो । (more…)

नारायणप्रसाद शर्मा
नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टर्ीीमाओवादी)ले भदौ ३ गते २२ सूत्रीय कार्यक्रम जनसमक्ष ल्याएपछि राजनीतिक वृत्तमा ठूलो तरङ्ग पैदा भएको छ । त्यसले अझ एक प्रकारको हलचल पैदा गरेको छ । नेपाली काङ्ग्रेसले आफ्नो प्रेस वक्तव्यमार्फ यसको भर्त्सना गर्दै माओवादीले संविधानसभाको चुनाव नचाहेको आरोप लगाएको छ । नेपाली काङ्ग्रेस प्रजातान्त्रिकले पनि झण्डै यस्तै प्रतिक्रिया जनाएको छ । एमालेको भाषा अलिकति नरम भए पनि आशय त्यस्तै छ ।

व्यवस्थापिका संसद्मा पनि निन्दा र प्रशंसा दुबै सुन्न पाइन्छ । पत्र पत्रिका र रेडियो एवं टि.भी.मा यही २२ बुँदाकै चर्चा परिचर्चा छ । नेकपा माओवादीको सधैँ आलोचक रही आएका पार्टर्ीीले माओवादी चुनावबाट भाग्न खोज्दैछन् भन्दैछन् भने माओवादीहरूले चुनावी वातावरणका लागि यस प्रकारको आन्दोलन अनिवार्य भन्दैछ । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डकै शब्दमा’अहिलेको स्थितिमा राजतन्त्र कायमै राखेर संविधानसभा हुन्छ भन्नु जस्तो महाझुठ, पाखण्ड र बेइमानी अर्को हुनै सक्दैन ।

प्रश्न गम्भीर छ- माओवादीकै कारण संविधानसभाको चुनाव हुँदैन त - अथवा माओवादीले भने जस्तै अहिलेकै स्थितिमा चुनाव हुनसक्दैन या हुनु पाखण्ड नै हुन्छ त - माओवादीले २२ बुँदे माग राखेर आन्दोलनको कार्यक्रमको घोषणा गरेका छन् । व्यवस्थापिका संसद्मा २२ बुँदाको खासै चर्चा चलेन तर माओवादीको जनकारबाही भन्ने शब्दले भने धेरैलाई तर्सर्ााो छ । माओवादीहरूले जनकारवाही भनेको रायमाझी आयोगले दोषी ठहर गरेका व्यक्तिहरू अर्थात् राजावादी शक्तिहरूमाथि कारबाही हो र त्यो युद्धकालीन शैलीको होइन भनेका छन् । यसो भए पनि माओबादीका कट्टर आलोचकहरू यसबाट तर्सर्ेेे पक्कै हो ।

आखिर के छ त माओवादीको २२ बुँदामा - २२ बुँदा आउनुअघि १८ बुँदा आइसकेका हुन् । त्यतिबेला मन्त्रिपरिषद्मा नेपाली काङ्ग्रेसका ११ बुँदा, एमालेको १० बुँदा र माओवादीका १८ बुँदासहित ४३ बुँदा छन् । सबै बुँदालाई सँगै राखेर तत्काल मिलनबिन्दुको खोजी गर्ने प्रयास गरेका भए सायद यति ठूलो हलचल पैदा हुने थिएन कि - पछि थपिएका ४ बुँदा पनि एकदमै सुनिँदै नसुनिएका बुँदा त हैनन् तथापि आन्दोलनमा उत्रने र जनव्रि्रोहको कुराले प्रतिपक्षमा खलबली मच्चिएकै छ । (more…)

The government in Nepal has decided to take over the palaces and properties of the King, who has already been deprived of most of his powers by the Parliament, including the coveted title of the Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army.

A high-level ministerial committee today decided to register seven palaces including the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Lamjung Durbar, Gorkha Durbar,Hanumandhoka Durbar, Nuwakot Durbar, Lalitpur Durbar, and Bhaktapur that are being used by the King and his family members in the name of the government of Nepal.

According to minister Hisila Yami, the committee decided to register the palaces and 1500 ropanis of land belonging to the King in the name of the government.

The committee also decided to seal all bank accounts of the King, Queen and Crown Prince to stop all transactions of money transferred from the late King Birendra and late Queen Aishwarya, The Himalayan Times Online reported today.

The government has also directed the authorities to remove all photographs and slogans valourising the monarch from the military headquarters and other buildings of the army.

The Nepal Army has started removing pictures of King Gyanendra and Queen Komal and slogans praising the monarch following a directive of the government, a Nepal Army spokesperson said.

In the wake of protests from civil society and other groups, the interim government led by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday ordered the Ministry of Defence to direct the Nepal Army headquarters to remove all photographs and slogans valourising the King, the official said.

Slogans in praise of the King and queen in the headquarters premises have already been covered as it takes sometime to wash out the paintings and repaint them, an army official said.

• Fidel engaging in increasingly intense and valuable activities • Willing to hold talks, on an equal footing, with the United States • Cuba will accept foreign investment: capital, technology and markets
• Strengthening our defensive capacity • A special effort must be made in food production to save on imports • Our people will never give in to pressure or blackmail from any country or group of countries
(Translated by ESTI)

Friends accompanying us here today;
People of Camagüey, good morning;

Compatriots:
Exactly one year ago, as we were listening to the speeches given by the Commander in Chief in Bayamo and Holguín, we could hardly even suspect what a hard blow was awaiting us.

Next July 31 will be the first anniversary of Fidel’s Proclamation, and to the delight of our people he is already taking on more and more intense and highly valuable activities, as evidenced by his reflections which are published in the press, even though, not even during the most serious moments of his illness, did he fail to bring his wisdom and experience to each problem and essential decision.

THOSE WHO ARE AMAZED AT OUR PEOPLE’S CAPACITY TO RISE TO THE LEVEL OF EVERY CHALLENGE, NO MATTER HOW GREAT, DO NOT KNOW THEM VERY WELL

These have truly been very difficult months, although with a diametrically different impact to that expected by our enemies, who were wishing for chaos to entrench and for Cuban socialism to collapse. Senior U.S. officials even made statements about taking advantage of this scenario to destroy the Revolution.

Those who are amazed at our people’s capacity to rise to the level of every challenge, no matter how great, do not know them very well, since this is really the only behavior consistent with our history.

The battle waged by many generations of Cubans is well-known, from La Demajagua and Moncada, right up to the present, always facing enormous obstacles and powerful enemies. So much sacrifice and difficulties! How many times did we have to recommence the struggle after each setback! (more…)

Presses parties to come up with a firm stance on the formation of a republic

Kathmandu, August 12:

Maoist central leaders and central adivsors present in the press conference

CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda said today that they could walk out of the government and launch a peaceful agitation if the parties leading the government were not ready to declare the country a republic to foil the regressive forces’ conspiracies against the November 22 constituent assembly election.
“There is no alternative to launch a people´s revolt after quitting the government if the parties leading the government do not guarantee the declaration of a republic to foil conspiracies and terror of the regressive forces against assembly election,” Prachanda said in a statement issued to make public the decision of the recently concluded fifth expanded meeting of the party.
The theoretical, political and moral grounds to remain in the interim government are being diminished as the major political parties were trying to run the government in an old-fashioned manner, Prachanda said in the statement.
It has also set preconditions that the parties in the government must be ready to run the government according to the spirit of consensus, take action against the criminals involved in serial killings in Madhes, make public the cases of disappearances and provide compensation impartially to the families of martyrs, implement revolutionary land reforms for the party to remain in the government. The party has also sought a guarantee that murders, conspiracies and terror against the party must be stopped and the People’s Liberation Army must get respectful treatment.
Prachanda also accused the major parliamentary parties of breaking the spirit of 12-point understanding, comprehensive peace accord and interim government, which were the basis of unity with the CPN-Maoist.
“The soon-to-be-held eight-party meeting will decide whether the country will move towards the constituent assembly or towards agitation,” Prachanda said, replying to a query about the possibility of holding the constituent assembly election. He also warned that there would be a “big accident” in the country if the eight parties did not come up with a clear stance on the republic.
“We are still doubtful about the possibility of holding the constituent assembly election, as conspiracies are being hatched to isolate the revolutionary and republican forces,” he said, replying to yet another query.
He also made it clear that they were not making the issue of proportional representation system of election as a precondition for the assembly election. “We have simply made clear our position,” he said, adding that they had made the last-ditch efforts for the proportional representation system and federal system of governance “inside the room of Baluwatar.”
The statement distributed to the media has categorised the country’s political forces into groups, which include the royalists, status quoists, bourgeois parliamentary forces and revolutionary democratic forces. Country’s political conflict revolves around those forces, it said.
Party’s central committee meeting held following the conclusion of the fifth expanded meeting has formed three teams to hold roundtable conferences among the political forces, agitating groups and civil society, take initiative for reaching a unity among the leftist forces and prepare election manifesto for the upcoming assembly election and peaceful agitation. A three-member team headed by Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal) has been formed to hold a roundtable conference and another team led by Mohan Baidya (Kiran) to hold talks with leftist forces. An eight-member committee lead by Dr Baburam Bhattarai has been formed to draft the election manifesto.
The party also made public details of property belonging to each of the 35 central committee members. A copy of property details was made available to the media during the press conference.

(more…)

A World to Win News Service

“That fateful summer, 8:15. The roar of a B-229 breaks the morning calm. A parachute opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, en enormous blast – silence– hell on earth.

“The eyes of young girls watching the parachute melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking help dangled from their fingernails. Their hair stood on end. Their clothes were ripped to shreds. People trapped in houses toppled by the blast were burned alive. Others died when their eyes and internal organs burst from their bodies. Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the dead.” (From the 6 August 2007 memorial statement by Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, in a plea to rid the world of all nuclear weapons)

On 6 August 1945 the US unleashed the atomic bomb on humanity. The world’s first use of nuclear weapons, against the Japanese city of Hiroshima, was followed on 9 August by the bombing of Nagasaki.

As the US threatens war – including the use of nuclear weapons – against Iran, supposedly because the Islamic regime seeks nuclear weapons capability, it is more important than ever to emphasize what country has been the first and only to ever actually use such weapons.

The two atomic bombs dropped at the end of World War 2 were deliberately set to explode high in the air. The point was to maximize the killing, not the destruction of buildings. More than 110,000 people died immediately in the two bombings and the radiation eventually killed hundreds of thousands more. Many years of painful death by cancer and later birth defects lay ahead for the survivors and their descendents.

If terrorism is defined as the killing of innocent civilians for a political purpose, then the world has seldom seen such terrorism. Think of 40 times 11 September 2001 in New York and you will only imagine the first few seconds.

Shortly after, Japan surrendered. But its economy and capital city had been destroyed before the atomic bombs reduced two non-military and relatively unimportant cities to towns of the dead. Many historians believe that country was on the verge of surrender before those terrible days in August 1945. The main reason the US wanted to use atomic weapons was as a demonstration of strength to threaten the USSR. The Soviet Union was then a socialist country. It had been allied with the US against Germany and Japan during the war, but even before that war was over, the US was baring its teeth to the USSR and setting out to dominate the world.

Before World War 2, bombing civilians was considered a barbaric and illegal act. The US was not the only nation to commit that crime in WW2, but along with the British it did so on an enormous scale. Since then the US has threatened to use nuclear weapons on dozens of occasions, not only against the USSR when that country later became an imperialist rival to the US, but also Vietnam and China. That the US would make first use of nuclear weapons whenever it felt its interests sufficiently threatened has been official US doctrine and the cornerstone of American military policy from the 1950s through today.

Currently, despite the fact that the US’s rival in Cold War nuclear terrorism, the USSR, has collapsed, the Bush government has launched a plan to redesign and rebuild every weapon in its nuclear arsenal, which still contains, like Russia’s, roughly 5,800 active atomic warheads. This includes both giant city-crushing long-range-missile- born bombs and smaller “tactical” nuclear weapons to vaporize smaller targets. The Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab in California, which is carrying out this project, was the target of a planned series of demonstrations to commemorate the bombings of the two Japanese cities and oppose an American attack on Iran. The use of “tactical” nuclear weapons against Iran is a popular topic of discussion in Washington.

It is also criminally ironic that just the week before the Hiroshima anniversary, the US and Indian governments reached agreement on American technical assistance to India’s nuclear programme at the same time the US is threatening Iran for undertaking its own programme. Unlike Iran, India has refused to sign the nuclear non-proliferation pact, and unlike Iran, India has developed and tested nuclear bombs. Obviously, for the US the question is not preventing nuclear proliferation but supporting or toppling regimes according to its perceived interests.

As the UN International Atomic Energy Agency has said, there is no evidence that Iran’s nuclear programme includes weapons at this time. It is true that nukes are nukes and much of the same technology and skills used for nuclear power plants can be used to make nuclear bombs. It also may be that the Iranian Islamic regime seeks nuclear weapons. It would be wrong to deny these facts and prettify an anti-people regime.

But the world has only known one nuclear war criminal, and that criminal must be stopped from doing it again

by Johan Petter Andresen

The Health Team for Nepal was formed in 2006. The aim of the Health Team project is to help poor people in rural areas of Nepal. The Health Team for Nepal cooperates with the medical department of the People’s Liberation Army in order to attain this goal. The health team for Nepal consists of two parts: medical specialists and a support group.

The specialists have a program to train approximately 20 medics based on a course developed by progressive Norwegian surgical specialists. The curriculum is based on two books: Save Lives Save Limbs and War Surgery. As part of this project we have sent 50 copies of each in English and the books are also being translated into Nepali. The training course takes 18 to 24 months to complete and contains three intense training sessions. The surgeon Hans Husum and specialist nurse Merete Taksdal have completed the first course together with PLA medics and medical staff at Gorneti Model Hospital in Rolpa in November 2006.

The second course is scheduled for October 2007. The support group collects money needed for the project and spreads information about the democratic revolution in Nepal. So far we have collected approximately 2,200,000 (NRS). Of this we have used 150,0000 (NRS). In order to complete the project we will be collecting another 800, 000 (NRS) (about US$11,000) within the next nine months. The health team support group has held audiovisual lectures at about 14 schools and approximately 15 mass meetings in various cities in Norway. (more…)

ऋतुराज
दाईं हाल्ने परालको घानमा नारिएका गोरूको माझमा गएर दाम्लो घाँटिमा छिराएपछि गोरू जसरी घुम्ने गर्छन् त्यसरी नै घुम्नर्ुपर्छ । घुम्न चाहेन भने दाम्लोले लतार्छ । नेपालको सत्तामाथि दाईंहाल्ने क्रममा नागरिएका सातओटा गोरूको माझमा आठौं गोरू बनेर नारिन माओवादी पनि गयो । पाँचओटा मन्त्रालयको जिम्मेवारी पायो । सरकारमा गइसकेपछि अरू जसरी हिँडेका छन् त्यसरी हिँड्नर्ैपर्छ भन्ने आम मान्यता रहन्छ । सरकार भएपछि सरकारकै रूपमा देखिनु पर्छ । यो सरकार हुनुको वाध्यता हो । राजावादीहरू, राप्रपाहरू बाहेकको अहिलेको यो सत्तामा सबै समाविष्ट छन् । कोही प्रतिपक्ष छैन । सबै सत्ता पक्ष । त्यसैले यो बहुमतको सरकारको हो । अहिलेको सत्तालाई यसरी नै बुझ्ने गरिएको छ । माओवादीलाई सबैले सत्तापक्ष अथवा सत्तारूढ दल भनेर बुझ्छन् । र, माओवादी र नेपाली कांग्रेस, एमाले एउटै लिकमा हिँडेको भन्ठान्छन् । सारमा जे होला रूपमा यही नै वास्तविकता हो ।
कुरा दोलखा र पाँचथरतिर मोडौं । दोलखामा प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारी माओवादी वाइसीएलको आक्रमणमा परे । प्रजिअमाथि आक्रमण हुनुको कारण भने निश्चय नै छ । माओवादी निकटका व्यक्तिले एकजना राजावादी कार्यकर्तालाई कालोमोसो दले । कालोमोसो दल्नाको पनि कारणहरू छन् । उसले त्यहाँ राजतन्त्रका पक्षमा राजनीति गर्दै आठ दल र जनआन्दोलन-२ को खिल्ली उडाइरहेको थियो । राजावादी चम्चेहरूले पुरानो राजतन्त्रात्मक संसदीय संविधानको आडमा कालो दल्नेमाथि र्सार्वजनिक अपराधअन्तरगत जिल्ला प्रशासन कार्यालयमा उजुरी दिए । उजुरवालाको उजुरी तुरून्तै सुनेर माओवादीका कार्यकर्तालाई पक्रियो । उनीहरूलाई छाडियोस् भन्ने माओवादीको आग्रह रह्यो । प्रशासनले मुद्दा चलाउने क्रम अघि बढायो । त्यहाँ राजावादी गन्ध देखियो । त्यसले भनाभनको रूप लियो । बढ्दैजाँदा उग्र भयो । तोडफोड भयो । प्रशासनले थप अरूलाई गिरफ्तार गर्‍यो । त्यसक्रममा प्रजिअ पनि धक्कामुक्कीमा परे । एकजनालाई छाड्न आग्रह गर्न जाँदा अरू दर्जनौंलाई गिरफ्तार गरेपछि त्यसको विरोधमा दोलखा बन्दको कार्यक्रम अगाडि सार्नुपर्‍यो । यही नै दोलखाको वास्तविकता हो । (more…)

Senoir leaders Com. Kiran, Baburam Bhattarai, Chairman Prachanda, Com. Badal, Com Gaurav

The CPN-Maoist began its fifth expanded meeting in Kathmandu on Friday on the participation of more than 21 hundred leaders and senior cadres accorss the country. This meeting is highly watched not only in national level but also internationally because of its importance.

In the meeting central leaders, representatives from 14 regions, 4 commands, international command, from PLA, members of interim parliament, representative from mass organisations are gathered in Kathmandu. The security of meeting is provided by the People´s Liberation Army and the Young Communist League.

A member of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army stands guard outside the venue

The meeting will discuss the political paper presented by the Chariman Com Parchanda from today. All the participants are divided in 40 groups for the discussion on Chairman´s paper. The meeing is supposed to be conclued on August 8.

http://krishnasenonline.org/Bulletin/international.html

It is big news in Nepal these days that Maoist Party is striving very hard to develop its foreign relations. They also make their assessments that it has achieved tremendous success in this regard. The visits made by some of the leaders of our Party to foreign countries and our bilateral talks with the official delegations of various countries including our immediate neighbor and a tested long time friend of our country, China is being cited as the examples. This short article relates to the same subject.

Yes it is true that we are striving very hard to develop and strengthen our foreign relation. During the period of People’s War the regime had declared our party a terrorist organization and had approached most of the governments of the world. Based on their relation with the regime some of the governments had listed our party as terrorist organization and some though did not listed but treated us as terrorists. In such circumstances it was not possible for us to develop any king of relation and ties with us. When we negotiated with parliamentary parties to launch a joint mass movement against the autocratic monarchy with the aim of establishing democratic republic and made a series of negotiations including the interim legislature and interim government in which we have significant representation in both. A new political situation has emerged due to this new change in political scenario.

Therefore, our party’s international relation was confined to the relation with the fraternal and friendly revolutionary parties and organizations of different parts of the world. Because of the change in the political situation that has given rise to a new possibility of developing revolution with peaceful form of struggle we are obliged to develop state to state relations with various governments which are friendly to our nation and the process that we have decided to adopt to resolve the political crisis and way out for forward development.

We have already brought out our views in open through different mediums. Now we have two aspects of our foreign relationship: fraternal and friendly relations with Maoist and other revolutionary communist parties and organizations and side by side relation with other political forces and the governments of various countries which are friendly to our country and the people of Nepal and supporting the ongoing political process. Therefore the success of out foreign relation can be gauged through both the perspectives.

There is no such significant shift in the development of fraternal and friendly relations with the Communist forces. It is also true that we have come in touch and extended relations with new such forces. As because there is no upsurge of the revolutionary movements led by communists in the world today, this relation will have no such a magnitude to determine or influence the ongoing political developments. But it never means that it does not bear any significance. Unity of the communist revolutionaries has its own significance and deserves to be maintained and developed.

It is true that there is a significant shift in developing relation with various governments which are friendly to our country and supporting the ongoing political process in Nepal and providing help to enhance this process. Frankly speaking we have good relation with all countries of the world except the Bush administration. During the 52 minutes long discussion with the leadership of our Party, the visiting former US president Jimmy Carter opined that it was unjust not to remove the terrorist tag from our party in the given situation that we have a strong presence in the interim legislature and also in the interim government. The relation with the European countries is good enough. We have easy access with them. The recent visits of our leadership including our Chairman have enhanced this relation to further higher level. The heightened relationship of our party with the European countries will definitely create diplomatic pressure to Washington. The Bush administration is thus isolated from the world and from even within US for its flawed policy regarding its relation with our party.

Our relation with China, the immediate neighbor and long tested friend of the Nepalese people has developed enormously within short span of time. The strong statement made by the Chinese Ambassador explaining the policy of his country that ‘China would never tolerate any foreign intervention in Nepal’ at a time when we are facing a threat against the integrity of our beloved motherland is really of paramount importance, which paves the way thus demonstrating that there is ample scope in advancing our relationship at the higher level. The relationship with our other immediate neighbor India is fairly good. The support the separatist elements are enjoying from India, especially from Bihar has definitely caused some problem in Nepal. But the government of India seems not to have any role into it. Our only concern is that the government of India should use its good office to help control the bad situation in Nepal by preventing such elements from getting any support from the Indian soil.

Therefore it will be no exaggeration to say that the foreign relation of our party has been enhanced and it is developing fairly well.

By Dave Lindorff

The looming collapse of the US military in Iraq, of which a number of generals and former generals, including former Chief of Staff Colin Powell, have warned, is happening none too soon, as it my be the best hope for preventing military rule here at home.

From the looks of things, the Bush/Cheney regime has been working assiduously to pave the way for a declaration of military rule, such that at this point it really lacks only the pretext to trigger a suspension of Constitutional government. They have done this with the active support of Democrats in Congress, though most of the heavy lifting was done by the last, Republican-led Congress.

The first step, or course, was the first Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed in September 2001, which the president has subsequently used to claim-improperly, but so what? -that the whole world, including the US, is a battlefield in a so-called “War” on Terror, and that he has extra-Constitutional unitary executive powers to ignore laws passed by Congress. As constitutional scholar and former Reagan-era associate deputy attorney general Bruce Fein observes, that one claim, that the US is itself a battlefield, is enough to allow this or some future president to declare martial law, “since you can always declare martial law on a battlefield. All he’d need would be a pretext, like another terrorist attack inside the U.S.” (more…)

Flood water in southern Nepal has completely covered a district home to half a million people, forcing residents of its largest city to use boats, and swamping neighboring regions

A man walks through the flooded village

Villagers crowd into boats to be evacuated to safer areas

Villagers stand in flood waters and watch a submerged paddy field.

शान्तिको व्यवस्थापन गर्ने वा व्रि्रोहको नेतृत्व गर्नेमध्ये एक बाटो रोज्न जरुरी छ - जनार्दन शर्मा -प्रभाकर)
नेपाल पुरानो सामन्ती राज्यसत्ताको पर्ूण्ा अन्त्य र नयाँ सङ्घीय गणतान्त्रिक राज्यमा रूपान्तरणको क्रममा छ । अशान्ति भयो, स्थिरता भएन भन्ने सरकारका अधिकारीले पहिलो के कुरा बुझ्न आवश्यक छ भने त्यो किन भयो - हो, कतिपय घटना ग्ालत उद्देश्यका साथ हुनसक्छन् । कतिपय हतियार उक्साहटबाट चल्नसक्छन्, कतिपय नारा छुट्टै उद्देश्य पर्ूर्तिका लागि चल्नसक्छन् तर एउटा कुरा सत्य हो, जब जनता जाग्दछन् जब जनता उठ्छन् र आफ्ना अधिकारहरू खोज्छन् । त्यतिबेला शासक वर्गले जनतालाई अधिकार सम्पन्न गर्नको साटो दमनतिर, जालझेल तिर, षड्यन्त्र तिर लाग्छन् । त्यतिबेला ती शासकको पनि बाहेक अरू केही हुँदैन । हो, जब जनआक्रोश क्रान्तिमा फेरिन्छ, त्यसले एउटा व्रि्रोह पैदा गर्छ । त्यो व्रि्रोहलाई शासकहरूले दबाउन प्रयत्न गर्छन् । पछाडि धकल्ने प्रयास गरेर क्षणिक सफलता पनि नगर्ने होइनन् । अन्तत्वगत्वा व्रि्रोह दावानलमा भएर फैलिन्छ र शासकहरू खरानी हुन्छन् । सामाजिक स्वरूप फेरिन्छ । नयाँ युगको थालनी हुन्छ ।
आज नेपालमा जे भइरहेको छ । यो क्रान्तिको निरन्तरता हो । यसको आफ्नै पन छ, मौलिकता छ र भिन्न ढङ्गले अगाडि बढेको छ । दलित जागेका छन्, महिला उठेका छन्, मधेसी ब्युँझिएका छन्, मजदुर बढेका छन्, सबै उत्पीडित अधिकारको लागि गोलबद्ध भएका छन् । चारैतिर हेर्‍यो व्रि्रोह सल्बलाइरहेको छ । परिवर्तनको लागि एउटा अनुकूल मौसम सुक्खा मौसमबाट खण्डहर भूमिमा खण्डवृष्टि हुँदै मनसुनको मुसलधारे वषर्ामा बदलिँदा प्रकृतिमा आउने परिवर्तन जस्तै चौतर्फी व्रि्रोहको चेतना हराभरा भएको छ । एउटा आमूल परिवर्तन चाहने राजनीतिज्ञका लागि यो सन्तोषको मौसम हो, सँगसँगै मनसुन वषर्ाको सही उपयोग हुन नसके, यसले बाढीपहिरो पनि ल्याउने गर्छ । फेरि पृथ्वी चिरा परेर सुक्खा मौसमा बदलिने गर्छ ।

नेपालको वर्तमान स्थितिलाई गहिरो गरी अध्ययन गर्ने र पार्टर्ीी लगाएको टागन घोडाको छेकबारलाई उतार्ने हो भने जे भइरहेको छ यो नेपाली जनताको लामो समय धर्ैयले सीमा नाघेपछि प्रस्फुटित, दस/दस वर्षवरिपरि पैदा भएका आंशिक व्रि्रोहका भुल्काहरू हुँदै दसवर्ष जनयुद्धले फुटाएको नयाँ राजनीतिक धार र त्यसको प्रभावमा मौलाएको चेतना हो । दसवर्ष जनयुद्धभित्र अंशमा कमजोरी भए पनि मूलरूपमा जनताको राजनीतिक चेतनालाई व्रि्रोहको स्तरमा जोगाउन सफल भएको भन्दा भित्री मूल्याङ्कन गर्न सकिन्न । आज जे भइरहेको छ त्यही लामो सङ्र्घष्ा त्याग, बलिदानबाट नथाक्ने नेपाली वीरता, साहस र चेतना हो तर यो स्थिति पैदा विकसित भएपछि नयाँ समय पैदा भएको छ । वस्तुगत परिस्थितिको परिवर्तनका लागि जुन दबाब, आधार छ त्यसको सही प्रतिविम्ब राजनीतिक दल र तिनका नेताहरूमा पर्न सकिरहेको छैन । बरु उल्टो, पुरानो शासकीय मानसिकता, सत्ता मोह, लोभलालच, षड्यन्त्रपर्ूण्ा कार्यशैलीमा लिप्त हुने सामन्ती सत्ताको प्रतिछायाँ पार्टर्ीी तिनका नेतामा परेको देखिन्छ । तर्सथ हामी के भन्न सक्छौँ भने परिवर्तनको लागि अत्यन्त अनुकूल यो स्थितिलाई नेतृत्व गर्नसक्ने आत्मगत क्षमताको अभाव देखिएको छ । नेताहरूले चुनौतीको सही ढङ्गले पहिचान गर्न वैज्ञानिक विश्लेषणको अभाव छ, आत्मविश्वासको अभाव छ । आमूल परिर्वतन हुन्छ भन्ने सोच्नै नसक्ने कतिपय नेताको लागि अहिलेको परिस्थिति त्रासमय छ । मूल कुरा जनताको व्रि्रोहको व्यवस्थापन गर्न नचाहने र नसक्ने राजनीतिक दृष्टिकोण र इच्छाशक्तिको अभावले परिवर्तनको सुन्दर मौसमलाई निर्दिष्ट गर्न सकेन र यसलेे अराजकता र आपराधिक क्रियाकलापलाई परिवर्तनका नाराभित्र हर्ुकने मौका दिएको छ । जनतालाई जनताको जागरणलाई दबाउन यस खाले सोच, चिन्तन, प्रवृत्तिलाई दबाब दिन घरेलु र विदेशी प्रतिक्रियावादी शक्ति केन्द्रहरू लागेका छन् । यो उनीहरू किन लागे भन्ने भन्दा पनि जनताको अपराजय शक्तिको सही ढङ्गले सदुपयोग गर्ने नेतृत्वको अभाव हुँदा प्रतिक्रियावादीहरू स्वाभाविकरूपमा सल्बलाउँछन्, जर्ुर्मुराउँछन् । यो त समाज विज्ञानको नियम नै हो । मुख्य कुरा के हो भने जनताप्रति विश्वास गर्दै नेताहरूमा क्रान्तिका उपलब्धिको रक्षा गर्ने र त्यसलाई पर्ूण्ाता दिने आत्मविश्वास जरुरी छ ।

आज नेपालमा दस वर्षो जनयुद्धलाई र १२ बुँदे सहमतिद्वारा जनआन्दोलनसँग एकाकार पारी प्राप्त भएको उपलब्धिले जनताका अपेक्षाहरू पूरा गर्न आठ दलले प्राप्त गरेको म्यान्डेडलाई सम्बन्धित दलहरूले पार्टर्ीी स्वार्थभन्दा माथि उठेर जनता र राष्ट्रको स्वार्थबाट हर्ेन सकेनन् । नयाँ नेपाल निर्माणका लागि पुरानो राज्यसत्ताका बचेका जरा काट्ने त्यसको अवशेषको अन्त्य गरी नयाँ मोडालिटी तयार गर्नेमा एकरूपता पैदा गर्न नसक्दा सङ्क्रमणकाल लम्बिन पुग्यो । यसले सिङ्गो आन्दोलनमा नकारात्मक प्रभाव पारिरहेको छ । सङ्घीयताको प्रश्न आन्दोलनबाट जबर्जस्त स्वीकार गरे पनि यथास्थिति चाहने काँग्रेस पार्टर्ीी जसरी व्यवहारत लागू गर्न अझै अपाच्य भएको छ । गणतन्त्र आम जनताले भनि सक्दा पनि राजतन्त्रलाई पूरै फाल्न काँग्रेस तयार छैन । चुनाव प्रणालीमा सबैभन्दा वैज्ञानिक र उपयुक्त समानुपातिक प्रणालीलाई स्वीकार गरिएन । महिलाहरूलाई समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व प्रदान गर्न पुरुषवादी यो सत्ता तयार भएन । क्षमता र योग्यताको अभाव देख्ने दृष्टिकोणले महिलाहरूलाई हाल प्रदान गरेको प्रतिशत पनि बढी भनिरहेको छ । दलितहरू र जनजातिलाई कसरी प्रतिस्पर्धाको समग्रस्तरमा पुर्‍याउने सोच राज्यको छैन । (more…)

Realize the dreams of innumerable Martyrs

The spring thunder of Naxalbari was a clarion call for the poor, oppressed, and exploited people of India. It showed them the path for liberation. It has been forty years since four peasant women and three children had laid down their lives in Naxalbari village while fighting for land and life with dignity – their liberation.

The Indian Communist movement had gone through many ups and downs since then. Many were the twists and turns, ups and downs in these forty years. Finally on September 21, the two streams of revolutionary Communists – the MCCI and CPI (ML)(PW) merged into CPI (Maoist) and a strong single centre to guide the movement was finally formed. In the 37 years of class struggle and people’s war of these two streams before the merger many comrades had laid down their precious lives for the victory of New Democratic Revolution in India. The soil in the remote villages of India turned red with the warm blood of these immortal martyrs. The unity of the party could be achieved only through their invaluable sacrifices. It is the base on which the party stands today and endeavors to advance the people’s war. It is by paying homage to their glorious martyrdom that the unity was cemented.

It is the duty of every Communist Party to pay tribute to the memory of martyrs by continuing the tasks left behind by them till the victory of communism. People are always inspired by the sacrifices of martyrs. So it becomes our duty to propagate about their great qualities, which we have to emulate, their lives and their ideals, among the vast masses so that they are inspired to join the struggle to carry forward their lofty aims.

July 28th to August 3rd is celebrated as martyrs’ week to commemorate them and to take a vow that we will follow their path with renewed determination. We are using this occasion to give the readers a glimpse into the lives of women martyrs of CPI (Maoist) party since the merger of the two parties. We are also planning to bring a book about all women martyrs since Naxalbari soon. This is a prelude to that attempt.
It is with great grief that we are writing here that out of a total of 139 women comrades who were martyred, we could collect the life histories of about 40comrades. CPI (Maoist) is leading a movement which is spread in a vast area and that too it is concentrated in the most backward and remote pockets of India. So one of the main reasons for the unavailability of their life histories is the lack of regular communication between the various zones. We have made an effort to compile the whole list of women comrades martyred between September 2004 and July 2007. We are giving the available life histories and the list of women comrades martyred in this period as far as we could gather. The list is more or less complete but there are some more women comrades who were martyred during the state sponsored Salwa Judum terrorist campaign unleashed by the Chattisgarh ruling classes in Dandakaranya whose names and details we could not get in time. Some more women comrades also died recently in encounters with para-military and other armed forces in DK whose details we could not obtain due to the war like situation prevailing there. We would definitely overcome these shortcomings for the book on all women martyrs. But meanwhile we thought it would be useful and inspiring to bring out as many life histories as possible on this solemn occasion when we commemorate our beloved martyrs.
When we look at the lives of these women martyrs many things strike us as significant. In the Srikakulam struggle, which was the major armed struggle of the Naxalbari period, there were 17 women martyrs. Altogether the total number of women martyrs of that period will be in dozens. But after 1985 and especially in the 1990s and in the new millennium their numbers reached hundreds. And more than a hundred women comrades have laid their lives just in this past two and half years since the merger. The majority of them were killed in the three zones of Andhra Pradesh (AP) due to the fascist repressive regime of YS Rajasekara Reddy and in Dandakaranya due to the Salwa Judum counter revolutionary terrorist campaign.
The reason for the repression becoming more and more severe in the past 15 years is the globalization policies pushed by the government under the guidance of the imperialists. The ruling classes of India i.e., the feudal landlords, the comprador big bourgeoisie and the imperialists want to plunder the vast mineral and natural resources of India especially in the forest areas of Chattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and North Andhra. Many brave men and women have lost their lives in Kalinga nagar in Orissa and in Singur and Nandigram of West Bengal when they opposed such exploitation.

The reactionary ruling classes want to suppress the Party and PLGA which defends the interests of the people and which are organizing the people into struggles against the plunderers. That is why so many people as well as party activists and soldiers of PLGA have to lay down their lives in this bitter struggle against the imperialist led ruling classes. As more and more women are realizing the truth and joining the struggles, the number of women losing their lives also increases.

As the people’s war advances the number may increase more. But this large number not only indicates the level of repression and the scale of the movement but also the fact that women are joining the party and army in large numbers. It shows that oppressed women are increasingly choosing the revolutionary path.

On the other hand when we look at some of the incidents we can gauge how the fascization of the armed forces has risen to unprecedented heights. It even looks like the state is exceptionally cruel towards women. In the bizarre Manala covert killings three women comrades (with another 7 male comrades) were very cruelly tortured after they became unconscious from the sedatives mixed in their food and then killed. The whole scene was so ghastly that people were terrified when they saw the mutilated, mauled bodies. In Sangidigundala six women comrades were brutally gunned down. Out of them three were Chenchu adivasi young girls and the other three were also young women from a poor peasant background. (more…)

Nepalese Maoists have threaten to quit unity government after presence of security persons without their knowledge in their residence on Sunday.

The five ministers who have been included in the Government from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) have expressed disagreement and objection on deputation of security personnel for the purpose of their security from Singanath Battalion who were undergone ranger training from Bhairabnath Battalion.

Bhairabnath Battalion is infamous as Nepali Abu ghraib because of brutality in there. More than 40 prisoners, mainly Maoists, had been disappeared from the battalion. Analysists believe that they were already been killed. Maoists had been demanding to publish their whereabouts and close down that infamous battalion.

Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Khaddar Bahadur Bishwokarma, Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hisila Yemi, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Martina Yadav, Minister for Local Development Dev Prasad Gurung and Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara expressed their objection by issuing a joint press statement.

In the press conference, organized Monday by the Ministers at the Office of the Parliamentary Party of CPN (Maoist), Minister Mahara said they could not meet the Prime Minister though they had requested for his time to inform him in this regard. He said the Ministers had taken the matter seriously.

Maoists ministers claimed that the army is not in control of government. They follow orders from anothe place.

They were seemed agressive because they were not pre-informed about new deployment. “Why deployment for Maoists minister only, why not for other ministers too?” Mahara asked.

Britain is wrong to roll out the red carpet for the head of a defiant army that so gravely imperils the path to democracy

Isabel Hilton
The Guardian

On Monday, Lt General Rukmangad Katuwal, the head of the army in Nepal, is scheduled to arrive in Britain for a red carpet visit organised by the Ministry of Defence. Nepal is inching through the long process of normalisation and reform, following a 10-year Maoist insurgency that cost 10,000 lives. Now the Maoists are part of the peace process and a constituent assembly will be elected in November to design Nepal’s future democratic constitution.

But the peace process could be derailed by a number of factors, including the lingering influence of a king who still dreams of a return to feudal absolutism and, crucially, the willingness of Gen Katuwal to lead his army into a democratic future. Until last April, when King Gyanendra’s absolute rule was overthrown from the street, the Royal Nepal Army was under his direct command and its officers saw their prime duty as the protection of the monarchy. Gen Katuwal himself was brought up in the palace after being collected, like a souvenir, by the late King Mahendra on one of his visits to his people. Katuwal owed everything he had to the monarchy and played a key role in King Gyanendra’s savage war against the Maoist insurgency. If Nepal is to achieve lasting peace and stability, Gen Katuwal, and the army he commands, must be willing to change loyalty and adapt to the command of civilian politicians.
Under the terms of the peace agreement, the army will have to incorporate 30,000 Maoist fighters, something the caste-bound officers find hard to swallow, and to cooperate with the demands for justice for the civilian victims of army and police violence. Amnesty International estimates that more than two-thirds of the 900 who disappeared in the conflict were victims of the security services.

With these challenges at home, it’s easy to see why Gen Katuwal might want to come to Britain for a break. It is less easy to see why the MoD should choose to honour him with an invitation. In a situation as delicate as that of Nepal at present, an invitation with full honours should be reserved for those of whom the British government has reason to approve - and Gen Katuwal does not quite make the grade.

There is, for instance, the case of the 16-year-old Maina Sunwar, from the Kabhrepalanchok district in east central Nepal. On February 17 2004, a 12-man covert army team broke down the door of her house looking for her mother, Devi, whom the army claimed was suspected of Maoist sympathies. After a fruitless search of the house, they took Maina away for “questioning” , reassuring her father that she would be sent home when the interrogation was finished.

Seven military personnel witnessed what happened to Maina in the barracks: an appalling catalogue of torture that began with submersion in water and ended with electric shocks to her wet feet and wrists until they bled. Three hours after her arrival, she was dead. The officers’ response offers some insight into the army’s attitudes to torture and to the civilian population. Maina was stripped of her clothes and buried in a pit near the officers’ mess, but not before her dead body had been shot several times and the police, then under army command, had been instructed to report that she had been shot while attempting to escape from the custody van. In response to the repeated inquiries of Maina’s parents and teachers, the army stonewalled that she had never been in the barracks.

But Nepal was changing, and Maina’s parents did not give up. Nine months after her disappearance, they had mobilised enough pressure to force the army to conduct an inquiry. Seven months later it ruled that “she was not affiliated with the Maoist party”. The officer in command was confined to barracks for six months and barred from promotion for two years. Gen Katuwal’s army congratulated itself on keeping “a clear perspective on the promotion and protection of human rights”, adding that “the image of the Royal Nepali Army must be maintained high in national and international arenas”.

There was not, nor has there been since, any commitment to refrain from the use of torture on civilians. The case remains a scandal, and many have called for the officers to be put on trial. Last September, Foreign Office minister Kim Howells raised it with Gen Katuwal. Nothing has happened. Maina’s case is not an isolated example, and the army’s impunity for the crimes it has committed against the civilian population continues to threaten Nepal’s fragile peace process. As Khagendra Sharma, a Nepali analyst, wrote: “The army had an obvious role in suppressing the public during the April [2006] uprising and the high-level probe commission had recommended punitive action against a number of senior army officers. But the government did not take any action … The army not only took it as an amnesty for the past crime but also as an encouragement for future acts of a similar nature. There is a feeling of defiance. There is a lack of respect for the transition to a full-fledged democracy from the rule of a feudal monarchy.”

Gen Katuwal’s record on security services reform, in which the UK is to play a part, is equally dismal. In June local press reported that the modernisation of the Nepali ministry of defence had begun, with the help of a security sector development assistance team from Britain’s MoD. After six months of research the UK team had identified four major problems: torture and murder were not among them. Instead, overcrowding at headquarters, a lack of adequate officers, poor communications and a lack of incentive to employees were reported. The remedy, the British team suggested, was a “new building with adequate facilities, establishment of computerised network, development of human resources and the development of the ministry’s website”. For this purpose the MoD, on behalf of the British taxpayer, will generously provide more than £150,000.

Gen Katuwal’s reforms to date include the change of name to the Nepal Army, allowing soldiers’ wives to join the association previously reserved for the wives of officers, and a ban on officers swearing at their men. On the integration of former Maoist fighters into the army, torture, the education of the army in the principles of democracy and constitutional rule, it’s business as usual.