Maoists revert to revolt in Nepal

Published by Asia Times in www.atimes.net/speakingfreely on May 04 2010

Dubbed as the 'third people’s movement' by the Maoists and as an illegitimate attempt to capture state power by their rivals, the current street protests by the Maoists in Nepal may potentially change the course of Nepali history as well as regional geostrategic relations. China and India are therefore watching with wary eyes.


It has been common among the analysts to anticipate something drastic, often dramatic and frightening about the political future of Nepal over the past few years. The forecasts about the economy of Nepal have been even more pervasively gloomy as each of the gloomier prediction has turned truer than the more optimistic ones, eventually. The origin of multifaceted conflicts after the apparent end of the State-Maoist conflict with resulting chaos and anarchy has added to the over-all pessimistic tone of analyses. Over the past year, since the sudden ouster of the Maoists-led coalition government, it has been commonplace to anticipate some kind of major confrontation between the two emerging poles as inevitable.

And finally that prediction has come true with the Maoists in the streets with full force against the rightist coalition of the PM M. K. Nepal. They have now virtually filled the streets of Kathmandu and other major cities with the agenda of ousting the incumbent government from streets after failure of their attempts to dislodge it from the parliament. And it was more than coincidence that they chose the historically important May 1 to begin their mass protest. The attempts at reconciling the two receding poles have effectively failed now as both the government and the Maoists have followed the steps that are definitely irreversible. The end of the confrontation is hard to speculate even though the daily developments over the past two days tell a lot about the prospective fate of the two sides.

Maoists Invite Harsh Indian Reposte

Published by Asia Times in www.atimes.net/speakingfreely on April 2010

An offensive by Maoist rebels in India that killed 76 security forces sets the stage for a huge counter-insurgency drive by the government. The dire need of addressing the grievances of indigenous people will, however, sustain a blow as hawks in the media and the military demand nothing short of annihilation of the nagging security threat.

Not every thing is fine inside the world's most populous democracy. And a modest to rapid growth in Gross Domestic Product is not all that matters when it comes to the over-all social well-being of the state. And the maladies of a perfect-looking market capitalism cannot be hidden forever. The rise of the leftist insurgency in India reflects these things more than anything else. The latest incident in which the Naxalites wiped out 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel comes as a harbinger of the bloody days ahead. And the population of the impoverished and marginalized parts of the country is going to bear the brunt of the major counter-offensive that the Indian state is all set to roll over.

The outrage of the 'legitimate' political parties including the Marxist ones, the ideological siblings of the Maoists, towards the Naxalites is perfectly understandable. The media industry is justifiably more aggressive towards the 'savage' rebels and is hell-bent at creating the maximum negative publicity for the rebels. The security agencies have assessed the leftist insurgency to be a genuine threat to the Indian state for long and opined for an approach to eradicate them at the earliest rather than depending upon deceptive negotiations. This has created a significant consensus among all those, whose opinion matters, that the menace of the Naxalites should be ended at the earliest by using whatever amount of force required. The state has already made clear that it may not keep depending solely on the police forces indefinitely to fight the rebels. The editorials of major newspapers and magazines have unambiguously demanded the government to promptly take the action of 'appropriate' magnitude. The political parties across the spectrum have consensually rallied behind the option of using more intense brute force against the rebels so that they can be crushed once and for ever.

Nepal adrift after icon's death

Published by Asia Times on www.atimes.net/speakingfreely on 22 march 2010

The demise of Nepal's most important political figure, five-time Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, comes as an enormous setback in the country's painful transition period. Nepalis mourn the 'premature' death of the 86-year-old because of his extraordinary bridge-building. It is now up to a younger lot of politicians to emulate Koirala and save the shaky peace.

Few of the leaders in Nepal have shown the integrity and resilience expected of the powerful people with responsibility to lead the masses. Ironically enough, the politics in Nepal has revolved around persons rather than the system and pathetic leadership has been perennially held responsible for the misery of this small land-locked country, particularly after the repeated practices with democracy. B.P. Koirala was probably an exception with his relatively impressive performance after he became the first ever elected prime minister of Nepal. His efforts to institutionalize democracy were hard for then King Mahendra to digest, his government was then toppled, the leaders jailed and he was snatched away by lung cancer before the people's movement could re-establish democracy in Nepal in 1990.

Girija Prasad Koirala (GPK), the youngest brother of BP Koirala, the five time PM of Nepal, also succumbed to the lung problems today, on March 21, leaving much of the questions in Nepali political arena unanswered just when many had placed great hopes on him. Though the fate of the octogenarian leader was more or less known for last few weeks as his lungs were just refusing to comply the doctor's orders, his death has shocked many who were praying for his recovery. The belief that he was the only person potentially able to avert the overt confrontation between the polarized political camps has made the loss of this leader more painful at the moment. The apprehension has suddenly grown that the two camps led by the Maoists and their rivals will invite the chaos sooner now with formulation of poor or no constitution and disruption of the peace process.

Media Murders Rock Fragile Nepal

published by Asia Times on atimes.net/speakingfreely on March 10

Recent assassinations of prominent media personalities in Nepal with alleged complicity of the country's politicized police have furthered the rising sense of insecurity among ordinary people. The impunity with which suspected 'anti-Idia' Muslims in Nepal are being bumped off compounds the crisis of constitutional stalemate and protrends total anarchy.

Nepal's security has been in a dilapidated state ever since the armed rebellion by the leftist guerillas started in 1996. A decade of fierce armed conflict followed by a highly volatile transitional period both have shaken and demoralized the security apparatus thoroughly. What is shocking everyone at the moment is the phenomenon in which the incidents that used to be sporadic have now become endemic with increasing institutionalization of crime. The clandestine involvement of the former and possibly the serving police officers in the high-profile killing of Media entrepreneur Jamim Shah has drawn the ire from media community as well as public. To add insult to injury, another media entrepreneur in south-eastern town of Janakpur, Arun Singhaniya was subsequently shot dead.

The security lapses that made it possible to kill Shah in broad daylight in one of the most 'secure' and busy area in Kathmandu are flabbergasting. But what dwarfs the inexcusable negligence by police personnel is the shoddy role played by the leadership of the police and the politicians, particularly the minister of Home affairs in the aftermath. The pervading feeling of hopelessness in all quarters after it became clear that the mastermind was the notorious international gangster Chhota Rajan, was easily visible. Even the prime minister could only regret and admit that his government was incapable of providing the required security but there was no unambiguous assurance that the similar further incidents would be avoided.

System Abets India's Burqa War

Published by Asia Times in www.atimes.net/speakingfreely on March 4

Indian subcontinent has never become a truly tolerant place for religious and other dissidents. The latest episode of violence makes exiled Bangladeshi author and activist Nasreen the scapegoat.


Once again the religious extremists ran amok in India reminding people that no serious issue is actually required to incite communal violence in the Indian subcontinent that has seen innumerable bloodbaths with their origin in religious conflicts***. The pretext was the publication of an article by Taslima Nasreen allegedly criticizing the practice of 'burqa' among the Muslims by a Kannada daily in Karnataka state on 1st March. The protest by the Muslim organizations and the subsequent clashes with the rival communities led to the death of two people and destruction of huge amount of property by vandalization of the vehicles and torching of hundreds of shops. The fragility of the communal harmony in the country is shown clearly by the episode though the controversy surrounding the rebellious Bangladeshi author and activist Nasreen is by no means a new thing.

Though, by now, it is common to lump such 'minor' incidents of unrest together with many others that occur frequently, that may be least helpful to understand the underlying pathology of religious intolerance and violence. The 'high profile' terrorist attacks to targets in India that often embitter the relationship between India and Pakistan draw wide coverage from the media and discourse among the intellectuals. The incidents of communal violence of various magnitudes are also no less important in understanding the socio-political dynamics of India as well as the region. Since the history of known Hindu-Muslim animosity in the subcontinent goes back centuries down the history, we will trace it in very recent history so that the pretext of rebellion by Nasreen against the Islam-as-usual can be understood, helping to clarify some of the controversies surrounding her.