Baltimore IMC : http://www.baltimoreimc.org
News :: Peace
Nepal: Bush Supports Human Rights Violations
People’s Revolutionary War To Resume Shortly In Nepal
In This Posting:
1. People’s Revolutionary War To Resume Shortly In Nepal, letter from Krishna Khatiwada
2. Nepal: Bush Supports Human Rights Violations By STEVE ARGUE
3. Letter To the Royal Nepal Government on Peace Negotiations From the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN [Maoist])
July 30th, 2003
Dear Friends,
In Nepal, the ceasefire is going to break very soon. This is because of the actions of the Royal Nepal Army which is randomly arresting, disappearing, and also killing more than one and half dozen activists in the midst of the ceasefire, ignoring the universal law of ceasefire, breaching the code of conduct, and disrespecting the agreements of first and second round table talks between the government and Maoist negotiating panels, and disappearing the members of Negotiation Management Committee, and arresting the office secretary of the contact office in blindfolds and handcuffs. Due to these repressive actions the contact office of the negotiation team was closed and all members of negotiating panel and party activists were compelled to go underground due to the insecurity caused by the Royal Nepal Army.
That is why we are going to deliver a protest letter to the Nepalese state through Brussels based royal Nepalese Embassy on this coming Wednesday demanding full adherence to the code of conduct agreed to in the first and second round talks between both sides. We humbly request all the progressive forces of the world to participate in pressuring the feudal Nepalese state to resolve the crisis of country through the democratic and scientific means of the Round Table Conference of all parties, all sections of people and representatives of the king which can form an Interim government with an Interim constitution to prepare the way for a new democratic constitution to form the basis of elections to a new constituent assembly for the people of Nepal.
Please convey this message to all democratic, progressive and leftist friends who can participate on the protest.
July 30th, 2003
Wednesday
From 14 to 15
In front of Royal Nepalese Embassy
24,Avenue Winston Churchill, 68 1180 Brussels, Belgium
With Warmest greetings,
Krishna Khatiwada
President
Nepalese People' Progressive Froum, Belgium
24, Avenue Winston Churchill,68
1180 Brussels, Belgium
************
Nepal: As Human Rights Violations Mount, Bush Asks Congress For $30
Million in Military Aid (May 11, 2002)
By STEVE ARGUE
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with an average yearly income $220 dollars a year and an estimated 40% of the people living below the poverty level. It is also the home of a popular socialist (Maoist) uprising that controls one quarter of the countryside. In those areas controlled by revolutionaries tremendous advances have been made in education, clean drinking water, women's rights, and land reform.
In November King Gyanendra ordered a state of emergency and suspended the Nepalese constitution. This was an official suspension of many rights that already were often violated. With the King's declaration he suspended the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of press, the right to privacy, and freedom from preventative detention.
Thirty Nepalese journalists are currently being held without charge and another seventy were previously arrested under the measures of the state of emergency. Obviously King Gyanendra fears the press's scrutiny of his actions.
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the state of emergency was declared. . Maja Daruwala, director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative says, "Extra-judicial killings have become too commonplace, and they are backed by assurances of impunity, an assured lack of scrutiny when the press is muzzled…"
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation of government killings stating: "Since the start of the "people's war", there has been increasing concern that the authorities have failed to impose strict limitations on the use of force and firearms
by the security forces or to take appropriate actions against abuses. This concern has heightened after the army was called out and the state of emergency imposed in late November 2001. Since then, the number of alleged unlawful killings have increased dramatically. The reported incidents have included killings of civilians in reprisal for
the killing of police and army personnel by members of the CPN (Maoist); killings of armed members of the CPN (Maoist) in circumstances where they could have been taken into custody or where they already had been taken prisoner, and the avoidable use of lethal force."
In addition Amnesty International States: "Political detainees are being tortured and unarmed civilians extrajudicially executed within the context of the government security forces' response to a Maoist "people's war", waged by armed members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), (CPN (Maoist))."
Ignoring human rights and supporting King Gyanandra in his war measures against both rebels and civilians Bush has asked congress for $30 million in military aid to Nepal. US military officials have also suggested that Nepal needs to increase the strength of its army to 200,000 from its current level of 40,000.
These moves towards supporting the repressive government of Nepal coincide with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Nepal where he made it clear that the U.S. supports the Nepalese government and its fight against the Maoist rebels. Powell and the corporate media made a point of calling the Maoists in Nepal "terrorists" putting U.S. aid to the King of Nepal within the context of Bush's so called war on terrorism. Meanwhile Powell covered up the fact that since the government of Nepal declared a "state of emergency" the Royal Nepalese Army has been carrying out a murderous "search and destroy" campaign in the countryside, killing, torturing and arresting hundreds of guerrillas and civilians accused of being Maoist sympathizers.
Popular support for the Maoist insurgency is strong both among the working class and among the peasantry. One indication of this popular support is the ability of rebels to call successful general strikes where the working class has shut down major cities simply by not going to work. In these strikes workers stay home and hold no demonstrations out of fear of government repression.
In the countryside, where a quarter of the country is controlled by revolutionaries, peasants form armed militias to defend themselves from the army and the police. Other peasants join the revolutionary army where they take the offensive attacking the police and army. These actions have included many successful attacks on police stations. With these operations the revolutionary movement has destroyed the ability of government forces to carry out their repressive actions in many parts of the country.
The BBC has documented some of the popular support for the revolution in as well. A couple recent interviews in areas controlled by the Maoists included the words of Sinal, a schoolteacher, who says, "In this place, when I came here, there was no drinking water. The Maoists have provided drinking water. If they see a problem they will do something for the people."
Another BBC quote was from Monomai who said, "The Maoists are the only ones helping women, "They give us more rights, and education - the government does nothing for us. If the enemy ever comes here, we women will fight them just as our men do."
In areas controlled by the King almost 80% of women cannot read or write. This is one of the highest female illiteracy rates in the world. In liberated zones this problem is being changed through the Maoist's commitment to education.
Under feudal tradition and patriarchy women are subjected to a life of servitude to fathers, husbands and sons. In rebel controlled zones household tasks are being shared between men and women. Women are also taking on leadership roles in the popular revolutionary government.
Under the feudal tradition women do not have the right to inherit land, but in revolutionary controlled zones women do have the right to land and they have gained access to it through the land reform policies of the revolution.
The revolution is also smashing feudal traditions of arranged marriages by parents where children have no say in whom they will marry. Under this tradition very young girls are sometimes forced into marriage even before they are teenagers. In addition widows are not allowed to remarry and are expected to spend their entire life in mourning.
Divorce is also now allowed in rebel controlled zones. Under the King divorce is not allowed.
The revolution is also combating the selling of women and girls into prostitution. Under the King tens of thousands of women are sold for the price of a water buffalo and sent to India where are dieing in large numbers from AIDS and abuse.
While the poor support the insurrection wealthy landowners, moneylenders, and corrupt politicians do not. In rebel controlled zones land is redistributed to the poor under the slogan of "land to the tiller", "debts" to wealthy moneylenders cancelled, and taxes are collected from the wealthy for projects to benefit the people. While the likes of Powell call the Maoist insurrection of Nepal terrorism, socialists call it a legitimate struggle for the liberation of the people of Nepal. Those on the left who want to draw equal signs between the revolutionary actions of the Maoist insurgency and the repression carried out by the King's forces are making a terrible mistake. While Liberation News fights for a more democratic form of socialism than that produced by Mao Tse Tung thought, we also understand that the socialist model, even in a deformed state, is superior to the sexism, hunger, illiteracy and disease of capitalism and feudalism. With this understanding we uncompromisingly state that it would be a mistake to stay neutral or silent in the face of escalating U.S. intervention in Nepal.
NO TO U.S. MILITARY AID TO THE KING OF NEPAL! End U.S. imperialism through socialist revolution in the United States!
www.cpnm.org/other-information/to_negotiationteam.htm
To the Negotiation Team,
Of The Old State Establishment (His Majesty’s Government)
Through: Facilitators Messrs Padmaratna Tuladhar, Damannath Dhungana, Sailendra Upadhya and Karnadhwaj Adhikari.
Motion: About Preconditions for the Third Round of Dialogue.
Misters,
We have received the letter that the Old state establishment (His majesty’s government) sent on 2060/3/29 (13 July 2003) urging us, “to resume the third round of dialogue with no delay.” Having studied the letter in depth and analysed the results of the formal and informal dialogue between the representatives of the old and the new states, under the guidance of the Chairman of CPN (Maoist) and the Supreme Commander of People’s Liberation Army (Nepal) Comrade Prachanda, we have sent the following reply on the premises for the third round of he dialogue.
1. The manifestation of strategic equilibrium as a consequence of seven long years’ of vicious civil war in the country; the cease-fire announcement of 2059/10/15 (29 January 2003) is due to complete a six-months period shortly. It is well known that the 22 Point Code of Conduct was issued to systematise the cease-fire and two rounds of formal dialogue took place in order to find a progressive way forward out of the current political impasse. But the Old State has completely lost its credibility owing to its constant breach of the ceasefire and the Code of Conduct, especially by the its Royal Army, and until today, by not complying with the decisions of the second round of dialogue in which it was agreed that the Royal Army limit its movements to within a radius of 5 kilometers, the release of all political prisoners, including the three central-level leaders of our party and to make public the whereabouts of the disappeared. Further, in the latest development, the office secretary of our negotiation contact office, Bharat Dhungana and a member of the negotiation managing committee, Gyanendra Tripathi, have been abducted in Kathmandu. Moreover, the kidnapping of our leaders and cadres from Dolkha, Khotang and other parts of the country proves that the Old State is bent on breaking the negotiation process and pushing the country into the vortex of a civil war. In this context, we will have no alternative but to come to the conclusion that the Old State has broken with the negotiation process unilaterally and there is no meaning to the third round of negotiation without the immediate implementation of decisions of the second round of peace talks.
2. It is well known to all that the Old State has been run by the present self-proclaimed king covertly since the Royal carnage of 1st June 2001 (2058/2/19) and overtly since 4th October 2002 (2059/6/18). In these circumstances, it is evident that the present cabinet of His Majesty’s government and the negotiation team forged by it deserves executive rights equivalent to zero. There is no doubt that because of King’s monitoring and guiding from the back of the curtain and a unauthorised and miserable negotiation team appearing at the stage since the declaration of cease-fire and second round of negotiation including the important things caused hurdles in the negotiation process. In this reference, we have a firm opinion that in order to make the third round of negotiations meaningful either the king himself should participate in the negotiation process or he has to make his public commitment with a clear and un-ambivalent statement, announcing that the negotiation team deserves full rights to negotiate all necessary aspects including forward going political outlet and he (the king) himself is fully committed to execute the negotiation.
3. The root essence of the cease-fire and peace negotiation is: both of the army remain at their respected controlled areas as it was at the stage of ceasefire situation, either of the parties make no armed intervention to other’s areas and the army must accept unconditionally the decision of their respective political leadership. In our context, accepting the ground reality that the headquarters and big cities were under the control of Royal army of the Old state and rest of the vast countryside remained under the control of the people’s liberation army (PLA) of the new state at the pre-ceasefire position, it was mentioned on the code of conduct at article 4 as “both parties will abide by not carry out any provocative activities in the sensitive areas of the other”. But the Royal army of the Old state, having breached the objective reality of two states and two armies, not only committed a heinous act by intruding into the new state and the area of the people’s liberation army, it also adventured in penetrations everywhere in the name of the so-called health camp campaign and dared to directly ignored the decision of its own leadership about 5 Kilometre (which was agreed to by old state). Through the view point of national independence and national sovereignty, the grave question is that the “Royal Nepal army” has objectively been turning out to be “Royal American army” by hiring hundreds of American army experts and advisers and bringing them into the country and that situation has signalled a vicious conspiracy of imposing a foreign puppet regime by averting the peace negotiation process. In this situation, in order to create a credible atmosphere for the new step in negotiations, the Royal army must immediately stop its anti negotiation attempts and must declare a commitment to abide by fully and unconditionally all of the decisions and steps of the peace negotiations and all the hired foreign army advisors and army experts should immediately be expelled from the country.
4. Today, the objective necessity and the willingness of the country and the people is not that “negotiation is for negotiation” but that “negotiation should be for a forward going political solution”. Having underlined these facts, we presented the political agendas in a systematic and written form, addressing to the present objective reality of the power balance with central aspect of political outlet and its process and method in the first round of negotiations on 2060/1/14 (27 April 2003). It has been crystal clear in different ways that there is broad support from the broad masses including all section of people of all oppressed classes, nationalities, regions and sexes for the new type of democratic system to be instituted through round table conference, interim government and election of the constituent assembly, bearing the essence of making the people practically sovereign by creating a capitalist multiparty democracy instead of the debacle of a hybrid monarchical parliamentarian system. But even after three months passed by, the old state has neither expressed any comment to that proposal nor has it dared to present its separate political agenda. Rather, the changing persons at the chair of the changing puppet government on the sentiment of the newly proclaimed king and foreign pressure, have time and again been expressing in direct and indirect language about holding parliamentarian election within the framework of the old system without obstacles by solving the so called Maoist problem. The present problem of nationality, democracy and livelihood is the problem of century’s long structural crisis in the political, economic social and cultural arena, and are the contradictions of classes, nationality, regions and sexes; but nowhere in their words or actions are found the solutions to these problems with forward going political changes and a progressive new constitution as the minimum of necessities. In this context, in order to assure that the next step dialogue is not a game for buying time for the old governments preparations for war, it has will be necessary for the old state to declare its political positions prior to the next round of dialogue.
5. Despite the conflict in the country between the Royal army of the old state and the people’s liberation army of the new state through a military point of view, the competition among three forces – the retrogressive autocratic monarchical forces, status quoist parliamentarian forces and progressive revolutionary people’s democratic forces is the bitter truth from a political viewpoint. But maintaining this tripartite conflict for indefinite period is not possible from a scientific and practical point of view. Either this conflict will be solved through a minimum forward going political outlet acceptable for all three forces through peace negotiations, or otherwise, the status quoist force is obliged to be fragmented and divided or polarised between two arenas of the progressive and retrogressive forces. The hesitation of the parliamentarians to advance through the election of a constituent assembly and their practice of sticking to status quoism despite the broad wishes of the majority of their own cadres have been no less of an obstacle in the negotiation process. It has been crystal clear that the monkey-hiccups of the leadership of the parliamentarian forces have become pretexts for the autocratic monarchists to stall in the peace negotiations. In this context, we want to make clear to them that the relevance of the new dialogue will be if they clarify their position shortly, having recognised that the revolutionary people’s democratic forces have come to today’s strength by resisting the combined attacks of the monarchist and the parliamentarian forces in the past.
6. Truth is always solid and clear. Therefore, the unclear harping of negotiations by the old state so far deserves no meaning and importance. We are still in a position to favour forward going political solutions through negotiations. We are specifically sensitive on the question of not letting the civil war in the country be intensified and not let the foreign military boots of U.S. imperialism be stomped on the chest of the patriotic Nepalese people. But if the ‘Royal Nepalese army’ turns out to ‘Royal American army’, we are committed to defeat that with us being the Vietnamese liberation fighters of the 21st century. We urge that the old state come to its senses and comply to the terms of the second round of negotiations, by applying them immediately and thus creating a favourable atmosphere for the third round of negotiations. Otherwise, we want to make it clear through this letter that we will be obliged to resist any attempts of violating the code of conduct and the decisions of the second round negotiations. It is obvious that the old state is responsible for the consequences that flow from that.
S/d
Baburam Bhattarai
Coordinator, Negotiation Panel
CPN (Maoist)
The homepage for Liberation News can be found at
lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news
People may subscribe to the list by sending email to
liberation_news-subscribe-AT-lists.riseup.net
1. People’s Revolutionary War To Resume Shortly In Nepal, letter from Krishna Khatiwada
2. Nepal: Bush Supports Human Rights Violations By STEVE ARGUE
3. Letter To the Royal Nepal Government on Peace Negotiations From the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN [Maoist])
July 30th, 2003
Dear Friends,
In Nepal, the ceasefire is going to break very soon. This is because of the actions of the Royal Nepal Army which is randomly arresting, disappearing, and also killing more than one and half dozen activists in the midst of the ceasefire, ignoring the universal law of ceasefire, breaching the code of conduct, and disrespecting the agreements of first and second round table talks between the government and Maoist negotiating panels, and disappearing the members of Negotiation Management Committee, and arresting the office secretary of the contact office in blindfolds and handcuffs. Due to these repressive actions the contact office of the negotiation team was closed and all members of negotiating panel and party activists were compelled to go underground due to the insecurity caused by the Royal Nepal Army.
That is why we are going to deliver a protest letter to the Nepalese state through Brussels based royal Nepalese Embassy on this coming Wednesday demanding full adherence to the code of conduct agreed to in the first and second round talks between both sides. We humbly request all the progressive forces of the world to participate in pressuring the feudal Nepalese state to resolve the crisis of country through the democratic and scientific means of the Round Table Conference of all parties, all sections of people and representatives of the king which can form an Interim government with an Interim constitution to prepare the way for a new democratic constitution to form the basis of elections to a new constituent assembly for the people of Nepal.
Please convey this message to all democratic, progressive and leftist friends who can participate on the protest.
July 30th, 2003
Wednesday
From 14 to 15
In front of Royal Nepalese Embassy
24,Avenue Winston Churchill, 68 1180 Brussels, Belgium
With Warmest greetings,
Krishna Khatiwada
President
Nepalese People' Progressive Froum, Belgium
24, Avenue Winston Churchill,68
1180 Brussels, Belgium
************
Nepal: As Human Rights Violations Mount, Bush Asks Congress For $30
Million in Military Aid (May 11, 2002)
By STEVE ARGUE
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with an average yearly income $220 dollars a year and an estimated 40% of the people living below the poverty level. It is also the home of a popular socialist (Maoist) uprising that controls one quarter of the countryside. In those areas controlled by revolutionaries tremendous advances have been made in education, clean drinking water, women's rights, and land reform.
In November King Gyanendra ordered a state of emergency and suspended the Nepalese constitution. This was an official suspension of many rights that already were often violated. With the King's declaration he suspended the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of press, the right to privacy, and freedom from preventative detention.
Thirty Nepalese journalists are currently being held without charge and another seventy were previously arrested under the measures of the state of emergency. Obviously King Gyanendra fears the press's scrutiny of his actions.
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the state of emergency was declared. . Maja Daruwala, director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative says, "Extra-judicial killings have become too commonplace, and they are backed by assurances of impunity, an assured lack of scrutiny when the press is muzzled…"
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation of government killings stating: "Since the start of the "people's war", there has been increasing concern that the authorities have failed to impose strict limitations on the use of force and firearms
by the security forces or to take appropriate actions against abuses. This concern has heightened after the army was called out and the state of emergency imposed in late November 2001. Since then, the number of alleged unlawful killings have increased dramatically. The reported incidents have included killings of civilians in reprisal for
the killing of police and army personnel by members of the CPN (Maoist); killings of armed members of the CPN (Maoist) in circumstances where they could have been taken into custody or where they already had been taken prisoner, and the avoidable use of lethal force."
In addition Amnesty International States: "Political detainees are being tortured and unarmed civilians extrajudicially executed within the context of the government security forces' response to a Maoist "people's war", waged by armed members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), (CPN (Maoist))."
Ignoring human rights and supporting King Gyanandra in his war measures against both rebels and civilians Bush has asked congress for $30 million in military aid to Nepal. US military officials have also suggested that Nepal needs to increase the strength of its army to 200,000 from its current level of 40,000.
These moves towards supporting the repressive government of Nepal coincide with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Nepal where he made it clear that the U.S. supports the Nepalese government and its fight against the Maoist rebels. Powell and the corporate media made a point of calling the Maoists in Nepal "terrorists" putting U.S. aid to the King of Nepal within the context of Bush's so called war on terrorism. Meanwhile Powell covered up the fact that since the government of Nepal declared a "state of emergency" the Royal Nepalese Army has been carrying out a murderous "search and destroy" campaign in the countryside, killing, torturing and arresting hundreds of guerrillas and civilians accused of being Maoist sympathizers.
Popular support for the Maoist insurgency is strong both among the working class and among the peasantry. One indication of this popular support is the ability of rebels to call successful general strikes where the working class has shut down major cities simply by not going to work. In these strikes workers stay home and hold no demonstrations out of fear of government repression.
In the countryside, where a quarter of the country is controlled by revolutionaries, peasants form armed militias to defend themselves from the army and the police. Other peasants join the revolutionary army where they take the offensive attacking the police and army. These actions have included many successful attacks on police stations. With these operations the revolutionary movement has destroyed the ability of government forces to carry out their repressive actions in many parts of the country.
The BBC has documented some of the popular support for the revolution in as well. A couple recent interviews in areas controlled by the Maoists included the words of Sinal, a schoolteacher, who says, "In this place, when I came here, there was no drinking water. The Maoists have provided drinking water. If they see a problem they will do something for the people."
Another BBC quote was from Monomai who said, "The Maoists are the only ones helping women, "They give us more rights, and education - the government does nothing for us. If the enemy ever comes here, we women will fight them just as our men do."
In areas controlled by the King almost 80% of women cannot read or write. This is one of the highest female illiteracy rates in the world. In liberated zones this problem is being changed through the Maoist's commitment to education.
Under feudal tradition and patriarchy women are subjected to a life of servitude to fathers, husbands and sons. In rebel controlled zones household tasks are being shared between men and women. Women are also taking on leadership roles in the popular revolutionary government.
Under the feudal tradition women do not have the right to inherit land, but in revolutionary controlled zones women do have the right to land and they have gained access to it through the land reform policies of the revolution.
The revolution is also smashing feudal traditions of arranged marriages by parents where children have no say in whom they will marry. Under this tradition very young girls are sometimes forced into marriage even before they are teenagers. In addition widows are not allowed to remarry and are expected to spend their entire life in mourning.
Divorce is also now allowed in rebel controlled zones. Under the King divorce is not allowed.
The revolution is also combating the selling of women and girls into prostitution. Under the King tens of thousands of women are sold for the price of a water buffalo and sent to India where are dieing in large numbers from AIDS and abuse.
While the poor support the insurrection wealthy landowners, moneylenders, and corrupt politicians do not. In rebel controlled zones land is redistributed to the poor under the slogan of "land to the tiller", "debts" to wealthy moneylenders cancelled, and taxes are collected from the wealthy for projects to benefit the people. While the likes of Powell call the Maoist insurrection of Nepal terrorism, socialists call it a legitimate struggle for the liberation of the people of Nepal. Those on the left who want to draw equal signs between the revolutionary actions of the Maoist insurgency and the repression carried out by the King's forces are making a terrible mistake. While Liberation News fights for a more democratic form of socialism than that produced by Mao Tse Tung thought, we also understand that the socialist model, even in a deformed state, is superior to the sexism, hunger, illiteracy and disease of capitalism and feudalism. With this understanding we uncompromisingly state that it would be a mistake to stay neutral or silent in the face of escalating U.S. intervention in Nepal.
NO TO U.S. MILITARY AID TO THE KING OF NEPAL! End U.S. imperialism through socialist revolution in the United States!
www.cpnm.org/other-information/to_negotiationteam.htm
To the Negotiation Team,
Of The Old State Establishment (His Majesty’s Government)
Through: Facilitators Messrs Padmaratna Tuladhar, Damannath Dhungana, Sailendra Upadhya and Karnadhwaj Adhikari.
Motion: About Preconditions for the Third Round of Dialogue.
Misters,
We have received the letter that the Old state establishment (His majesty’s government) sent on 2060/3/29 (13 July 2003) urging us, “to resume the third round of dialogue with no delay.” Having studied the letter in depth and analysed the results of the formal and informal dialogue between the representatives of the old and the new states, under the guidance of the Chairman of CPN (Maoist) and the Supreme Commander of People’s Liberation Army (Nepal) Comrade Prachanda, we have sent the following reply on the premises for the third round of he dialogue.
1. The manifestation of strategic equilibrium as a consequence of seven long years’ of vicious civil war in the country; the cease-fire announcement of 2059/10/15 (29 January 2003) is due to complete a six-months period shortly. It is well known that the 22 Point Code of Conduct was issued to systematise the cease-fire and two rounds of formal dialogue took place in order to find a progressive way forward out of the current political impasse. But the Old State has completely lost its credibility owing to its constant breach of the ceasefire and the Code of Conduct, especially by the its Royal Army, and until today, by not complying with the decisions of the second round of dialogue in which it was agreed that the Royal Army limit its movements to within a radius of 5 kilometers, the release of all political prisoners, including the three central-level leaders of our party and to make public the whereabouts of the disappeared. Further, in the latest development, the office secretary of our negotiation contact office, Bharat Dhungana and a member of the negotiation managing committee, Gyanendra Tripathi, have been abducted in Kathmandu. Moreover, the kidnapping of our leaders and cadres from Dolkha, Khotang and other parts of the country proves that the Old State is bent on breaking the negotiation process and pushing the country into the vortex of a civil war. In this context, we will have no alternative but to come to the conclusion that the Old State has broken with the negotiation process unilaterally and there is no meaning to the third round of negotiation without the immediate implementation of decisions of the second round of peace talks.
2. It is well known to all that the Old State has been run by the present self-proclaimed king covertly since the Royal carnage of 1st June 2001 (2058/2/19) and overtly since 4th October 2002 (2059/6/18). In these circumstances, it is evident that the present cabinet of His Majesty’s government and the negotiation team forged by it deserves executive rights equivalent to zero. There is no doubt that because of King’s monitoring and guiding from the back of the curtain and a unauthorised and miserable negotiation team appearing at the stage since the declaration of cease-fire and second round of negotiation including the important things caused hurdles in the negotiation process. In this reference, we have a firm opinion that in order to make the third round of negotiations meaningful either the king himself should participate in the negotiation process or he has to make his public commitment with a clear and un-ambivalent statement, announcing that the negotiation team deserves full rights to negotiate all necessary aspects including forward going political outlet and he (the king) himself is fully committed to execute the negotiation.
3. The root essence of the cease-fire and peace negotiation is: both of the army remain at their respected controlled areas as it was at the stage of ceasefire situation, either of the parties make no armed intervention to other’s areas and the army must accept unconditionally the decision of their respective political leadership. In our context, accepting the ground reality that the headquarters and big cities were under the control of Royal army of the Old state and rest of the vast countryside remained under the control of the people’s liberation army (PLA) of the new state at the pre-ceasefire position, it was mentioned on the code of conduct at article 4 as “both parties will abide by not carry out any provocative activities in the sensitive areas of the other”. But the Royal army of the Old state, having breached the objective reality of two states and two armies, not only committed a heinous act by intruding into the new state and the area of the people’s liberation army, it also adventured in penetrations everywhere in the name of the so-called health camp campaign and dared to directly ignored the decision of its own leadership about 5 Kilometre (which was agreed to by old state). Through the view point of national independence and national sovereignty, the grave question is that the “Royal Nepal army” has objectively been turning out to be “Royal American army” by hiring hundreds of American army experts and advisers and bringing them into the country and that situation has signalled a vicious conspiracy of imposing a foreign puppet regime by averting the peace negotiation process. In this situation, in order to create a credible atmosphere for the new step in negotiations, the Royal army must immediately stop its anti negotiation attempts and must declare a commitment to abide by fully and unconditionally all of the decisions and steps of the peace negotiations and all the hired foreign army advisors and army experts should immediately be expelled from the country.
4. Today, the objective necessity and the willingness of the country and the people is not that “negotiation is for negotiation” but that “negotiation should be for a forward going political solution”. Having underlined these facts, we presented the political agendas in a systematic and written form, addressing to the present objective reality of the power balance with central aspect of political outlet and its process and method in the first round of negotiations on 2060/1/14 (27 April 2003). It has been crystal clear in different ways that there is broad support from the broad masses including all section of people of all oppressed classes, nationalities, regions and sexes for the new type of democratic system to be instituted through round table conference, interim government and election of the constituent assembly, bearing the essence of making the people practically sovereign by creating a capitalist multiparty democracy instead of the debacle of a hybrid monarchical parliamentarian system. But even after three months passed by, the old state has neither expressed any comment to that proposal nor has it dared to present its separate political agenda. Rather, the changing persons at the chair of the changing puppet government on the sentiment of the newly proclaimed king and foreign pressure, have time and again been expressing in direct and indirect language about holding parliamentarian election within the framework of the old system without obstacles by solving the so called Maoist problem. The present problem of nationality, democracy and livelihood is the problem of century’s long structural crisis in the political, economic social and cultural arena, and are the contradictions of classes, nationality, regions and sexes; but nowhere in their words or actions are found the solutions to these problems with forward going political changes and a progressive new constitution as the minimum of necessities. In this context, in order to assure that the next step dialogue is not a game for buying time for the old governments preparations for war, it has will be necessary for the old state to declare its political positions prior to the next round of dialogue.
5. Despite the conflict in the country between the Royal army of the old state and the people’s liberation army of the new state through a military point of view, the competition among three forces – the retrogressive autocratic monarchical forces, status quoist parliamentarian forces and progressive revolutionary people’s democratic forces is the bitter truth from a political viewpoint. But maintaining this tripartite conflict for indefinite period is not possible from a scientific and practical point of view. Either this conflict will be solved through a minimum forward going political outlet acceptable for all three forces through peace negotiations, or otherwise, the status quoist force is obliged to be fragmented and divided or polarised between two arenas of the progressive and retrogressive forces. The hesitation of the parliamentarians to advance through the election of a constituent assembly and their practice of sticking to status quoism despite the broad wishes of the majority of their own cadres have been no less of an obstacle in the negotiation process. It has been crystal clear that the monkey-hiccups of the leadership of the parliamentarian forces have become pretexts for the autocratic monarchists to stall in the peace negotiations. In this context, we want to make clear to them that the relevance of the new dialogue will be if they clarify their position shortly, having recognised that the revolutionary people’s democratic forces have come to today’s strength by resisting the combined attacks of the monarchist and the parliamentarian forces in the past.
6. Truth is always solid and clear. Therefore, the unclear harping of negotiations by the old state so far deserves no meaning and importance. We are still in a position to favour forward going political solutions through negotiations. We are specifically sensitive on the question of not letting the civil war in the country be intensified and not let the foreign military boots of U.S. imperialism be stomped on the chest of the patriotic Nepalese people. But if the ‘Royal Nepalese army’ turns out to ‘Royal American army’, we are committed to defeat that with us being the Vietnamese liberation fighters of the 21st century. We urge that the old state come to its senses and comply to the terms of the second round of negotiations, by applying them immediately and thus creating a favourable atmosphere for the third round of negotiations. Otherwise, we want to make it clear through this letter that we will be obliged to resist any attempts of violating the code of conduct and the decisions of the second round negotiations. It is obvious that the old state is responsible for the consequences that flow from that.
S/d
Baburam Bhattarai
Coordinator, Negotiation Panel
CPN (Maoist)
The homepage for Liberation News can be found at
lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news
People may subscribe to the list by sending email to
liberation_news-subscribe-AT-lists.riseup.net
Views
Information
Search
This site made manifest by dadaIMC software