Karmarana, Calling Maoists this and that will mean nothing. You can do that, for sure; but that will achieve nothing extra at this point. The reality is that: They exist -- out in the open in Nepal. They appear to wield enormous influence in Nepal so much o that they might write the Constitution pretty much their way. They have the center stage in Nepal at the moment NO MATTER how much one dislikes them. So what is one going to do? I, for one, am not sure. To be sure, Kathmandu's left-influenced intelligentsia is pretty much in love with Comrade Prachanda & Company. So far, with the exception of Kanak Dixit who wrote in that Himal Khabarpatrika article, no one really has asked difficult questions to Prachanda. Prachanda and Baburam are, meantime, enjoying their excellent adventures in Maopal (Mao + Nepal). The PESSIMISTIC part of me thinks that Nepal is slowly being gone and lost altogether -- no matter how much we shout aloud about democracy and fundamental rights. It's heading toward being a Maoist republic, and, when that happens, we will all --the free-thinker wallahs (for what our free-thinking is worth) -- suffer through the mechanics of such a regime for the next 10 to 20 years. The OPTIMISTIC part of me HUMOROUSLY thinks that, well, Prachanda turned out to be a pot-bellied middle-aged man with a fondness of Rayban goggles, Karisma Manandhar-films and chauffeur-driven cars. Maybe the Great One appreciates the finer things in life to the point that maybe, just maybe, he turns out to be lazy enough to give up his rigid stances on so many things to make live bearable to all. Somehow, I don't like that the pessimistic side of me is winning the internal battle :-( But then, what do I know? Meantime, the former kamaiyas of Nepal -- the poorest of the poor -- are asking that the government give them property that they can call their own (i.e. private property). And Maoists are against, well, private property. Go figure!! oohi ashu