Ashu,

I sympathize with your situation. However, I couldn't resist chuckling with smugness for a while. See, I used to be surprised at people who were associated with Kamaiya movement (you included), because they "assumed" all pahadiyas who kept Kamaiyas were shoshak/samanti etc, and demanded their "release". Obviously, they failed to understand that the system might have sinister beginning at the start, but kamaiyas were actually paid what economists call "competitive wage": if there is a surplus supply of labor, you pay less, as simple as that. Kamaiya movement perhaps was started with a noble motive, but since it didn't understand the issue --not to mention the ridiculous communism-inspired everybody-should-get-10-kattha demand-- it ended up hurting kamaiyas. Lots of them are now equally worseoff, or worse, their daughters have ended up being prostitutes.

The rich in villages were never as rich or as cruel, but the likes of Khagendra Sangraula or Manjushree Thapa created the world where there were abundancy of tamsuk-writing anti-woman rights shoshaks in the villages who were being rescued by the khukuri-wielding red-bandanna-wearing revolutionaries. Their view was romantic, and contradicted the reality in village. Sure, there were one or two shoshaks in perhaps in every villages, but they were neither all too powerful, nor had they forced outcomes against individual's wishes anymore than the elites in KTM. But, as economists like to say, people attack the weakest quarries first (the one associated with the lowest marginal costs). And because of their half-baked western education , or perhaps due to the intention to distance themselves from caste system,  elite brahmins in KTM were the first one to encourage the impression that the village Brahmins were all chor-daku -"and, oh, no, we are not like them" impression. When poor Brahmins motorcycle (or TV)-owners were persecuted in villages by the Maoists, the latter were clapped as savior. If interest rate in village was higher, then it was the result of competitive rent setting; the lender factoring in all risks associated with lending the money, and if the government doesn't like it, the solution is to expand the reach of state owned credit institutions, not to excoriate/maim the village based lenders.

It all has culminated to today's chaos. When Maoists have attacked their own kinds, our KTM based wealthy class feigns surprise, and asks, "Who? Us? No way." Forgive me, if like others, I too fail to have sympathy for recent incidence's victims. And I too admire your media house a lot, but have a lot of complaints. Where were you when the country was declared secular without going to vote? Kanak Dixit, a man with admirable character, once wrote in an article that "He is atheist, ...". I was thinking how come a secular man wear his 'nonreligion' in sleeve. Why can't he just shut up, practice his faith without letting everyone know? Similarly, Himal ran two news articles in last few issues about a child's murder in Nepalgunj, and pinned the blame on Hindu baba who , it said, were killing kids. When the real killer was found out there was not even an apology. Hinduism in Nepal is attacked easily because most of the people who go to temple are poor villagers, women and children, and these are not the people who go to streets to protest. Democracy and press ethics has been never remembered when thrashing poor villager's/women/children belief. (To give you an example of how democracies work, gay rights was voted down in california this time around. Democrats should push for going to people regardless of their belief about it. Afulai secular man paryo bhane backdoor bata secularity pass garne pani hunchha?)

I can go on about it. But just like our elites in Kathmandu assumed things about village, the Maoists also assumed things about them. Those trained in reading Russian literatures are likely to see all factory owners as shoshak/samanti, as Lenin's movement was worker-inspired movement. Those familiar with Chinese literature are likely to regard all village heads as shoshak because Chinese movement was peasant inspired. The revolution has found its way towards culmination point, and kudos to capital based elites for stoking it all their life. Thankfully, some have already learnt the art of surviving revolution by joining the revolutionaries, such as Jyoti brothers....