LETS HOPE EVERYTHING IN NEPAL GOES WELL AND STARTS THE PEACE TALKS WITH MAOISTS, AND ONCE AGAIN NEPAL START CALLING AS ASIA's SWITZERLAND
N= NEVER
E= ENDS
P= PEACE
A= AND
L= LOVE

Nepal's new government, headed by King Gyanendra, has offered to hold unconditional talks with Maoist rebels to end an insurgency that has claimed more than 11 000 lives, state media said on Monday.

The rebels have previously said they will negotiate only with the king or his representatives under an international mediator, with an agenda that includes electing a constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution.

"Now they should come for dialogue without any conditions," said a government statement, adding that those issues can be discussed if the rebels agree to meet a committee of Cabinet ministers, which has still to be appointed.

The Maoist agenda of a round-table conference and an interim government and Assembly "can be discussed at the negotiating table".

Gyanendra, who controls the army, last week fired the government led by prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to organise elections and for failing to end the Maoist insurgency.

He named a loyalist Cabinet under his chairmanship, declared a state of emergency and pledged to restore multiparty democracy in three years.

However, in India, two senior Nepalese politicians leading a group of six that fled across the border at the weekend urged the Maoists not to listen to Gyanendra.

"We today appeal to the Maoists not to hold talks with the king ... they should seek a democratic solution to their demands," said Dilendra Bood, a senior figure and former education minister in Nepal.

"The Maoist issue must be debated in the democratically elected House because there are no military solutions," Bood said. "We also demand the release of all leaders who have been detained after the king sacked Deuba, and we also demand the lifting of press censorship, restoration of communication and the reestablishment of our Parliament."

Bood was a member of the government of prime minister GP Koirala, who was sacked and imprisoned in December 1960 by King Mahendra, the current monarch's father, and is today under house arrest.

Vinay Dhwaj Chandra, chief whip in the Nepali Congress party, in a separate interview called on India to help.

"We have come to secure moral support for the democratic movement for which we will be also meeting leaders of national political parties in India," said Chandra.

He said his party workers on Monday distributed pamphlets in the Nepalese district of Baitari, urging the Maoist leadership to stay away from any negotiation with the king or his representatives.

Scores of political leaders, party and union leaders are under arrest, press censorship has been imposed and any criticism of the king's action has been banned.

On Monday, human rights groups held a meeting in defiance of a ban on gatherings and called for a protest on February 10 near the federal government's central secretariat.

The meeting urged activists to court arrest and called for the restoration of democracy and press freedom.

"We would like to fill the jails of Nepal for the sake of democracy, human rights and peace," said Krishna Pahadi, former president of the Nepal Human Rights and Peace Society.

Maoist guerrilla leader Prachanda had refused to hold talks with the previous government but he also described the king's takeover as illegal and urged "pro-people forces of the world" to oppose the power grab.

The conflict between the army and the Maoists has become increasingly savage since it erupted in 1996, with human rights groups accusing both sides of atrocities.

The Maoists say they control much of the countryside outside of the capital and the surrounding Kathmandu Valley.

The Himalayan nation of 27-million, one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, has been largely isolated since the king cut phone services and internet links last week. -- Sapa-AFP

eh kale,
i really really really appreciate your view. you are a true citizen of nepal.
i read the news, its interesting. just hope the maoists agree.
we need positive-thinking citizens like you.
hajurbaa.

When democracy fails the smell test

In all the debate about democracy and elections in Iraq, scant media attention was given to political events in Nepal this week. On Feb. 1, King Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency.

He also suspended constitutional freedoms of press, speech and expression, freedom of assembly, the right to privacy, and constitutional protection against news censorship and preventive detention.

Phone lines, internet, airports ? all communication and travel to and from the country was shut down. Soldiers parked outside newspaper offices and also entered offices, where reports first had to receive military clearance.

The army also increased its presence to ensure security in all cities and towns.

Why did the king do this? Because he says he can do a better job putting down the Maoist rebel insurgency in the country than the prime minister was previously doing ? a prime minister that the king himself had appointed in the first place, by the way.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Iraqis went to vote under a tight curfew. No traffic was allowed, there was beefed up security in all cities, the country's borders were sealed, and airports closed.

Iraq also has a higher political authority ? known officially as the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) ? which is overseeing democracy in the country, having vetted a prime minister and a transitional government.

The CPA is also trying to put down a violent insurgency which aims to remove the Americans from power.

Hmm, there seem to be some striking parallels between Iraq and Nepal right about now.

The current political similarities between these two otherwise radically different countries demonstrate the artificial nature of a democratic process choreographed by a higher executive authority.

In this context, the trappings of democracy ? political parties, elections ? do not in and of themselves create a democracy.

Washington's praise-laden statements about the advent of freedom and democracy by and for the people of Iraq belie the fact that the real power remains in the hands of the U.S., similar to the way political power remains in the hands of King Gyanendra in Nepal.

One last point should be noted from the Nepali case.

For all its authority and power, the government in Nepal has been ineffective in suppressing the Maoist rebels for the past 10 years.

In fact, the rebels have increased their power and control larger parts of the countryside, continuing to jeopardize the political security of Nepal today.

Hopefully, this will not be another parallel to the U.S. role in Iraq in the future.


BEING A CITIZEN OF NEPAL, I WILL BE HAPPY TO SLOVE THE PROBLEM BY OURSELVES RATHER THAN INTERVENTION BY ANY OUTSIDER...I AM NOT AGREE WHAT KING DID, BUT THE POLITICAL PARTIES LEFT NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE OVER THE POWER. I THINK ITS OUR BAD LUCK TO HAVE LEADER LIKE THAT.. NO ONE IS TRUE LEADER... AND SPECIALLY SHER BDR DEUBA, HE IS THE BIG TIME LOOOOOOSER

ANY COMMENTS :

WHERE ARE WE HEADING :

I THINK OUR COUNTRY IS GOING FORWARD IN REVERSE GEAR

Krishna Pahadi, the founder of the Human Rights and Peace Society, says Nepalis are ready to fight back against King Gyanendra's takeover of the government last week.

"We would like to fill the jails of Nepal for the sake of democracy, human rights and the peace," he said.

Mr. Pahadi's group, along with other human rights groups, teachers and Nepalese journalist associations say they will hold a demonstration in the capital Kathmandu on Thursday. It promises to be the most visible public reaction to the takeover so far.

The announcement comes as the king and his hand-picked government continue to tighten controls over Nepalese society. On Monday, Nepal's new royal government banned criticism of the security forces, and warned that violators could be put under house arrest.

The government also banned political activity by public servants, and said the authorities could seize private property if necessary.