Maoists drive Nepal king off road

By Sudeshna Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service

Kathmandu, June 2 (IANS) — Till April, Nepal's royal family had the first claim on the kingdom's roads with citizens ordered off thoroughfares whenever the king or royal kin's motorcades appeared. But the tables were turned with a vengeance Friday.

The first public rally of the Maoist guerrillas in the capital after three years drove off the road King Gyanendra, also scheduled to make his first public appearance after being stripped of his powers by a nationwide uprising in April.

King Gyanendra will finally emerge from the palace with Queen Komal to attend a ceremony in Lalitpur district. However, due to the Maoist rally, the army team handling the king's security decided Thursday night to fly the king to the site by helicopter instead of going by road.

Ironically, the date chosen by the Maoists for the meet – where their leaders will urge the nation towards an election to end monarchy and vote a republic – is also the death anniversary of Nepal's royal family.

On this day five years ago, King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, Crown Prince Dipendra, Dipendra's younger brother Prince Nirajan and sister Princess Shruti, as well as five more members of the royal family were killed in the Narayanhity royal palace in a mysterious shootout.

This year, it is also the date of the conclusion of one of Nepal's biggest religious festivals, the procession of Rato Macchindranath, the Red God of Rain.

Devotees will draw the chariot of the deity through the capital to return to his temple where priests will display the god's jewel-studded vest to signify the end of the festival. Traditionally, this ceremony is attended by the royal family.

However, all eyes would be on the rebel rally Friday, and not on the deity or the king.

Though the Maoists have pledged not to display arms at Friday's rally, expected to bring tens of thousands of spectators, the government has mobilised Armed Police Force personnel near the rally venue, the palace and the office of the Prime Minister.

Massive traffic diversions have been ordered. Before the palace decided on a helicopter, even the king's traditional route was diverted to avoid untoward incidents.

The government declared Friday a public holiday, ostensibly because of the religious festival.

The rebels, whose participation strengthened the anti-king protests, are celebrating their victory over the monarch, the removal of the terrorist tag on their organisations and the resumption of peace negotiations with a massive rally at the heart of the capital.

Though Maoist kingpin Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known by his war name Prachanda, emerged from underground this week after almost a decade to appear at a rally near Kathmandu valley, he will not be attending Friday's meet due to security fears.

Still, his face will greet spectators from nearly 5,000 T-shirts printed specially for Friday worn by Maoist cadres.

After peace talks between the rebels and the government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resumed last month, posters of the underground leader began appearing on the walls of the capital and key cities, urging people to attend the Kathmandu rally.

Source: IANS – June 2, 2006

Suspicion lingers five years after Nepal royal massacre

by Sam Taylor

Five years after Nepal's crown prince gunned down most of his immediate family in a palace massacre that shocked the world, the country's monarchy has lost its lustre and suspicions over the current king's role in the killings remain.

At a regular royal family gathering on the night of June 1, 2001, an apparently drugged, drunk and heavily armed Crown Prince Dipendra killed nine members of the royal family before killing himself, according to the official version of events.

Among the fatalities were his father and mother, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, and his brother and sister.

The crown prince then shot himself, according to an official report rushed through in the days following the massacre.

The killings caused outpourings of hysterical grief across the Himalayan country and prompted rumours about the possible role of the king's less popular brother Gyanendra in the slayings.

Gyanendra was not present on the night of the killings and from the start of his reign on June 4 was a much less popular monarch than his widely-revered brother.

In 1990, Birendra had legalised political parties, paving the way to the country's constitution and democratic elections.

"Gyanendra could not fill the space left by King Birendra's death because of his style of rule," said Sampeti Mishra, a 42-year-old teacher in Kathmandu.

"People were very confused and … didn't really trust Gyanendra. The massacre marked the start of the downfall of the monarchy in Nepal," said Mishra.

Gyanendra was last month forced to end 14 months of direct royal rule after mass protests by sidelined opposition parties in concert with rebel Maoists.

Today, the new government has stripped the powers of the monarchy and the very future of the institution is in question.

The new government has met a key rebel Maoist demand for an election to a body to redraft Nepal's constitution, and possibly get rid of the monarchy altogether.

"If we look back five years ago, there was weeping in the street, and people felt real sorrow. Now the situation has totally changed. There is no love for the monarchy at this juncture," said Guna Raj Luitel, a senior news editor with Kantipur media house.

The night of the slayings began a new era in Nepali history, Luitel said.

"A kind of illusion ended that day," he said. "After the royal massacre the palace lost a lot of credibility. Earlier, people used to think that the kings were incarnations of (Hindu god) Lord Vishnu, but the massacre showed that they were not."

Professor S.M. Habibullah from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University said that people's attitudes to the monarchy have drastically shifted.

"After 238 years of authoritarian rule, people have come to know that other countries developed much faster than Nepal. Monarchy has prevented development here," he told AFP.

Gyanendra's ancestor, Prithvi Narayan Shah, founded the current dynasty in 1768 when he united, some would say conquered, numerous small kingdoms and created the state that became Nepal.

The professor said that suspicion about Gyanendra's part in the massacres remains deep-seated in the impoverished Himalayan nation.

"It is deep psychological belief of many people, but nothing can be proven. The law has not allowed anyone to say anything, and there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the massacre," he said.

The three-person committee appointed to investigate the massacre produced an unconvincing report said Luitel, the news editor.

His news organization is calling for a new inquiry.

"The investigation was not reliable as the government was very weak, and there are still lots of unanswered questions," he said.

"They said that the crown prince killed everyone and then shot himself, but he was killed by a shot in the back. People ask how a man can shoot himself in the back. Gyanendra was not in Kathmandu at the time of the massacre, and nearly all the people killed were Birendra's family members. Most of Gyanendra's family members who were there were spared," Luitel said.

Whether or not more details about the massacre will emerge with the new government is not yet clear, but for 36-year-old Kathmandu shopkeeper Niraj Bhattarai, Nepal's Shah dynasty has reached the end of the line.

"Today, even the Maoists are calling for a democratic republic, I don't think the monarchy will survive," the grocer said.

Source: AFP.COM – June 1st, 2006

India must checkmate ISI influence in Nepal

By M V Kamath

So Nepal is going to be a democracy and the king has ‘surrendered.’ Parliament has been resurrected and hopefully, things will work out and real peace restored in the only ‘Hindu' nation on earth. The Government of India has been charged with not doing enough to restore normalcy in Nepal which is professedly `Hindu,' but in past years has had a love-hate relationship with India.

Delhi has to tread carefully in its treatment of its northern neighbour. It is all very well to be `Big Brother' but should know from experience that it is not an easy role to play. It can and often does invite resentment, which can prove to be destructive. But then we cannot ignore Nepal either.

Nepal's susceptibility in recent years has been fully exploited by our western neighbour, Pakistan, which has been seen actively to pursue its own strategy to drive a wedge between India and Nepal. Till recently it was China that supposedly was playing games in Nepal, especially after the protectorate of Sikkim merged with India. But China has now publicly accepted the merger. And now it is Pakistan that needs to be handled, considering that since 1980, ISI operatives have been functioning freely to disturb peace in India, using Pakistan's diplomatic missions in Dhaka, Colombo and even Delhi, as their bases of operation.

Kathmandu, according to reports, has been turned into an ISI centre with active help from the Muslim population on either side of the 1,664 kms long Indo-Nepal border, a fact that the media has to date rarely taken note of. Of the 1,664-km border, as many as 821 km lie in Uttar Pradesh, and of these, 391 km are spread across Poorvanchal's five districts with a total of 252 villages, of which 60 are Muslim-dominated.

The Indo-Nepal border being entirely porous, Pakistan intelligence agencies are reportedly having a grand time encouraging and supporting criminals, smugglers, saboteurs, fugitives and intelligence agents in their anti-national activities. Few policy-makers in India have taken meaningful note of this hard fact. According to Indian intelligence sources, there has been a phenomenal rise in Muslim population in Indian districts bordering Nepal. Thus, the percentage rise in Muslim population in Indian districts bordering Nepal. Thus, the percentage rise of Muslim population between 1981 and 1991 in Uttar Kashi has been of the magnitude of 196.44, in Chamoli 109.74, in Pithorgarh 43.45 and in Nainital 59.70.

Along with the growth of Muslim population, there has been a significant growth in the number of madrassas in these districts. According to Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint director, Intelligence Bureau, India, in his book Fulcrum of Evil: ISI-CIA-A1 Qauda Nexus, these madrasssas are being used to teach anti-India hatred and Muslim separatism, in order to prevent the growing Muslim population from getting emotionally integrated with the rest of the Hindu population. At the same time, according to Dhar, the ISI of Pakistan has been active through its two subsidiaries the Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous (JIM) and Joint Intelligence X (JINX) to carry out systematic exploitation of Nepal's Muslim population.

Apparently involved are organisations like the Nepal Islamic Yuva Sangha, Jamait-e-Islami, Nepal, Nepal Muslim Seva Samiti, Nepal Muslim Ittehad Association, Jammat-e-Ahle-Hadis, which are reported to promote Talibanisation through forging links with SIMI and HUJI for deepening the communal divide.

It was through Nepal that Pakistan provided weapons and explosives to Sikh separatists between 1983 and 1993, money was also provided to separatists through five banks, the Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Nepal Arab Bank, Nepal Investment Bank, Bank of Kathmandu and Nepal Bangladesh Finance and Leasing Company. It is now widely known that about 5,000 Kashmiri Muslims have settled down in semi-urban pockets of the Terai region bordering Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

According to Dhar, "Scores of Kashmiri militants were given assistance in Nepal by ISI operatives and their front men" while some 150 Kashmiri mujahideens were sheltered by the ISI in Kathmandu alone. It is now suspected, says Dhar, that Dawood Ibrahim owned a major cable network in Nepal and used it as a cover for ISI and mafia activities.

Incidentally, use of Kathmandu by the ISI was highlighted when arrests made in Ahmedabad after the Lajpat Nagar blasts in New Delhi provided information on Mumbai's serial blast accused Tiger Memon's links with Dawood Ibrahim and JKLF.

Memon has received certain instructions from Dawood through ISI's Kathmandu base. It is not that Indian Intelligence is unaware of what is going on in Nepal. We have Dhar’s word and he should know, given his status in the intelligence community that one Mohammad Sharif, a Pakistani ISI agent arrested in Delhi in June 1993 revealed that he had been housed in Nepal by Pakistani Embassy-based ISI operatives.

In January 1997, Nepal police recovered 13.5 kg of RDX from Baneshwar area in Kathmandu. The consignment belonged to one Mohammad Shaqil Siddiqi who was reportedly deputed by the ISI to cause a bomb blast at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai. Several such instances of ISI-supported activities have been detailed by Dhar In his fact-filled work. So where does one go from here?

The latest information goes to suggest that the ISI has been active in supplying explosives to Nepali Maoists through sealed container services that Nepal is diplomatically entitled to avail of from Kolkata and Haldia ports in West Bengal. The point is that during King Gyanendra's regime, India has not been able to contain ISI activities in Nepal in any meaningful way and the time has surely come for Delhi to be more pro-active in Nepal and to tell the government there that it is time it attempts to contain ISI's murderous activities aimed against India.

Writes Dhar: "It is now confirmed that Maoist rebels are being given subtle support by the ISI with tacit connivance of the Chinese Intelligence for strengthening the emerging political force which is not expected to follow the existing Indo-Nepal Treaties and traditional ties between the two countries. Such a contingency, Pakistan appreciates, will give rise to a new social engineering which will witness considerable de-Hinduisation of Nepal."

The immediate duty of Delhi is to checkmate the ISI and see to it that Its influence in Kathmandu is totally eradicated. If this is not done in time, Delhi may have to pay terrible consequences in the days to come. It is not enough for King Gyanendra to step down. It is important that the new Nepal government steps up containment of ISI ruthlessly and effectively. Too much time has been wasted in the past.

Content courtesy: The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle

Source: SIFI.COM- 18/05/2006

Nepal king makes secret SOS call to Manmohan?

By Sudeshna Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service

Kathmandu, May 17 (IANS) Alarmed by the growing clamour at home to abolish the monarchy, Nepal's King Gyanendra last week sent a secret SOS to New Delhi.

On May 10, a call was made to New Delhi from the Narayanhity royal palace as the king sought to contact people in high places who could be willing to bail him out.

The first public disclosure about the call was made Wednesday by Jana Aastha, a popular Nepali tabloid with contacts in the army and the palace.

"Secret telephone conversation between the king and Manmohan," the weekly said in a front-page report Wednesday. "The king spoke directly with Indian leaders… The king had a very long conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."

The Indian embassy here said it had no knowledge of any such conversation, spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Informed sources here confirmed a call between the king and New Delhi but said it was not to the Indian prime minister.

Besides Manmohan Singh, the other people the palace might think of contacting to ask to intercede could be Karan Singh, who was sent to Nepal last month as the Indian government's special envoy, senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, former Indian minister for external affairs K. Natwar Singh and Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

The palace's misgivings increased after efforts began last week to table a motion in parliament that would drastically reduce the king's powers and privileges and hasten an election to decide between monarchy and a republic.

"Most of the demands in the proclamation (to be made in parliament Thursday) are related to the king," the report said. "The king believed that he could retain some of his powers by using his connections in the country and abroad."

After the telephonic conversation, the weekly claims the atmosphere in the palace became less constrained. A day after it, the king had a meeting with Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, it added.

Source: IANS – 17/05/2006

Finance Minister reveals embezzlement of state fund by royal govt

RSS

KATHMANDU, May 15 – Saying that the royal government did not utilize public expenditure in the productive sector but only increased public expenditures in a haphazard manner, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat Monday revealed that following dissolution of the House of Representatives, expenditures related to the Royal Palace skyrocketed from Rs. 126.3 million in the Fiscal Year 2002/03 to 751.2 million in F/Y 2004/2005. During the period of the royal government, defence expenditure reached Rs. 16.45 billion from Rs. 12.8 billion, according to the "White Paper" presented on the state of economy-2006 by Minister Mahat at Monday's meeting of the House.

Likewise, Rs. 280 million was spent for the local elections boycotted by the major political parties, the Home Ministry received an additional Rs. 10 million to check and suppress the people's movement, Rs. 500,000 was spent daily between December 27, 2005 to April 18, 2006 from the direct order of the then Home Minister Kamal Thapa and Rs. 25 million was allocated as media grant to the Ministry of Information and Communications, according to the report.

Based on statistics, the white paper also gives a grim picture of the tourism sector, the industrial and commerce sector, the continued poor performance of public corporations including the Nepal Oil Corporation and Nepal Electricity Authority, poor environment of investment and export, increasing in imports and thereby trade deficit.

Minister Dr Mahat said that apart from the budget allocated for the current Fiscal Year, an additional Rs. 3.18 billion had already been released as of April 28, 2006.

The amount released was among the additional budget of Rs. 7.65 billion demanded by various government bodies.

The minister said the GDP growth rate for the current Fiscal Year has been estimated to be around 1.8 per cent. The GDP growth rate some 10 years ago was 5.1 per cent on an average.

Reading out the paper, Minister Dr Mahat also appealed to the donor countries and multinational corporations to immediately resume all stalled aid, provide budget support to resolve the immediate cash crisis and support economic reconstruction plan of the government in the present situation where possibility of lasting political resolution and peace restoration was very high.

Likewise, Dr Mahat also urged all friendly nations to cancel the travel advisories issued against Nepal in the past and help bring in maximum number of tourists to Nepal by regarding it as a safe tourist destination.

Source: http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=73782

Legacy of insanity in Nepal

By Paul Danahar
BBC South Asia bureau editor
It required an act of insanity to put King Gyanendra on the throne of Nepal. If reason had prevailed "Prince" Gyanendra would still be living in the shadow of his widely respected brother King Birendra.

King Gyanendra's son, Paras, would still be the object of derisive gossip among Kathmandu's intellectuals who, then at least, were confident that the playboy prince would never get his hands on the reins of power. And none of the recent protests would have happened.

But on 1 June 2001 reason stepped aside for madness.

King Birendra's son Prince Dipendra staggered down the stairs of the royal palace in a drunken stupor, walked into the drawing room where most of his family were spending the evening and opened fire with an M-16 assault rifle.

King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and seven other members of the royal household were cut to pieces.

At a stroke Gyanendra, who at that stage in his life must have resigned himself to a bit part in Nepalese history, was shuffled up the pack to assume the kingdom.

'Disastrous'

And things have been going down hill ever since.

It is hard to find anyone in Kathmandu that does not think King Gyanendra's handling of the pro-democracy protests over recent weeks was disastrous.

In a matter of days he managed to turn good natured pro-democracy demonstrations into fervent anti-monarchy riots.

Even the policemen in charge of beating back the crowds told me of their frustration at the king's actions.

And senior members of the king's last line of defence, the Royal Nepalese Army, assured me that, if it had come to the crunch, their troops would not have opened fire on the demonstrators.

Weak opposition

Nepalis have told me in the past that they have been cursed with two things – terrible poverty and even worse politicians.

It is the latter that have so far saved King Gyanendra from being toppled from his throne.

Every successful revolution, from Castro in Cuba to Mandela in South Africa, has had a face symbolising the struggle – someone willing to give their life for the revolution, someone the people on the streets will die for.

But members of the opposition leadership in Nepal are so old they can barely walk let alone lead a revolution.

Ever since 1990, when the people of Nepal first won their democratic rights, the same politicians time and time again have, in the eyes of many Nepalis, let them down.

There was a moment on the last Saturday afternoon of the protests that encapsulated the problem when the crowd surged into the centre of the capital, well inside the "shoot on sight" curfew area and within a mile of the royal palace.

Tens of thousands of them jammed into a junction which had both ways blocked by the police, who were vastly outnumbered.

One road led to the palace. The right man or woman at that time, leading that crowd, could probably have taken those people to the king's doorstep.

Instead the crowd was leaderless. The police opened the other road, the crowd cheered their small victory and they all streamed by, the momentum was lost.

The king was saved, for the time being.

Gross act

In the end history may show that it was a very unremarkable man that led Nepal towards a republic.

Basu Ghimere was, according to his wife, a "simple" carpenter who loved his four-year-old son.

He was beaten and shot dead on the streets of Kathmandu in the volatile Kalanki neighbourhood when police opened fire on what had started out as a peaceful demonstration.

Mr Ghimere was not the only one to die and it was not his actual death that marked a potential tipping point.

It was the desecration of his funeral rights in what is the only country in the world where Hinduism is the official religion that enraged the crowds in Kalanki to commit the worst acts of rioting of the whole protest movement and ultimately force the monarch to retreat.

The king of Nepal is supposed to be an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu. It is for that reason the kings have been so revered down the ages by their subjects.

But this king instructed or allowed his security forces to carry out one of the grossest insults to the Hindu faith one can imagine.

His police in full riot gear snatched the lifeless body of Mr Ghimere and cremated it without the consent or knowledge of his wife and family.

I was in Kalanki when this news came through and I saw the effect it had on what had until that point been a peaceful crowd. It was then that King Gyanendra lost his godliness in the eyes of those present.

It was at that moment, perhaps, that King Gyanendra's rule undermined the monarchy perhaps beyond the point of redemption.

Maoist PR

Rubbing his hands over all of this must be the Maoist leader Prachanda.

He has announced a three-month ceasefire on the grounds that the first act of the newly-reinstated parliament will be to sort out a constitutional assembly and decide what role, if any, the monarchy should now play.

Anywhere else, the best way out of a mess like this for the monarchy would be abdication and a new king. But the king's son Paras is disliked by more people than he is.

I am one of the few journalists to have ever met Mr Prachanda. His interview with the BBC in January was his first venture into public relations.

Until this year his face had never been seen by the public. Mr Prachanda was doing his best to change his bogeyman image and began his interview by promising to grudgingly accept a role for the king if it was the will of the people.

But by the end he was mumbling asides to his companion complaining about not being asked any "ideological questions about the revolution".

And then he could not help but promise to execute King Gyanendra if he ever got his hands on him.

Last week the US ambassador to Nepal raised the spectre of King Gyanendra being forced to flee his kingdom clinging to the bottom of a helicopter.

The king's climb-down in restoring parliament might have saved him and his family from ignominious exile or even death.

But whatever comes out of the debate over a new constitution, it seems the minimum that must be agreed to avoid more conflict is that the king's days of involving himself in politics must be over for good.

Source : BBC NEWS – http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/4953816.stm

Nepal royal family massacre to come under fresh probe

KATHMANDU: Activists in Nepal are demanding a fresh probe into the mysterious shootout in Narayanhity Palace in 2001 that killed 10 members of the royal family, including the king, queen and crown prince.

"Members of civil society, human rights activists and Maoists are demanding a new commission to find out what really happened at the palace on June 1, 2001," says Birendra Jhapali, a civil activist with close links to the rebels.

With King Gyanendra being forced to relinquish absolute power and the government headed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala saying the Maoists would be asked to participate in an interim government, Jhapali says the rebels are going to ask for a new investigation.

Nepal, tucked out of sight between giant neighbours China and India, found itself catapulted into world attention five years ago when then king Birendra, his wife Aishwarya, son Dipendra and two younger children, princess Shruti and prince Nirajan were shot fatally along with five other relatives while attending a dinner in the palace.

At first, the government said a gun had gone off accidentally, causing the casualties.

However, later the authorities changed their story and blamed Dipendra, said to be high on hashish and alcohol, as having run berserk and shot the others before turning the gun on himself.

With all the male members in Birendra's immediate family being killed, his younger brother Gyanendra was sworn in the new king. On June 4, 2001, he announced a commission to investigate the shootout.

Headed by chief justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay, the commission also included then speaker in parliament Taranath Ranabhat and opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

However, Nepal resigned from the commission, which then submitted its report to King Gyanendra within seven days.

The report upheld the theory that Dipendra had an argument with his parents over the girl he wanted to marry and turned against them when they opposed his choice. However, the report has never been believed fully, with sceptics pointing out various contradictions.

Though Dipendra is said to have shot himself in the head after killing nine people, the head wound he received was on the right hand side, an unusual thing since he was a left hander. Also, the pistol he carried showed two shots had been fired, with one bullet unaccounted for.

While his family was killed on June 1, Dipendra is said to have survived two more days in a comatose condition, during which he was crowned king. Immediately after he was reported dead, the body was cremated without a post mortem being conducted.

The Maoists reject the commission report and in various statements issued during King Gyanendra's 15-month direct rule since last year they have accused the king of being involved in a conspiracy.

Jhapali's statement comes even as a "youth parliament", comprising journalists, student wings of political parties and human rights activists, is demanding that the bank assets and properties of the royal family outside the country be seized.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1518634.cms – May 06, 2006

Le roi du Népal Bir Bikram Shah Gyanendra

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, né le 7 juillet 1947 et deuxième fils du roi Mahendra, devient roi du Népal une première fois pendant deux mois (1950-1951) lorsque le reste de sa famille est en exil en Inde.

Gyanendra sera toutefois écarté du trône au profit de son frère, Birendra.

Ce qui ne l'empêchera pas de devenir plus tard une des premières fortunes du pays, se tournant vers les affaires dans le tourisme, le thé et le tabac.En juin 2001, Gyanendra retrouve le trône du Népal à la mort de Birendra et de sa famille, qui est, selon la version officielle, assassiné par son fils pris d'un accès de folie sous l'emprise de l'alcool et la drogue. La thèse du complot est particulièrement avancée.

Une fois au pouvoir, Gyanendra fait quintupler son salaire et affiche son goût pour le luxe. Il mobilise un des rares avion de la compagnie nationale pour voyager et importe de luxueuses automobiles destinées au parc du palais royal. Il revient également sur les avancées démocratiques entérinées par son frère Dipendra, notamment la monarchie constitutionnelle et parlementaire gagnée par la rue en 1990.

Pleins pouvoirs en 2005

Gyanendra dissout le parlement et renvoie deux fois en trois ans le Premier ministre élu afin de nommer un gouvernement qui lui est favorable. En février 2005, Gyanendra limoge le Premier ministre, en raison de son incapacité à faire face à l'insurrection maoïste, et s'empare des pleins pouvoirs. Depuis, la promesse d'organiser de nouvelles élections n'a pas été tenue.
L'actuel roi est détesté de ses fidèles. Au-delà des mesure impopulaires, les népalais restent persuadés que Gyanendra a tué son frère pour accéder au trône. Face à la gronde du peuple en avril 2006, Gyanendra se contente d'attendre et de consulter ses astrologues pour prendre ses décisions politiques.
Il tient pour l'instant le pouvoir grâce au soutien de l'armée, et la répression des dissidents se renforce. Les opposants sont arrêtés, les journalistes et les activistes des droits de l'homme sont contrôlés. (AP)

Source : Nouvel Observateur – 2/05/2006

Crown prince’s vehicle clips wedding party bus

BY KEDAR OJHA

KATHMANDU, April 30 – A vehicle driven by crown prince Paras hit a wedding party vehicle near Chahabil in the capital around 6 pm, Saturday evening.

While the crown prince's vehicle sped towards Maharajgunj immediately after the incident, the wedding party's vehicle was held at Gaushala police station under directives of the military police escorting the royal vehicle.

There were about 60 people including the bride and groom in the vehicle, all of whom were detained for 45 minutes.

After the wedding party strongly opposed their detention, they were released on condition that they came back next day at 8 am with the vehicle.

“We were informed that the royal motorcade of the crown prince was due. So we were running our vehicle at one side of the road. But, immediately after a vehicle of the motorcade overtook us, the vehicle of the crown prince hit our vehicle and moved on without pulling up,” said Rabin Pokharel, brother of the bridegroom.

He said that the vehicle was being driven by the crown prince himself.

While the sidelights and bumper of the wedding party bus have been damaged, the wheel cover of the crown prince's vehicle fell off.

Nobody was injured in the incident. But police claim that it was a security vehicle escorting the crown prince that hit the wedding party's vehicle.

According to security officials, the crown prince was returning after playing golf at Gokarna.

Source : http://www.kantipuronline.com – April 30, 2006

Nepal : Strategic ally of the West

Maoist rebellion, poverty challenge development of nation

By Anthony C. LoBaido
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

KATHMANDU, Nepal – In the wake of Maoist rebels killing 141 people in terrorist strikes here last weekend, this remote Himalayan kingdom is getting more attention on the international stage, gaining prominence in the area as a strategic ally of the West.

Indeed, Nepal, home to Mt. Everest, is no longer just some dot on a map like Tierra del Fuego or Djibouti. It is an important buffer between Chinese-controlled Tibet and India. The Himalayas of the nation run westward towards Kashmir, an area of controversy between India and Pakistan for decades. U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell paid a visit to Kathmandu recently, promising Western aid in the hopes of staving off the Maoist rebellion – an uprising that has the nation in a "state of emergency."

"The Maoists receive arms and training from Kashmir and communist China," a French worker with a non-governmental organization in Kathmandu told WorldNetDaily.

"There is so much corruption in the government of Nepal. The communists in China are digging wells and providing infrastructure to the poorest Nepalese in the rural areas of the nation. I say, 'more power to them.'"

Roger du Monde, a military trainer with the Legion Entrangere currently working with the Nepal army said that the Maoists are "winning the hearts and minds of the rural poor. This is what Powell told the Nepalese elites. It's not enough to crush the Maoists. The youth of the nation must see some kind of future for themselves.

"China has moved nuclear missiles into Tibet. They are aimed at many cities in India. This is common knowledge. Neither the West nor India wants to see China gain influence in Nepal, for obvious geo-strategic reasons."

Nepal, which made international headlines last year with the bloody slaying of the royal family, is an extremely poor Hindu nation. It has no natural resources, and its primary source of income is providing the West with tourism and mercenaries.

From 1816 through the early 1950s, Nepal's borders were virtually closed to the outside world. As a British colony, the nation's primary export consisted of human beings – namely the Gurkhas, elite mercenary soldiers who fought for the British Crown.

With the Gurkhas serving overseas in the British army in places like the Falkland Islands and the Balkans, the Maoists inside Nepal are having a field day attacking the police and setting up Maoist cells in the rural regions.

Maoists and poverty

A morning walk around Kathmandu provides the interloper with a personal view of Nepal's poverty.
The scene is almost medieval. The sun tries to break out, like a flashlight submerged in a bowl of thick soup, but it seems less than successful battling the clouds and smog in the valley beneath the Himalayas. On this winter day, the people wake and begin building outdoor fires with scarce wood. The chilly air is thick and smoky, like Phoenix in the midst of a winter temperature inversion. The glory of the Himalayas remains hidden.

A cow wanders aimlessly along a pothole-ridden road. Horns blare away, like annoying trumpets.

"There's my god," an old Nepalese man points out to WorldNetDaily with great sincerity. He then asks, "Where's your god?"

Families wash themselves and their clothes and dishes in small tubs of water. Men receive haircuts and shaves out in the open, sitting on a barber's chair on the side of the city's main highway. Striking women huddle together in teams of three, wrapped in colorful shawls and trying to negotiate the teeming traffic on foot. Tiny cyclo taxis ferry workers about; the signs on the outside of these miniature vehicles promote products like Close Up toothpaste and Coca Cola. Young school girls with their hair in braids head for class, sporting red sweaters and gray skirts, while unemployed men eye them along the narrow, winding streets.

Visiting the Tibetan border near Pokhara, WND found that the Maoists had gained significant inroads into the psyche of the people. The Nepal army, minus their Gurkhas special operations forces, is armed with World War II-era rifles, lacking mobility and counter-insurgency expertise.

An assistant to the European Union's military attaché in Bangkok commented, "The Maoists in Nepal cannot overthrow the monarchy in Kathmandu, but they can create a significant nuisance by hurting tourism."

Tourism in Nepal has declined since the December 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines Airbus by suspected Kashmiri militants. The ensuing Maoist rebellion points to collaboration between the Maoists and radical Islamist movement in the region.

Said Du Monde, "The Maoists practice the tactics endorsed by Sun Tzu in The Art of War. If your enemy is superior, evade and agitate him."

Last weekend's attack was the Maoists' most significant accomplishment in recent months. They have killed a number of Nepal's policemen and forced the army to mobilize against them. Also, they have cut into tourism and forced Western trekkers to provide "protection money."

Steven Knoble, a Western medical assistant based in Nepal told WND, "The Maoists have not, so far, killed any Western tourists. The local people depend on foreign tourism dollars."

Few Western visitors to Nepal seem to have any fear of the Maoist rebellion. Sylvia Kuipers, a Dutch English teacher, said, "The 'Ms,' as I call them, well, I don't worry about things I can't control." Kuipers is a part of a dedicated corps of Western volunteers braving harsh elements to help Nepal and its people.

"We live without hot showers, and we teach in circumstances that are less than ideal. I was a child minder in Holland, and sometimes people look down on my job. But I think it is an important job. The children of Nepal are the future of the nation," she said.

The most intriguing question in Nepal remains: Can the ideals of the Maoists be confined to the past, or will their propensity to pester the kingdom's rulers continue to inhibit the nation's development?

Source: WORLDNETDAILY – http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26511