#40 27 April - 3 May 2001 20 pages Rs 20 THETHE MEDIUMMEDIUM ISIS THETHE MASSAGEMASSAGE 1010 -11-11 So you want to adopt a Nepali baby? 4-5 Under My Hat 20 EXCLUSIVE BINOD○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ BHATTARAI epal’s elected civilians, the military and More guns the monarchy are tangled in a ntriangular tussle over who controls the The Royal Nepal Army is in the Royal Nepal Army (RNA). Matters have come market for 50,000 new assault to a head because an indecisive and fractious rifles for its troops over the government cornered by a virulent insurgency next five years. The has appealed to the monarch to use the army rattled, the main opposition sure the people are on our side. deal is worth $10 of which he is supreme commander. The UML says it doesn’t like the Because bringing the army out of million and several constitution leaves the question of who hearts-and-minds plan. the barracks is a last resort, it manufacturers have controls the army deliberately fuzzy: the king is So this is where we stand: a cannot fail.” been here for the supreme commander but the army is military beholden to the But the early demos. Sources supposed to obey orders from the National monarchy is not listening to controversy does not say the top brass is Security Council (NSC). an elected government to bode well for the ISDP. leaning towards The RNA has not fought a war on Nepali tackle an insurgency that The question of who the G36 made by soil since the Anglo-British conflict of 1816, seeks to topple is giving orders has German company, and the last time it tasted action was when it parliamentary democracy. not been sorted out Heckler & Koch. The G- successfully crushed a band of anti-Chinese The government’s plan is to the army’s liking, 36s are highly Khampa guerrillas after hot pursuit in western fashioned after the US and the opposition sophisticated and Nepal in the mid-1970s. The army is clearly Army’s Vietnam era UML and a coalition G-36 come with built-in reluctant to get into a guerrilla war without a counter-insurgency strategy of left parties has telescopic sights, but are untested in clear chain of command, rules of engagement known by its acronym declined to even Nepali terrain and climes. The and realistic goals. IDAD—here it is called the discuss the ISDP . “The competition includes US-made M16s, Behind all this is the larger polarisation of Integrated Security and Maoist problem is mainly a which the army uses on peacekeeping those who support parliamentary democracy, Development Plan (ISDP). political one and maximum duties abroad, Israel’s Galils and and those who feel the country is in a mess and Prime Minister Girija Koirala SUBHAS RAI efforts should be made to Belgian, Korean, Indian and the time has come to restore strongman rule. has been trying to get the resolve it through dialogue. Singaporean makes. Last year, H&K This is how this latest round unfolded: ISDP up and running since The Maoists have also said (also owned by British Ordinance) won 2-7 April: The Maoists massacre 70 December, and got the backing they will come to talks, but a Rs370 million army contract to set policemen in several districts. The police chief of the king only after the last don’t trust the prime minister. up a weapons repair and maintenance says he can’t fight them on his own anymore. strikes by the Maoists. The Rs 400 He has failed to win the trust of centre in Nepal, and this supposedly 9 April: Koirala rallies his party and garners million plan would build roads, anyone,” says Madhav Nepal, makes the Germans front runners. support for mobilising “all” security forces to carry out development work in A military beholden to the monarchy is UML general secretary. tackle the Maoists. The NSC holds a series of Maoist areas, and be protected by a not listening to an elected government The ISDP is said to detail a meetings to assess the situation. 10,000-strong Army deployment to tackle an insurgency that seeks to week-by-week plan of action on Another award 11 April: King Birendra holds court with a headquartered in Surkhet. how the process should move. Dwarika’s Hotel has bagged yet group of ministers, secretaries, the army and It took a long meeting on 11 topple parliamentary democracy. It is headed by the prime ○○○○○○○ another prestigious heritage award in police chiefs and discusses the pros and cons of April at the Royal Palace of ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ minister and has sub- recognition of its unique cultural the government’s plan to use the army. ministers, government officials and security serious development work.” committees for political work (headed by the conservation efforts. The Indian 12 April: King Birendra likes the plan to chiefs to convince King Birendra that the The army has already begun planning deputy prime minister), security (with the National Trust for Art and Cultural partially deploy the Army to deliver a hearts- ISDP was the most desirable plan. According deployment in six mid-western districts and army chief), development (the National Heritage (INTACH) and the South and-minds programme in the seven districts hit to some officials present, the king listened Gorkha, even as the skirmishes continue in Planning Commission), Asian Travel and Tourism Exchange hardest by the insurgency. Ordinances for attentively to the briefing, and had some tough Kathmandu’s corridors of power. Meanwhile, and public information Editorial p2 (SATHE) presented the award to regional administrators and a paramilitary force questions on the “total picture” before giving the army’s top brass has been downplaying the (the minister for C-in-C Ambica Shrestha of Dwarika’s in New are re-promulgated. the plan his official nod. A top government C-in-C’s Tokha speech, calling it “media communication). speech p15 Delhi this week. In 1980 Dwarika’s had 20 April: Commander-in-chief Prajwalla Rana source explained: “The basic idea is to use the exaggeration” and “political over-reaction”. This week, Maoist bagged the first ever PATA Heritage makes a controversial speech in Tokha saying army to defend positions and create space for One senior army official told us: “All we were local commanders held open meetings in Award. the army will be involved only if there is unity government, political parties and NGOs to go trying to say was that we have to be clear Sindhupalchok’s Mankha Village, a three hour among political parties. The government is back and work to win back the people with about the chain of command, we have to be drive east of Kathmandu, and said they were ready to take on the army if need be. Maoist leader Prachanda also told the weekly, Janadesh: “In our opinion, army Stall warning at Royal Nepal Airlines mobilisation will be proof of the new Ó Two Boeing 757s, heights the People’s War has reached. It ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ PRASHANT○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ARYAL The dusty bronze Yeti in front of the Royal Nepal Airlines building wears a one of which has will also practically end the political role of rather dejected look these days. Paint is peeling off what used to be the been grounded for the parliament and parliamentary groups in smartest building on the corner of New Road, the insides are rundown, two months this country.” and the lackadaisical and grumpy faces in the corridors say it all: one of because the airline Meanwhile, the army has also been Nepal’s most successful and potentially most profitable companies is on can’t pay for its preparing its scenarios, sprucing up its two the verge of bankruptcy. engine overhaul. battalions trained in jungle warfare, and Also mortgaged. upgrading weaponry. Military sources told Royal Nepal is in a tailspin not because the business isn’t viable Ó anymore, but because post-democracy politicians have gnawed it to its Two leased aircraft us that the Maoists’ strengths and strategies bones. This is all that is left: (a 767 from Lauda are being studied, and the army has drawn Air and a 757 from China Southwest) are up a plan to locate hideouts and camps. Ó Ó Unpaid loans and overdrafts adding up to nearly Rs 3 billion. flying nearly empty. Said the source: “We will not call them Ó A mortgaged fleet of Twin Otters flying on spares cannibalised from Land and building, which banks will acquire if airline doesn’t pay up. ‘enemy’, they are Nepalis and the idea will grounded aircraft. PULL UP, PULL UP... p. 9 be to put pressure on them to give up arms Æ and come to the negotiating table.” worldlink 222 EDITORIAL 27 APRIL - 3 MAY 2001 NEPALI TIMES STATE OF THE STATE by CK LAL The unbearable sadness of being The only way to revitalise the blood-soaked earth SOMETHING ROTTEN is to seed it with faith, hope and effort. Something is definitely rotten in the state of Nepal. Our erstwhile warriors of democracy have wasted 12 precious years quibbling he head is heavy. The eyes sting and as dynamite gets along with fire. Through about who gets to be on the top bunk, making people more and water. There is a lump in the throat. The his Atmabrittanta, BP succeeds exceedingly well more disenchanted with this thing called democracy, feeding theart thuds. Muscles ache. Even nature in giving a glimpse of how the fire of ambition frustrations on which the Maoists have shrewdly cashed in with reflects the deep despair inside. The dismal in King Mahendra courted the dynamite of some classic grassroots mobilising and periodic senseless dryness and power cuts bring on a yearning for confidence in BP.