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Nepali Times #178 9-15 January 2004 24 pages Rs 25 Weekly Internet Poll # 118 Q. Do you agree with the governments plan Parties unleash to arm civilians to fight Maoists? students to put pressure on the king. Total votes:1,465 Weekly Internet Poll # 119. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. If a referendum were to be held, what type of system would you vote for? At the gates A phalanx of police block the approach to the royal palace at Darbar Marg from student protesters on Tuesday afternoon. NARENDRA SHRESTHA slogans. leader arrested two weeks ago on accusing the king of trying to NAVIN SINGH KHADKA The protests are getting more charges of sedition, told us: We divide the parties by meeting he last time scenes like this violent, and some analysts fear it are not going to tolerate it if the them. But fissures have again were seen so close to the royal could spiral out of control. The parties reach an agreement with appeared in the five-party alliance: palace was during the students now say they will the king. We want the king out of the Congress wants restoration of Peoples Movement in 1990. continue their agitation even if politics. Students admit the parliament, the UML favours an All this week, student party bosses call it off, and they Maoists have infiltrated their ranks protestorsT and police fought have warned politicians not to sell and joined the rallies. Senior pitched battles in the centre of out to the king. minister Kamal Thapa said the Editorial p2 Kathmandu. Many were injured as Inside the palace, King government was aware of the The impossible triangle police charged students shouting Gyanendra has been meeting a possibility of Maoist penetration. all-party government, while the inflammatory anti-monarchy slew of political leaders one-by-one That is why we want the Deuba faction wants its prime slogans. Having failed to galvanise to head off an escalation. Politi- students to carry out their protest minister reinstated. popular support for their agitation, cians say they have so little trust in rallies responsibly, he said. The parties may not be able to the five-party alliance has now the kings motives that they have to Maoist leader Prachanda has present a common consensus to instructed their student wings keep up the pressure on the streets. tried to capitalise on the turmoil the king even if he asks for one to to go all out with republican Gagan Thapa, the student with a statement Thursday defuse tensions. l 9 - 15 JANUARY 2004 2 EDITORIAL #178 Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Desk Editor: Trishna Gurung, Design: Kiran Maharjan Webmaster: Bhushan Shilpakar Advertising: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription: Anil Karki, [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-5543333-6, Fax: 01-5521013 [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 01-5547018 Good intentions withoutmany oflogical the remote homedirection guards canalready spell in trouble disaster. because it has THE IMPOSSIBLE TRIANGLE AnGUEST COLUMN uncivil society t has become a cliché these days to say that the present power had morphed into mafia bands, lost control of large swaths of struggle in Nepal is between three forces: the king, the Alok K Bohara warlords, and local strongmen territory. How can you trust parliamentary parties and the Maoists. In a sense it is indeed a became militia leaders. Tens of them to monitor these civilian three-way tug-o-war that has reached a triangular stalemate: none of hen the state fails to thousands of Algerians perished. militia, while their own kind the three are making much headway, they are just wearing each other protect citizens (or even Civilian casualties and human within the ranks are being Idown, no one is prepared to give an inch. to harass and hound rights violations became a matter accused of rights violations? However, there is a fourth force that the other three have forgotten them in the name of counter- all about: the people. It is, after all, the people who won sovereign of grave concern, but anyone who After all, the civil defence rights in the 1990 constitution and who were assured that they insurgency)W it loses the hearts and dared raise them were arrested, or forces will not be fighting an henceforth commanded their own destiny. minds of the people. If this is how even killed. There are other imperialist foreign force in It was working well, despite concerns about the politics of the establishment plans to fight horrific examples from recent Kumaun or Gharwal. They will patronage, intimidation by incumbents and the heavy hand of the local this insurgency, then we have a lot history of massacres by out-of- have to hunt down their own elite at the ballot box. The people at least had a choice. At the to lose and a long way to go. control government-sponsored brothers and sisters. This strategy grassroots, there was closer scrutiny of the performance of elected The Thapa government seems militias in Lebanon, Guatemala, is just too high-risk. representatives, who were forced to be good managers and provide unwilling to reverse its decision to Peru, Columbia and El Salvador. On the political front, the services honestly and efficiently. If they couldn’t, they got voted out the next time around. It was really a case of the survival of the most form civil defence forces to resist A civil society unified by reaction is predictable. competent. Maoists in the countryside. Thapa common vision must complement Notwithstanding his wild threats, At the national level, things were slightly more complicated. The may mean well and he may not a well-meaning and benign Girija Koiralas response to the leadership was preoccupied with personal or party welfare—winning have ulterior motives, but he must centralised power. But this is proposal is logical. He knows that power and keeping it. This demanded an ability to be selfish and remember the road to hell is paved hardly the case in Nepal today. you cant win elections against corrupt so one could amass the resources while in power to buy with good intentions. Legitimate parliamentary forces well-endowed armed opponents, oneself back into power once out of it. Pretty soon, they were all Good intentions without are sidelined and humiliated, the and so he announced his own raking it in like there was no tomorrow. logical direction can spell disaster. current government does not feel plans to form local militias. The safeguard mechanisms of our adolescent democracy took time to kick in. Still, parliamentary committees were largely non-partisan in A risk assessment analysis of the accountable to any party or any Thapas nemesis, Pashupati Rana, investigating misuse of power. ‘Pajero’ became a pejorative, and the formation of the civil defense force political institution, and says so also saw the dangers of having an word ‘Lauda’ entered the Nepali language as something synonymous doesnt seem to have been carried openly. With checks and all-too-powerful openly defiant with scandal. out, and there is a danger of this balances gone, vested interests prime minister from his own Sadly, these high-profile scams eclipsed the real rot within and spiralling out of control. (See: will make their presence felt. But party. He had no choice but to made a jaded public even more distrustful of the parties. The leaders Turning civilians into if the past 12 years have taught demand his resignation. This is were so busy fighting each other they didn’t notice the house was on combatants, Seira Tamang, Nepali us anything, it is that an election- Politics 101, you cant blame fire. Even as the flames licked the windows, they were arguing about Times #175). As we have seen who got to sleep in the master bedroom. Despite their current alliance, focussed illiberal democracy these gentlemen for following we don’t see any major shift in their style of functioning. from other counter-insurgency can falter. text book paranoia. When the Maoists launched their people’s war eight years theatres, this is a recipe for The decision about civil The Nepali people have ago, they raised arms against a duly elected government. It spiralling human rights militia has been taken by a suffered a lot and have been was a rotten government, but we were in the process violations. government that is neither extremely patient. They have of figuring out how to make it work. The Maoists’ When the Algerian representative nor accountable, refrained from joining the street quick-fix solution and the state’s knee-jerk government cancelled and appears to be vastly protests to give two Panchayat- reaction have now devastated the elections in 1992 unpopular. Many people are era prime ministers a chance to country. As for the palace, its actions have now made because saying give us security, not bring peace. The people's republicanism the Islamicists guns. The last Nepali Times growing apathy is reflected on slogan of streets— would have Nepalnews.com Internet poll was the current Nepali Times not just of the won, it overwhelmingly (69 percent) Nepalnews.com Internet poll, Maoists. triggered an against arming civilians. Sadly, a which is going fifty-fifty on Nepalis don’t armed policy of such import with such republic vs monarchy. trust any of the uprising potentially far-reaching and Many Nepalis are at a loss, three powers who against deadly consequences has been and their patience will run out invoke their name. This is not about the king, the the enacted through fiat without any eventually.
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