Nepali Times Doesn’T a Bit of Slack
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#449 1 - 7 May 2009 16 pages Rs 30 fter a marathon eight- hour meeting in Weekly Internet Poll # 449 ABaluwatar on Thursday, Q. Should Gen Katawal step down as the Maoist secretariat decided to Chief of Army Staff? Mayday, Total votes: 8,180 go ahead with its plan to “take action” against Army Chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal. It couldn’t have been otherwise. The Maoists had painted Mayday! themselves into a corner by Weekly Internet Poll # 450. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com making this a make-or-break Q. What is your opinion about the prestige issue. federalism? Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was squeezed by pressure from India and political parties on the one hand, and from his hardline rank-and-file on the other. It was becoming clear that the internal pressure was much stronger. In a way, “taking action” could mollify his cadre, and that process could be allowed to drag on to appease Delhi and the parties. The other compromise worked out by the UML is to start with a clean slate by getting Katawal, the Maoist favourite Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka and Defence Minsiter Ram Bahadur Thapa to step down. The proposal is still on the cards, although the Maoists reject Thapa’s ouster and the NC rejects Katawal’s. But under a “wholesale” deal, the Maoists are trying to woo the NC to join the government in return for agreeing to Katawal’s removal. Sujata Koirala appears to be a contender, even though NC leaders Sher Bahadur Deuba and others are said to be strongly against her. At Thursday’s meeting, the Maoists also discussed in detail their plan for a massive show of force on the streets of the capital on May Day to put pressure on anyone opposed to their stance on the army row. The plan is to paralyse the state and bring the capital to a standstill with belligerent crowds in 32 major intersections in the Valley. z Subhas Devkota KIRAN PANDAY SHOW OF FORCE: The Maoists are planning a mammoth May Day rally in the capital on Friday to put pressure on those opposed to their plan to Full story p4 sack the army chief. This was Tuesday’s rally, with the army headquarters in the background. OP-ED 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449 3 War by other means The army has shown it is better at masking its fears than the Maoists DPR he Maoists didn’t emerge commanders. victorious from the “All war is deception,” said a Tdevastating war against the great military strategist of 500 BC. state, but the security forces lost it The Maoists haven’t publicly the moment the Seven Party abandoned what they call ‘The Alliance signed the 12-point People’s War’. The Nepal Army understanding with Maoists in still finds it difficult to submit November 2005 in New Delhi. itself unequivocally to civilian control of the Maoist party. The STATE OF THE STATE country is still in a state of war for all intents and purposes. The C K Lal military knows what it’s doing, and so do the Maoists. The rest of The little goodwill the army us are merely guessing or reacting. had in urban areas was also Under the pressure of Chinese squandered when soldiers became and Indians, Dahal wants to let Gyanendra storm troopers after the mandate of UNMIN lapse the 1 February 2005 when it comes to an end on 23 takeover. But Girija Prasad Koirala July 2009. With that deadline in forgot and forgave when he mind, he recently assured visiting promoted an accused human British Under Secretary of State rights violator to the post of Chief for Defence and Minister for of Army Staff (CoAS). But many Veterans, Kevan Jones, recently in Kathmandu still find it that the government’s special difficult to accept that one of the committee for supervision, loudest critics of the democratic integration and rehabilitation of parties, who once wrote op-eds the combatants would complete under the pseudonym Ajay P its work by mid-July. But the Nath, has suddenly become the prime minister knows that the chief proponent of constitutional schedule can’t be met when the supremacy, freedom of the press incumbent army chief is allergic and parliamentary democracy. to the very word ‘integration’. So Ambitious individuals are the CoAS had to go to make way pragmatic in their careers. When for a more amenable general. the 240-year old Shah dynasty When the general waiting in passed into history, an army as the wings realised he may be old as the kingdom earned its bypassed by a colleague on the republican spurs by literally verge of superannuation, news of doing nothing. Behind the scenes an impending coup was deals were never disclosed, but carefully planted in the friendly was security of tenure for the media to spur anti-Maoist forces incumbent army chief a part of into action. Mission complete, the bargain? Then the guerrilla rumours of a ‘soft coup’ were chieftain and prime minister, strongly denied. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, should have It was a publicity coup, nothing to complain about. The meticulously planned and trouble is he also has to placate brilliantly executed. Clearly, the his deputy commander, Defence army has a better corps of Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, propaganda consultants these who needs to be seen to be doing days than it did during the something to bring a former foe war years. under direct control of the party For the Maoists, too, it’s a high command. ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ Behind all the talk of civilian proposition. If Dahal can manage control versus constitutional to sack the CoAS, he will be feted supremacy, a lingering antipathy as a brilliant tactician. If the between warriors of opposite Maoists are forced to backtrack, camps is what lies at the core of they can always turn the episode the current Maoist-military row. into a publicity stunt: “Look, we The generals haven’t yet recovered tried our best. But other parties are from the trauma of their failure, prisoners of the past.” The UML and the Maoists find it hard to too has little to lose, as always, it accept that power flows out of the will be on the side of the winner ballot box. Both sides in the war when the game ends. The victim of words are caught in the vortex will be the NC. When a political of their own vitriolic rhetoric. party has to hold the coat-tails of Unlike in the past, however, the a military chief to establish its army has shown that it is better at credentials, there is something masking its fears than Maoist wrong somewhere. 2 EDITORIAL 1 - 7 MAY 2009 #449 Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan DGM Sales and Marketing: Sambhu Guragain [email protected] Marketing Manager: Subhash Kumar Asst. Manager: Arjun Karki Circulation: Prakash Raut Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845 Fax: 5251013 [email protected] Printed at Jagadamba Press 5250017-19 www.nepalitimes.com Delhi dallying Maoist opposition to India’s role in the PRESS FOR FREEDOM army row is hypocritical and futile From Angola (Not Free) to Zimbabwe (Not Free), freedom of the press is under attack in many parts of the world. Tagged ‘partly he army row gives us a later got the army on board), the structure would be shaken and the free’, we in the Nepali media should perhaps be thankful that we are glimpse of India’s Maoists (who promised to accept party would dictate terms to the still better off than some other countries. But that’s about it. T concerns, its power multiparty democracy) and NC army. They see it as a sub-plot of Press freedom is an absolute. One can’t be ‘partly free’. It has and limits. (which agreed to dump the the larger Maoist plan to back away become fashionable these days for the government to re-invent The Maoists have been monarchy). And now, the from the commitment to ‘Asian values’ of press freedom and democracy: the argument that relatively successful in Maoists suddenly remember that multiparty democracy. individual and political rights are somehow less important than portraying the opposition to domestic political decisions are And there is an underlying social economic and cultural rights. It’s the old debate all over again, and the Maoist-led government is resurrecting a class-based sacking General Katawal as India- none of India’s business. China dimension. Beijing is quite definition of rights to justify stifle criticism in the press. inspired. They are convinced You cannot be selective about happy with the Maoists for having Unfortunately, we find the UN’s human rights wallahs and Delhi’s suggestions and warnings a foreign role. If they used Delhi delivered on its promise to stifle bilaterals, who would never agree to any fetters on the press in at some point, when Delhi feels Tibetan dissent. China feels that their own countries, going along with this. It’s like saying: “Sorry PLAIN SPEAKING its interests are at stake, it will the top echelons of the Nepal about the chains, but you’re not fully ready for freedom yet.” Prashant Jha get involved. All politicians are Army are dominated by officers Our post-conflict situation is characterised by a collapse of the aware of this reality so whipping close to India and the US. It has rule of law and an epidemic of impunity. Things will get worse up a frenzy about the Indian role already backed the integration because the state is not serious about protecting human rights, and constitute an unacceptable without tackling the process and would be happy to see the NHRC has limited capacity and commitement.