All eyes on Nepal - May 1

[Sam Lord]

Looks like nepal will be where it is all happening this Mayday.

The Maoists have called on their supporters from all over the country to converge on Katmandu for the "final conflict" with the old order. There will be no going back it it is asserted ... this will be victory or death.

The Nepalese Army is already on high alert. Will it fight when the time comes?

"Posters for May 1 appeared overnight announcing the Maoist call for workers and villagers to converge on Kathmandu for a “final conflict”. The Maoists are calling for a sustained mobilisation, with the hope that an overwhelming showing can push the government out with a minimum of bloodshed and stay the hand of the Nepal army.

May 1 is International Workers' Day, the traditional day of action for communists around the world, but the mobilisation has already begun.

Thousands of recruits are being trained by YCL cadre in districts throughout the country, drilling with bamboo sticks in place of rifles. With threats from Nepal army commanders to put these protests down with force, the Maoists are preparing to defend their mass organisations, the marches, the party and the people from attempts at counter-revolution. Their meetings include political orientations and anti-disinformation training to combat the confusing fog of manufactured rumours and lies that are already in the air.

National assemblies of radical students, artists, intellectuals, ethnic federations, women, unions and trade organisations convened widely during the month of April. All sectors are receiving the same message: the Maoists will not return to the jungle, or replay a guerilla struggle. They will not retreat. The conflict will be decided frontally in the cities."

http://links.org.au/node/1642

[C. Flower]

A big undertaking, and a calculated risk to advertise it like this in advance.

Interesting site.

[Sam Lord]

Interesting site.

Meh ... trotskyites of one hue or another.

[Sam Lord]

A big undertaking, and a calculated risk to advertise it like this in advance.



Well they are not plotting a coup.

I think giving private Tensing from dirt poor village x a few days to discuss with other private Tensings from a myriad of dirt poor villages whether or not they should fire on their fellow villagers ....is probably a good idea,

I have no great gra for maoism but I don't think this lot is entirely stupid.

[Sam Lord]

The US is now actively intervening ....

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1239285&lang=eng_news

No surprise there but my question is what is U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake doing meeting with the head of an organisation declared to be "terrorist" by the US government.

Are we to expect talks with Bin Laden next?

[Sam Lord]

Mobilisation is well under way ... thousands in Kathmandu already.

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-48097920100429

[Sam Lord]

125,000 at Rally but no reports of violence ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gS9irMxJKHSMXB28Ghe84UMBqvHAD9FE2VM80

[Sam Lord]

Nepal is completely shut down.

Shops allowed to open for two hours a day to allow people to buy food.

Maoists say shut down will continue indefinitely until their demands are met.

How long can the Prime Minister insist on continuing to govern a country in which nothing whatsoever is happening ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gS9irMxJKHSMXB28Ghe84UMBqvHAD9FEPELO0

[Sam Lord]

A blow struck against global warming:-

"The Maoists have ordered all motorized forms of transport off the roads -- except for ambulances, water delivery and garbage removal trucks and diplomatic and media vehicles, as well as special airport buses for the stranded tourists."

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/National-Strike-Ordered-by-Maoists-Brings-Nepal-to-Virtual-Halt--92654694.html

[C. Flower]

A blow struck against global warming:-

"The Maoists have ordered all motorized forms of transport off the roads -- except for ambulances, water delivery and garbage removal trucks and diplomatic and media vehicles, as well as special airport buses for the stranded tourists."

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/National-Strike-Ordered-by-Maoists-Brings-Nepal-to-Virtual-Halt--92654694.html

Do you have any idea what their programme is ?

Are they agriculturally oriented ?

[Sam Lord]

Do you have any idea what their programme is ?

Are they agriculturally oriented ?

[1] No

[2] They are Maoists. It usually involves some affinity with the diggers of earth. The ones in Cambodia apparently didn't think people should live in cities at all. :)

Seriously, I suspect their programme is centered on land distribution. There is feck all industry in Nepal to my knowledge.

[Sam Lord]

Do you have any idea what their programme is ?

Are they agriculturally oriented ?

Just reading a wiki article for what it is worth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Communist_Party_of_Nepal_%28Maoist%29

Their guide to action is the Prachanda Path. Something like the Gonzalo thought of the Shining Path .

"Senior Maoist leader Mohan Vaidya alias Kiran says, ‘Just as Marxism was born in Germany, Leninism in Russia and Maoism in China, Prachanda Path is Nepal’s identity of revolution. Just as Marxism has three facets- philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism, Prachanda Path is a combination of all three totally in Nepal’s political context."

One (well me anyway) would not expect anything really positive to arise out of this.

Their aim is to establish a Peoples Democracy which is viewed as a "historical revolt against feudalism, imperialism and reformists." There is a memorandum listing 40 demands related to "nationalism, democracy and livelihood" which I will try to find sometime.

It seems that the Brits have been a significant contributor to their success to date! Who would have suspected!!

"A considerable number of retired Gurkha soldiers of the British and the Indian Army inhabit many of the areas previously controlled by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) during the Nepalese Civil War and Nepalese security agencies have suspected that these former soldiers along with those retired and deserters from the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) were involved in training the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) insurgents... " :) :)



Day 3 and Nepal remains totally shut down.

[Sam Lord]

Day 5 and things are hotting up.

Government buildings now blockaded and Maoists are carrying sticks or staffs in the streets to enforce the strike.

Not everyone is happy with the shut down and there have been clashes between residents and the Maoists in some areas.

More serious possibly are growing accounts of clashes between the Maoists and cadre of the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist. The CPN (UML) is the third largest party and won a total of 103 seats in the last election (out of 575 elected seats), placing third behind the Maoists and the Nepali Congress.