{"article":{"id":21301,"heading":"Maoist General Strike in Nepal","author":"mlm","created":"2002-11-01 19:47:59","modified":"2002-11-03 21:11:25","last_modified":"Mon, 04 Nov 2002 04:11:25","article":"

A Maoist-called general strike has brought much of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to a standstill.

Hours before it began, 32 rebels and an army officer died in a clash in the eastern hill district of Okhaldhunga, officials said.



The Maoists want a republic



On Sunday, a series of small bomb blasts caused no major damage or injury, but heightened fears in the already-tense capital.

The increase in violence comes after an offer of peace talks from the Maoists late last week.

The authorities say the overnight clash in Okhaldhunga occurred following an abortive attempt by a large number of rebels to attack the Rumjatar airstrip in the district.

Streets empty

Monday's industrial action was brought by the workers' wing of the rebels, who claim their fellow workers are being repressed.

Most schools, factories and shops in Kathmandu and the neighbouring Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts remained shut, while very few vehicles could be seen on the streets.

The Revolutionary All-Nepal Free Trade Union is also backing the Maoist rebels' campaign against King Gyanendra's recent move to assume executive powers.

The move was unprecedented in the past 12 years of multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy in Nepal.

The rebels have been waging an armed struggle to replace the monarchy with a republic.

More than 5,000 people have died in more than six years of insurgency.

<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"www.kantipuronline.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":".","numcomment":10,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2002\/11\/21301.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":21302,"heading":"Can they both lose?","article":"A monarchy or a Maoist dictatorship. . . hmmm.\r\n\r\nIn situations like this, the US has three choices:\r\n\r\n- don't get involved -- let whatever happens happen.\r\n\r\n(Of course, then if something bad happens, critics will say "The US stood by and let this happen."\r\n\r\n- pick a side. \r\n \r\n(Of course, since neither side is made up of angels, the US is subject to criticism no matter which side it picks.)\r\n\r\n- move in and take control.\r\n\r\n(Of course, then we are imperialists!)\r\n\r\nThe right thing to do, of course, is to side with the lesser of two evils (and that would be pretty much anyone other than the Maoists), and then try to influence that party to become more democratic. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.\r\n\r\nAnd then ignore the Leftist critics.","author":"T-Mex","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 20:15:19","modified":"2002-11-01 20:15:19","fileurl":""},{"id":21304,"heading":"Why can't we...","article":"Just offer real economic aid together with \r\na non CIA infested peace core program? We \r\nmight even makes some friends.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 20:53:12","modified":"2002-11-01 20:53:12","fileurl":""},{"id":21305,"heading":"Because, christ; we sure need some!","article":"Wow, a country which didn't hate or fear us.\r\nWhat a concept!","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 20:56:00","modified":"2002-11-01 20:56:00","fileurl":""},{"id":21306,"heading":"The Devil","article":"is in the details. . . \r\n\r\nNo matter how we offer aid, it will inure to the benefit of one party to the conflict, most likely the established one.\r\n\r\nIf the monarchy's soldiers then go and behead a bunch of peasants, you, Sheepdog, will be among the first one saying "The US supported monarchy, which received x billion in foreign aid in 2002. . . "\r\n\r\n","author":"T-Mex","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 21:07:34","modified":"2002-11-01 21:07:34","fileurl":""},{"id":21307,"heading":"Ignorance must be bliss","article":"Regarding T-Mex's unenlightened ramblings above:\r\n\r\n'Maoist dictatorship'? How false, indeed. The Maoists have a central governing body for the rebel-controlled region. In what way does this represent a dictatorship?\r\n\r\nConcerning what side the U.S. should choose: a moot point. The U.S. CIA was responsible for the palace massacre which killed the Nepali King and Royal family. The CIA then installed their own puppet on the throne. The US has also already supported the now despotic 'Constitional Monarchy' with $20 million in military aid. So let us dispense with the notion that the U.S. is presently neutral in the conflict engulfing Nepal.\r\n\r\nT-Mex would have you believe that the People's War in Nepal is about communism vs. capitalism. In reality, it is a struggle for economic justice and civil rights against a totalitarian regime which has only recently dissolved the legislative body designed to keep the monarchy in check. And once again, as in Venezuela, the U.S. is backing the wrong side. ","author":"Slacker65","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 21:17:55","modified":"2002-11-01 21:17:55","fileurl":""},{"id":21308,"heading":"Considering Mao's Legacy","article":"As if 40 million dead chinese peasants wasn't enough:\r\n\r\nNepal: CPN (Maoist) abuses are unacceptable in the "people's war"\r\nThe Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) should immediately stop killing of people not taking active part in the conflict, including combatants taken prisoner, Amnesty International said today following several attacks on police stations in the context of the "people's war". The organization also appealed for captives not to be tortured, to be treated humanely, and to be allowed to communicate with their relatives.\r\n\r\nThe execution-style killing of eight police officers who were among 28 who surrendered to members of the CPN (Maoist) at Toli, Dailekh district, early Saturday morning is in clear violation of minimum humane standards applicable in the "people's war" in Nepal.\r\n\r\nAmnesty International is also seeking information from the leadership of the CPN (Maoist) about scores of people currently held captive by the armed opposition group. The organization has urged the CPN (Maoist) to inform the captives' relatives of their fate and give them the opportunity to communicate with them through the International Committee of the Red Cross. \r\n\r\n"The CPN (Maoist) leadership should publicly pledge that it will respect basic human rights and abide by international humanitarian principles," Amnesty International said.\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/web.amnesty.org\/ai.nsf\/Index\/ASA310092001?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\\NEPAL\r\n\r\n","author":"T-Mex","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 21:24:23","modified":"2002-11-01 21:24:23","fileurl":""},{"id":21310,"heading":"Isn't it wonderful...","article":"That WHEREVER the CIA has stepped, there is a pool of\r\nblood? It must be nice to have the teeth and steel of\r\nour nations corporate interests ready to make our brand\r\nof democracy available to the people of the world.\r\nOf course, there is a criteria for our attention.\r\n\t1. Resources we want.\r\n\t2. The disease of self determination threatening to\r\nspread to other areas. Can't let THAT happen.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-01 21:56:27","modified":"2002-11-01 21:56:27","fileurl":""},{"id":21318,"heading":"Yes,","article":"there was no bloodshed before the CIA came into existence. . . and if they stayed out of Nepal, there'd be no violence there either.\r\n\r\nThat is, of course, Leftist balderdash. ","author":"T-Mex","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-02 00:20:18","modified":"2002-11-02 00:20:18","fileurl":""},{"id":21477,"heading":"Balderdash?","article":"\tHow quaint. Yes of course there was no evil in the world before the CIA came into being. The lion laid down with the lamb. And the sun shines out my ass. Check it out, wear\r\nyour sun glasses and 45 SPF lotion. Don't forget your\r\nparasol (pink or puce, please) and toy sand bucket.\r\n Meanwhile don't attempt to set up a straw man situation\r\nwhich I'm sure taxes you mental arsenal to its breaking point.\r\nThe CIA functions as the teeth of the corporations and leaves a trail of blood and torture where ever it goes. ","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-03 03:21:26","modified":"2002-11-03 03:21:26","fileurl":""},{"id":21519,"heading":"Since I'm on the subject...","article":"Why we need the CIA.\r\n\r\n-Without the CIA, who will supply us with disinformation?\r\nSwitzerland, 1943\u2014future CIA founding director Allen Dulles begins protecting and hiring thousands of Nazi war criminals as US spies and operatives in Europe and Latin America\u2014including Reinhard Gehlen (Hitler\u2019s intelligence chief), Klaus Barbie ("the Butcher of Lyon"), and Otto Skorzeny (Hitler\u2019s chief bodyguard)\u2014and soon uses them to persuade the US administration that the Soviet Union plans an imminent attack on the West. Good for German neo-Nazis; good for the\r\nCIA\/military budget; bad for US democracy.\u2014Covert Action, Fall 1990.\r\nVietnam, 1964\u2014the CIA and related agencies help fabricate a phony Vietnamese attack in the Gulf of Tonkin off North\r\nVietnam, turning Congress and the public towards a war devastating for both southeast Asia and the US.\u2014US News &\r\nWorld Report, 7\/23\/84.\r\n"I guess I\u2019ve bought as much newspaper space as the A&P."\u2014"former" CIA officer, Newsweek, 11\/22\/71.\r\nProminent US media owners and journalists who have knowingly worked for the CIA include William Paley (CBS), Arthur\r\nSulzberger (NY Times), Henry Luce (Time\/Life), William Buckley (National Review), Ben Bradlee (Washington Post),\r\nand hundreds of others.\u2014Carl Bernstein, "The CIA and the Media", Rolling Stone, 10\/20\/77.\r\n1975\u2014Under pressure from his right, President Ford authorizes CIA director George Bush to create\r\n"Team B", charged with giving a "second opinion" after CIA analysts report on major weaknesses in the Soviet military. Team B\u2019s trumped-up rewriting of Soviet capabilities is later swallowed whole by President Reagan, who jacks up the Pentagon budget, promotes the Team B members, and solidifies a CIA woefully unprepared to anticipate the collapse of the Soviet Union.\u2014Mark Perry,\r\nThe Last Days of the CIA.\r\n"[T]he general effect of Cold War extremism was to delay rather than hasten the great change that\r\novertook the Soviet Union."\u2014 George Kennan, International Herald Tribune, 10\/29\/92.\r\nWithout the CIA, who will secretly manipulate foreign elections?\r\nThe CIA has spent millions of dollars on propaganda, payoffs, threats, and\/or paramilitary armies in Italy (1948, Operation Gladio), France, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, Chile (1958, 1964), Australia, etc.\r\nWithout the CIA, who will overthrow elected leaders and install dictators?\r\nGuatemala, 1954\u2014CIA overthrows freely-elected pro-capitalist president Arbenz, installs General Armas, and continues\r\nsupporting the military dictatorship over the next 40 years while it murders over 200,000 civilians.\r\nZaire, 1960\u2014CIA helps overthrow popular president Lumumba, and helps install kleptocratic General Mobutu.\r\nSimilar results in the Dominican Republic (1963, out with anti-Communist Bosch), Indonesia (1965, out with nonaligned\r\nSukarno, in with General Suharto, genocidal murderer in Indonesia and East Timor), Greece (1967, preferring six years of martial law to a nationalist but non-Communist Andreas Papandreou), Chile (1973, out with elected president Salvador Allende, in with ferocious General Pinochet and a hoard of ex-Nazis).\r\nWithout the CIA, who will generate anti-US bitterness around the globe?\r\nIran, 1953\u2014CIA overthrows freely-elected prime minister Mossadegh, installs the Shah, and trains the "security" force SAVAK into the worst human rights violator on the planet (Amnesty International, 1976), leading to popular support for the Ayatollah Khomeini\u2019s 1979 revolution. This is counted as one of the CIA\u2019s biggest successes. Cambodia, 1970\u2014after fifteen years of trying, the CIA deposes popular nonaligned leader Prince Sihanouk, imposes Lon Nol,who commits Cambodian troops to fighting Vietnam, leading to war in Cambodia (by CIA estimates, 1969-1975 US bombing kills 600,000 people and a million more by famine), and turning an insignificant cult into the powerful Khmer Rouge. Despite Pol Pot\u2019s murderous ways in the late 70s, ended by a Vietnamese invasion, and despite his avowed anti-capitalism, the CIA supports him through the 80s.\r\nSimilar results in Angola, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Panama, Iraq, Haiti,\u2026.\r\n\r\n THE CIA IS FUNDAMENTALLY ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD; IT\u2019S TIME WE\r\n ABOLISH IT.-\r\n","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":21301,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-11-03 21:11:25","modified":"2013-11-10 23:46:57","fileurl":""}]}