Saorsa
27th April 2010, 22:38
Maoist hosts descending on Valley POST B BASNET AND OM ASTHA RAI
KATHMANDU, April 28: Maoists have begun to descend on the capital in thousands for what they call Janaandolan-3 to topple the government and draft a “people´s constitution”.
The party has planned a massive demonstration on May 1 and called an indefinite general strike from the next day until the government is dissolved to pave the way for a Maoist-led national unity government and the “people´s constitution”.
On Tuesday, over 500 cadres arrived in Kathmandu from the Maoist Avadh State and are taking shelter at an empty building belonging to Araniko School at Tripureshwar. According to party sources, Maoists have set up tents and are running a kitchen in the building owned by the Khetan group.
According to sources, similar number of cadres are arriving in Kathmandu in the next two or three days.
Similarly, over 1,000 cadres were bused in from Nuwakot district on Tuesday afternoon. According to witnesses, the cadres rode on the roof of the buses due to space crunch.
They are sheltering in private houses at Futung Manamaiju, just a few kilometers from Balaju. The party plans to bring in over 100 thousand cadres from surrounding districts alone. Maoists plan to massively mobilize Maoist-affiliated transport workers just ahead of May 1 to ferry them to Kathmandu.
Of the 14 Maoist states, the party is bringing cadres from 12 as it would be impossible to bring in cadres from Bhote-Lama and Sherpa states because of their remoteness.
Similarly, the Maoist district committees are also sending cadres to Kathmandu. Cadres in thousands from various districts including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari are already sheltering at guesthouses at Kalanki, Gongabu, Sundhara, Bagbazaar and even Nagarkot.
According to party sources, each Ganatantra Manch ( Kathmandu-district liaison forum) has been asked to arrange food and accommodation for over 400 cadres.
Most of the cadres will shelter in factories, public halls and under-construction buildings. Maoist Trade Union chief Saligram Jamakattel has been entrusted with the task.
With the influx of Maoist cadres, the capital´s population has gone up, adversely affecting its already-insufficient lodging capacity and vegetable supplies.
According to Narayan Dahal, secretary of the Maoist Newa State Committee, over 300,000 cadres will come to the Valley.
While district-level leaders are staying at lodges, Maoist cadres have taken shelter at public buildings.
The most suitable places for Maoist cadres to stay seem to be private schools, which were forcibly shut down by the party´s student wing--All Nepal National Free Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R)--on the pretext of protesting a fee hike.
The Private And Boarding Schools´ Organization of Nepal (PABSON) has disclosed that more than half a dozen schools have already been occupied by Maoist cadres.
"Some school owners have informed me that Maoist cadres have taken shelter in their schools," Rajesh Khadka, President of PABSON, told myrepublica.com. "But I cannot disclose their names for security reasons."
Similarly, the price of vegetables has gone up alarmingly in the Valley. Tomatoes, which were just Rs 18-20 per kg in the past week, are now anything between Rs 18-35. "Prices of all vegetables have gone up," says Bharat Khatiwada, president of the Vegetable Wholesalers´ Association (VWA).
According to Khatiwada, the Valley´s daily demand for vegetables has also increased. Usually, Kathmandu Valley consumes about 1,000 metric tons of vegetable. But now the Valley is facing a vegetable crunch in spite of ample imports. "Maoists are buying vegetables in bulk," Khatiwada says. "But we do not know the exact figure."
Maoist sources say that cadres entering the Valley from nearby districts have been told to bring along light blankets. They will be provided mats and pillows. The party will serve them Nepali meals and dry food. "They will stay in the Valley so long as our general strike continues," Dahal said. The Maoists have publicly vowed to deploy 500,000 cadres in the Valley.
Maoists have also thrashed out a plan to seize the capital. The party has identified 11 strategic points including Kalanki, Gongabu, Baneshwar and Sundhara which would be the vortex of the Maoist demonstrations.
"The key-places have been identified in such a way that the heart of Kathmandu would fall under the control of the protestors," said a Maoist leader. The party has arranged 30,000 protestors in Baneshwar alone.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18011
Maoists for indefinite strike in no national govt
KATHMANDU, April 26: Maoists have announced an indefinite strike from May 2 if the ruling parties don´t come around to their agenda of a national government and drafting a people´s constitution.
Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal declared the infinite strike amidst an interaction program with media persons at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Monday. The party has set the deadline of May 1, the day of the party´s proposed mass urban-centric demonstrations, to meet their demands.
"Taking into account the whole political scenario and background, our party has reached a conclusion that massive pressure and intervention of the people is essential to safeguard national independence and people´s supremacy and for peace and constitution-drafting," Dahal said. However, the Maoist chairman said his party would remain open for talks with the ruling parties.
According to him, thousands of party volunteers would be mobilized from May 1 in the major cities to make the "third Mass Movement" peaceful, and warned that the government would be responsible for any untoward incident if demonstrations are suppressed though violent tactics.
Dahal also denied reports that his party has been training its cadres in urban warfare tactics. "They were trained to manage the massive demonstrations," he said, "We absolutely dismiss the propaganda that they were being trained in military skills." There are news reports and pictures about the Maoists training their cadres with khukuris and sticks at camps in various districts, and that they would be at the forefront of the Maoist demonstrations.
He claimed that such training took place only in Morang and that the party has directed its local bodies not to train cadres with lathis and Khukiris. He also said the seizure of more than 600 Maoist sticks by police in Kavre on Sunday had been hyped up.
"If the other side resorts to violent tactics, there will be violence. It is said the state begins violence at first," he said.
Accusing the government of making massive preparations to suppress the demonstrations, he said the Maoists have already decided to "retaliate" if the government takes to violent methods to crush the demonstrations.
In closed-door training sessions, Maoist leaders have been telling their cadres that they should now be ready for a "last battle" to capture state power.
Dahal also argued that the general strike is not his party´s wish, but is the only option for fulfilling the historic necessity of peace and constitution.
The former rebel leader also argued that his party had withdrawn the party´s continuous strikes earlier after the High Level Political Mechanism was formed, but the mechanism could not make headway due to the apathy of NC and UML leaders following the demise of NC president Girija Prasad Koirala.
He also passed the blame for breaking the system of consensus onto the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, which, according him, led to the current political deadlock.
The Maoist chairman said his party mulled a no-confidence motion, but decided to drop the plan after the game of "buying and selling parliamentarians´ votes" began.
According to Dahal, the more people hit the streets, the quicker will come the results, and people won´t have to suffer long.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/in...&news_id=17942 (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=17942)
Maoist influx strains Valley lodgings, veg supply OM ASTHA RAI
KATHMANDU, April 28: With the influx of Maoist cadres into Kathmandu Valley for what their leaders say is a decisive war, the capital´s floating population has gone up, affecting its already-insufficient lodging capacity and vegetable supplies.
Going by the Maoists´ own statements, over 300,000 cadres are likely to inter the Valley within this week. According to Narayan Dahal, secretary of the Maoist Newa State Committee which is tasked with arranging food and accommodation, cadres have already started arriving in the Valley. "All cadres will come into the Valley by the day before May 1", he told myrepublica.com (http://myrepublica.com/).
The Maoist cadres, who arrived in Kathmandu from surrounding districts, have occupied public halls, schools and under-construction buildings. While district-level leaders are staying at lodges, Maoist cadres have taken shelter at public buildings.
The most suitable places for Maoist cadres to stay seem to be private schools, which were forcibly shut down by the party´s student wing--All Nepal National Free Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R)--on the pretext of protesting a fee hike. They have threatened the owners of the private schools to keep mum about their occupying the schools.
The Maoist leadership, Dahal says, has instructed their cadres to avoid sheltering in private schools. But this seems merely perfunctory. Most of them have chosen private schools as appropriate shelter.
The Private And Boarding Schools´ Organization of Nepal (PABSON) has disclosed that more than half a dozen schools have already been occupied by Maoist cadres. "Some school owners have informed me that Maoist cadres have taken shelter in their schools," Rajesh Khadka, President of PABSON, told Republica. "But I cannot disclose their names for some security reasons."
Similarly, the price of vegetables has gone up alarmingly in the Valley thanks to the huge inflow of Maoist cadres. Tomatoes, which were just Rs 18-20 per kg in the past week, are now anything between Rs 18-35. "Prices of all vegetables have gone up," says Bharat Khatiwada, president of the Vegetable Wholesalers´ Association (VWA).
According to Khatiwada, the Valley´s daily demand for vegetables has also increased. Usually, Kathmandu Valley consumes about 1,000 metric tons of vegetable. But now the Valley is facing a vegetable crunch in spite of ample imports. "Maoists are buying vegetables in bulk," Khatiwada says. "But we do not know the exact figure."
Maoist sources say that cadres entering the Valley from nearby districts have been told to bring along light blankets. They will be provided mats and pillows. The party will serve them Nepali meals and dry food. "They will stay in the Valley so long as our general strike continues," Dahal said. The Maoists have publicly vowed to deploy 500,000 cadres in the Valley.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/in...&news_id=18011 (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18011)
KATHMANDU, April 28: Maoists have begun to descend on the capital in thousands for what they call Janaandolan-3 to topple the government and draft a “people´s constitution”.
The party has planned a massive demonstration on May 1 and called an indefinite general strike from the next day until the government is dissolved to pave the way for a Maoist-led national unity government and the “people´s constitution”.
On Tuesday, over 500 cadres arrived in Kathmandu from the Maoist Avadh State and are taking shelter at an empty building belonging to Araniko School at Tripureshwar. According to party sources, Maoists have set up tents and are running a kitchen in the building owned by the Khetan group.
According to sources, similar number of cadres are arriving in Kathmandu in the next two or three days.
Similarly, over 1,000 cadres were bused in from Nuwakot district on Tuesday afternoon. According to witnesses, the cadres rode on the roof of the buses due to space crunch.
They are sheltering in private houses at Futung Manamaiju, just a few kilometers from Balaju. The party plans to bring in over 100 thousand cadres from surrounding districts alone. Maoists plan to massively mobilize Maoist-affiliated transport workers just ahead of May 1 to ferry them to Kathmandu.
Of the 14 Maoist states, the party is bringing cadres from 12 as it would be impossible to bring in cadres from Bhote-Lama and Sherpa states because of their remoteness.
Similarly, the Maoist district committees are also sending cadres to Kathmandu. Cadres in thousands from various districts including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari are already sheltering at guesthouses at Kalanki, Gongabu, Sundhara, Bagbazaar and even Nagarkot.
According to party sources, each Ganatantra Manch ( Kathmandu-district liaison forum) has been asked to arrange food and accommodation for over 400 cadres.
Most of the cadres will shelter in factories, public halls and under-construction buildings. Maoist Trade Union chief Saligram Jamakattel has been entrusted with the task.
With the influx of Maoist cadres, the capital´s population has gone up, adversely affecting its already-insufficient lodging capacity and vegetable supplies.
According to Narayan Dahal, secretary of the Maoist Newa State Committee, over 300,000 cadres will come to the Valley.
While district-level leaders are staying at lodges, Maoist cadres have taken shelter at public buildings.
The most suitable places for Maoist cadres to stay seem to be private schools, which were forcibly shut down by the party´s student wing--All Nepal National Free Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R)--on the pretext of protesting a fee hike.
The Private And Boarding Schools´ Organization of Nepal (PABSON) has disclosed that more than half a dozen schools have already been occupied by Maoist cadres.
"Some school owners have informed me that Maoist cadres have taken shelter in their schools," Rajesh Khadka, President of PABSON, told myrepublica.com. "But I cannot disclose their names for security reasons."
Similarly, the price of vegetables has gone up alarmingly in the Valley. Tomatoes, which were just Rs 18-20 per kg in the past week, are now anything between Rs 18-35. "Prices of all vegetables have gone up," says Bharat Khatiwada, president of the Vegetable Wholesalers´ Association (VWA).
According to Khatiwada, the Valley´s daily demand for vegetables has also increased. Usually, Kathmandu Valley consumes about 1,000 metric tons of vegetable. But now the Valley is facing a vegetable crunch in spite of ample imports. "Maoists are buying vegetables in bulk," Khatiwada says. "But we do not know the exact figure."
Maoist sources say that cadres entering the Valley from nearby districts have been told to bring along light blankets. They will be provided mats and pillows. The party will serve them Nepali meals and dry food. "They will stay in the Valley so long as our general strike continues," Dahal said. The Maoists have publicly vowed to deploy 500,000 cadres in the Valley.
Maoists have also thrashed out a plan to seize the capital. The party has identified 11 strategic points including Kalanki, Gongabu, Baneshwar and Sundhara which would be the vortex of the Maoist demonstrations.
"The key-places have been identified in such a way that the heart of Kathmandu would fall under the control of the protestors," said a Maoist leader. The party has arranged 30,000 protestors in Baneshwar alone.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18011
Maoists for indefinite strike in no national govt
KATHMANDU, April 26: Maoists have announced an indefinite strike from May 2 if the ruling parties don´t come around to their agenda of a national government and drafting a people´s constitution.
Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal declared the infinite strike amidst an interaction program with media persons at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Monday. The party has set the deadline of May 1, the day of the party´s proposed mass urban-centric demonstrations, to meet their demands.
"Taking into account the whole political scenario and background, our party has reached a conclusion that massive pressure and intervention of the people is essential to safeguard national independence and people´s supremacy and for peace and constitution-drafting," Dahal said. However, the Maoist chairman said his party would remain open for talks with the ruling parties.
According to him, thousands of party volunteers would be mobilized from May 1 in the major cities to make the "third Mass Movement" peaceful, and warned that the government would be responsible for any untoward incident if demonstrations are suppressed though violent tactics.
Dahal also denied reports that his party has been training its cadres in urban warfare tactics. "They were trained to manage the massive demonstrations," he said, "We absolutely dismiss the propaganda that they were being trained in military skills." There are news reports and pictures about the Maoists training their cadres with khukuris and sticks at camps in various districts, and that they would be at the forefront of the Maoist demonstrations.
He claimed that such training took place only in Morang and that the party has directed its local bodies not to train cadres with lathis and Khukiris. He also said the seizure of more than 600 Maoist sticks by police in Kavre on Sunday had been hyped up.
"If the other side resorts to violent tactics, there will be violence. It is said the state begins violence at first," he said.
Accusing the government of making massive preparations to suppress the demonstrations, he said the Maoists have already decided to "retaliate" if the government takes to violent methods to crush the demonstrations.
In closed-door training sessions, Maoist leaders have been telling their cadres that they should now be ready for a "last battle" to capture state power.
Dahal also argued that the general strike is not his party´s wish, but is the only option for fulfilling the historic necessity of peace and constitution.
The former rebel leader also argued that his party had withdrawn the party´s continuous strikes earlier after the High Level Political Mechanism was formed, but the mechanism could not make headway due to the apathy of NC and UML leaders following the demise of NC president Girija Prasad Koirala.
He also passed the blame for breaking the system of consensus onto the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, which, according him, led to the current political deadlock.
The Maoist chairman said his party mulled a no-confidence motion, but decided to drop the plan after the game of "buying and selling parliamentarians´ votes" began.
According to Dahal, the more people hit the streets, the quicker will come the results, and people won´t have to suffer long.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/in...&news_id=17942 (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=17942)
Maoist influx strains Valley lodgings, veg supply OM ASTHA RAI
KATHMANDU, April 28: With the influx of Maoist cadres into Kathmandu Valley for what their leaders say is a decisive war, the capital´s floating population has gone up, affecting its already-insufficient lodging capacity and vegetable supplies.
Going by the Maoists´ own statements, over 300,000 cadres are likely to inter the Valley within this week. According to Narayan Dahal, secretary of the Maoist Newa State Committee which is tasked with arranging food and accommodation, cadres have already started arriving in the Valley. "All cadres will come into the Valley by the day before May 1", he told myrepublica.com (http://myrepublica.com/).
The Maoist cadres, who arrived in Kathmandu from surrounding districts, have occupied public halls, schools and under-construction buildings. While district-level leaders are staying at lodges, Maoist cadres have taken shelter at public buildings.
The most suitable places for Maoist cadres to stay seem to be private schools, which were forcibly shut down by the party´s student wing--All Nepal National Free Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R)--on the pretext of protesting a fee hike. They have threatened the owners of the private schools to keep mum about their occupying the schools.
The Maoist leadership, Dahal says, has instructed their cadres to avoid sheltering in private schools. But this seems merely perfunctory. Most of them have chosen private schools as appropriate shelter.
The Private And Boarding Schools´ Organization of Nepal (PABSON) has disclosed that more than half a dozen schools have already been occupied by Maoist cadres. "Some school owners have informed me that Maoist cadres have taken shelter in their schools," Rajesh Khadka, President of PABSON, told Republica. "But I cannot disclose their names for some security reasons."
Similarly, the price of vegetables has gone up alarmingly in the Valley thanks to the huge inflow of Maoist cadres. Tomatoes, which were just Rs 18-20 per kg in the past week, are now anything between Rs 18-35. "Prices of all vegetables have gone up," says Bharat Khatiwada, president of the Vegetable Wholesalers´ Association (VWA).
According to Khatiwada, the Valley´s daily demand for vegetables has also increased. Usually, Kathmandu Valley consumes about 1,000 metric tons of vegetable. But now the Valley is facing a vegetable crunch in spite of ample imports. "Maoists are buying vegetables in bulk," Khatiwada says. "But we do not know the exact figure."
Maoist sources say that cadres entering the Valley from nearby districts have been told to bring along light blankets. They will be provided mats and pillows. The party will serve them Nepali meals and dry food. "They will stay in the Valley so long as our general strike continues," Dahal said. The Maoists have publicly vowed to deploy 500,000 cadres in the Valley.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/in...&news_id=18011 (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18011)