Li Onesto, Report from the People's War in Nepal (1999)

[mosfeld]

In 1999, Li Onesto went on behalf of the RCP,USA to report on the People's War in Nepal which had then been going on for 3 years. What came out of his adventure was a 22 chapter report published over time in the RCP,USA's newspaper Revolutionary Worker.

Read it here (http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20050104155223/http://rwor.org/s/dispatch-e.htm).

[mosfeld]

"My message to the oppressed and revolutionaries in the U.S. is, I would like to express our solidarity and urge them to unite to get free from the handcuffs of imperialism. Our movement is an international movement. We hope to become successful as one part of the world revolution. And we are working to build solidarity with all the oppressed people and the revolutionary communists in America."

Imagine how much this must make LLCOites rage -- "how dare those Nepalis? Haven't they read our latest newsletter?"

[RED DAVE]

Fabulous that he reports on a general strike without mentioning the working class.

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20050109200013/http://www.rwor.org/a/v21/1010-019/1019/nepal6.htm

RED DAVE

[mosfeld]

Now I remember why I stopped posting about Nepal on this forum...

[mosfeld]

Your post actually reminds me of Luis J. Escobar's essay "Critique of the Feminism of Sendero Luminoso". In his essay, he constantly reminds us of how impressed he is of the participation and empowerment of women, yet he is more concerned about abstract theoretical concepts, i.e., what Maríategui and Party documents had to say rather than PCP feminism in practice -- the arming and empowerment of women. To get to the point: Does it really matter how some outsider described the general strike?

My two cents.

[red cat]

Fabulous that he reports on a general strike without mentioning the working class.

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20050109200013/http://www.rwor.org/a/v21/1010-019/1019/nepal6.htm

RED DAVE

He does. In fact, so great is his internationalist spirit, he mentions the international working class :D



All this is a truly inspiring and significant development in the world and for the international proletariat.



Now I remember why I stopped posting about Nepal on this forum...

:lol:

[mosfeld]

This is a very good read. Currently on chapter 3, but I think I want this on paper instead since this internet version is most likely limited. This writing of hers is also more historically significant than I thought and reminds me of Edgar Snows "Red Star Over China". Like Snow, she was the first foreign reporter to enter guerrilla territory of Nepal (China in Snow's case). She also took a lengthy and famous interview (http://www.lionesto.net/articles/onesto/prachandainterview.htm) with Prachanda, like Snow did with Mao.

Here (http://www.lionesto.net/li_articles.html) are more articles by her, most on Nepal. Since she works with the RCP, I expect her to be critical of the recent developments in Nepal.

[RED DAVE]

Does it really matter how some outsider described the general strike?Well, given the tendency of Maoists to be uncritical cheerleaders for UCP(ML) and for the relationship between the UCP(ML) and the working class to be problematic, at best, it is a cause for concern.

Imagine of you read, say, Ten Days That Shook the World and Reed didn't mention the working class.

RED DAVE

[red cat]

Well, given the tendency of Maoists to be uncritical cheerleaders for UCP(ML) and for the relationship between the UCP(ML) and the working class to be problematic, at best, it is a cause for concern.

Imagine of you read, say, Ten Days That Shook the World and Reed didn't mention the working class.

RED DAVE

Where did you get this ?

[kasama-rl]

Fabulous that he reports on a general strike without mentioning the working class.

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20050109200013/http://www.rwor.org/a/v21/1010-019/1019/nepal6.htm

RED DAVE

To inject some materialism into this:

1) Li Onesto is a woman.

2) More importantly the bandhs in Nepal are not mainly actions of the working class. In fact the working class of Nepal is relatively small -- there are very few industries at all, mainly small artisan and machine shops. And so bandhs (which are often translated as "general strikes" in English) are workstoppages of the people -- but it mainly takes the form of shutting down shops, schools, and artisan establishments.

There are some industrial workplaces in Nepal (Jed Brandt for example visited a street car repair factory when he was in Kathmandu) and there are construction crews, etc.. But the actual working class is small as a percentage of the population, and even relatively small as a percentage of the urban population.

The Nepali working class mainly exists outside the country -- as many former peasants and their children travel to Indian cities (or the Middle East) to work as immigrant labor.

3) As a side point -- making snarky criticisms based on your ideological assumptions without making the necessary materialist analysis is not helpful to anyone's understanding (or to the revolutionary movement).

Mao says: "No investigation, no right to speak."

[RED DAVE]

To inject some materialism into this:

1) Li Onesto is a woman.Sorry about that. If it's mentioned in the text I missed it.


2) More importantly the bandhs in Nepal are not mainly actions of the working class. In fact the working class of Nepal is relatively small -- there are very few industries at all, mainly small artisan and machine shops. And so bandhs (which are often translated as "general strikes" in English) are workstoppages of the people -- but it mainly takes the form of shutting down shops, schools, and artisan establishments.

There are some industrial workplaces in Nepal (Jed Brandt for example visited a street car repair factory when he was in Kathmandu) and there are construction crews, etc.. But the actual working class is small as a percentage of the population, and even relatively small as a percentage of the urban population.Okay. But please remember that the ruling class is even smaller.


The Nepali working class mainly exists outside the country -- as many former peasants and their children travel to Indian cities (or the Middle East) to work as immigrant labor.Which means they are getting an education in industrial capitalism.


3) As a side point -- making snarky criticisms based on your ideological assumptions without making the necessary materialist analysis is not helpful to anyone's understanding (or to the revolutionary movement).You haave your opinion about materialism analysis, and I have mine. I've made my position, my historical materialist position, about Maoism clear many times: based on its actual performance (material), as opposed to its rhetoric, Maoism represents a tendency of the petit-bourgeisie in underdeveloped countries, which opens the door to full-blown capitalism.

If you want to debate this, start a thread.


Mao says: "No investigation, no right to speak."Mao says: "If we do not execute people, we must feed them." :D

RED DAVE