Maoists in Nepal and kidnapping

[Karl Marx's Camel]

The news say the maoists in Nepal frequently kidnap kids. Is this true?

[viva le revolution]

Don't believe everything you hear. It is easy to invent stories about groups that are secretive and not very well-known. In answer to your question, NO! they do not take part in such acts. These are stories invented by the Bourgeois media to belittle their struggle and aleinate people from their cause. Their attempts to demonise communism are not yet over.

[Phalanx]

I only hear about them kidnapping tourists and the like. Recently there was an article at the bbc talking about Nepalese troops freeing some foreign tourists. Although you've got to think what they were doing traveling a country in the midst of a war.

[Se7en]

Originally posted by viva le [email protected] 15 2005, 02:42 PM
In answer to your question, NO! they do not take part in such acts. These are stories invented by the Bourgeois media to belittle their struggle and aleinate people from their cause.
how the fuck do you know?

[Bolshevist]

The communist are kidnapping children. The King and his troops are the good guys, freeing children and tourists from these evil commie-kidnappers. Atleast that is the impression a un-critical mind would have after reading the bourgeious media, thankfully most of the people here (not all though) is capable of rejecting such lies.

[anonymous_red]

Originally posted by Lenin i [email protected] 15 2005, 09:19 PM
The communist are kidnapping children. The King and his troops are the good guys, freeing children and tourists from these evil commie-kidnappers. Atleast that is the impression a un-critical mind would have after reading the bourgeious media, thankfully most of the people here (not all though) is capable of rejecting such lies.
an uncritical mind would also just assume that the maoists are the "good guys" because they are fighting their bourgeois oppressors.

[Bolshevist]

From a Marxist standpoint they are "the good guys".

[anonymous_red]

you have a full understanding of what they intend to do once they gain power? there is more to being a marxist than shooting at government soldiers.

[Poum_1936]

I only hear about them kidnapping tourists and the like. Recently there was an article at the bbc talking about Nepalese troops freeing some foreign tourists. Although you've got to think what they were doing traveling a country in the midst of a war.

I wouldnt have known there was a war in Nepal if it was not for the RCP and a small article in the LA Times about the king taking total power in Nepal and sacking some government thing (parliament?).

[Bolshevist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2005, 09:40 PM
you have a full understanding of what they intend to do once they gain power? there is more to being a marxist than shooting at government soldiers.
Of course I understand this. What they have done already is truly remarkable, they have mobilized the masses in collectives producing food, educating them, kicked out the land lords, eliminated the retiers and furthered the role of women. They have empowered the masses of Nepal and once they gain complete control and remove the king we will see even more remarkable results!

[RedStarOverChina]

umm, whats the benefit in kidnaping people? I dont think they are dumb enough to TRY to ruin their reputation.

[Bolshevist]

I can imagine they are kidnapping collaborators for the Royal Nepalese Army, and (most likely) executing them but this I have no problem with nor do I suspect anyone else will have.

[Phalanx]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2005, 10:56 PM
umm, whats the benefit in kidnaping people? I dont think they are dumb enough to TRY to ruin their reputation.
I guess holding them for ransom or something. But the western media must think everyone is stupid if they can report such fallacious statemnts. What use do the Maoists have for money? Nobody will sell them guns, so they steal from Nepal's military. I'm just fine with that, however.

[anonymous_red]

Originally posted by Lenin i [email protected] 15 2005, 09:53 PM
Of course I understand this. What they have done already is truly remarkable, they have mobilized the masses in collectives producing food, educating them, kicked out the land lords, eliminated the retiers and furthered the role of women. They have empowered the masses of Nepal and once they gain complete control and remove the king we will see even more remarkable results!
let's hope so. but unless that comes in the form of a direct worker's democracy i will expect the same despotism that has been characteristic of all of the underdeveloped 'socialist' revolutions.

[ColinH]

CHAIMALE, Nepal (AFP) - Nepalese students, recounting their abduction by Maoist rebels, say the militants treated them well and wanted to hear their views--even if they were critical of rebel actions.

Ramila Acharya, 15, said she was terrified when armed rebels, who have been waging an increasingly deadly war to topple the constitutional monarchy, barged into their school in Chaimale and told them they were taking them away to teach the students "what a `people's republic' meant."

"I felt like crying and was very upset," she told AFP, providing a rare account of being kidnapped by the Maoists, whose "people's war" to install a communist republic had left some 9,500 dead since 1996.

"But the rebels treated us nicely. They gave us shelter and food to eat," even if they did make "us chant slogans like "Long live the Nepal Communist Party-Maoist!" she said.

The abductions of the students were the first ever in the Kathmandu valley.

Until last Sunday, the rebels had kidnapped students only from the remote countryside which they largely control.

The students were usually released after rebels tried to either indoctrinate them or persuade them to join their ranks.

The kidnappings followed a wave of Maoist attacks in and around the capital, seen by analysts as a show of strength by the rebels who want to install a communist republic in the deeply poor landlocked kingdom.

The 10 rebel kidnappers wore civilian clothes and carried pistols. Two were women.

"We had to walk for nearly nine hours, crawling many times through the jungle where the path was difficult, and reached an unknown place late at night," said 17-year-old Pushpa Raj Acharya.

They walked for nine hours, at one time having to cross a bridge built over a swollen river using a pulley suspended on a rope and were terrified of tumbling into the fast-moving waters.

The students said they were confined to a house they could only leave to go to the toilet.

But the rebels allowed probing and often hostile questions in their discussions with the students.

"We asked why they were destroying the country's economic infrastructure and why they announced the frequent strikes shutting down the country," said 16-year-old Ram Kumar Chapagain.

"They replied they will rebuild the destroyed infrastructure once they come to power and as far as the strikes go, they said they held them to see how popular they (the rebels) are," Chapagain said.

Another student Sanu Kanchha Bhomjon, 18, recounted: "We were asked to participate in an interaction programme and to speak about the rebels, their shortcomings and other complaints against them."

"They listened to us and our grievances against them. Then they explained to us about a people's republic and criticized the political parties of Nepal and the king," he said.

"They said we would be welcome to join their party anytime."

Their release, which the army has taken credit for, though the students and teachers said the rebels freed them voluntarily, was greeted with relief among fearful parents.

[RedStarOverChina]

wow. This article has completely won me over to the Maoist side. Well, almost. Lets keep our ears open.

[Severian]

Uh, yeah. It's so wonderful that they didn't shoot people for criticizing them...this time. That's called "lowered expectations."

Notice the mention that kidnapping young people for recruitment is routine in the countryside further from Kathmandu.

Human Rights Watch: (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/nepal1004/6.htm)

The conflict between government forces and Maoist rebels has had a profound effect on children throughout the country.156 Human Rights Watch did not specifically investigate the Maoist’s recruitment and use of children as soldiers or in other capacities during hostilities. However, accounts gathered by Human Rights Watch indicate that that the Maoists have recruited children and used them for logistical support in front line combat, for carrying ammunitions and supplies, and as cooks and porters.157

The Maoists initially made no attempt to hide the fact that they use children in hostilities declaring, for example, that “the increasing participation of women in the People’s War has had another bonanza… [namely] the drawing of children in the process of war and their politicization.”158 Over time, and under increasing criticism, the Maoists have denied recruiting and abducting children less than eighteen years old.159 This denial is contradicted by the findings of human rights groups and Nepal experts.160

As recently as February 23, 2004, the student wing of the Maoists stated that the Maoists were going to raise a fifty thousand strong child militia in order to counter a sharp dwindling of their ranks.161 “There is no age limit for recruitment to the child militia but bona fide rules of war will apply,” said Maoist student leader Kamal Shahi. “None will be coerced. One militia will be levied from each school.”162 Children who have been taken into the Maoist forces and then released have also reported to human rights groups that they received guerrilla combat training.163
....
In addition to the use of children in combat, the Maoists have forcibly abducted students from schools for political indoctrination. Children and adults who have been abducted describe being given lectures on Maoism and on their rights as citizens. There is also a cultural program during indoctrination, where Maoist songs and dances are taught. This practice is well-reported and is readily admitted by the Maoists.171 While most abducted children are returned days or weeks later, others remain unaccounted for.172 Some of the girls who were released after abductions have reported sexual abuse to human rights groups.173

Child abductions have had a debilitating impact on the educational system, causing many parents to keep their children at home rather than risk sending them to school, and, in some places, forcing the schools to shut down. For instance, following the abduction of sixty-five students from a school in Bafikot in Rukum in March 2004, the principal closed the school because students were too traumatized to attend.174 A teacher in a village near Nepalgunj told Human Rights Watch that attendance in her school has dropped dramatically since news of the abductions started filtering in earlier in 2004. “Parents say ‘we will send our children to school if you guarantee their safety.’ When there is no guarantee of our own safety, how can we guarantee the lives of our students?’”175 A coalition of children’s rights groups, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), maintains that as many as half a million children are being deprived of their right to education because they are kept at home for fear of abductions.176

The Maoists have also reportedly abducted, presumably in the hope that they can be instrumental in forcing children to enlist; teachers who have refused to cooperate have been killed.177

thread with more info on this (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=35386&hl=)

[Poum_1936]

"But the rebels treated us nicely. They gave us shelter and food to eat," even if they did make "us chant slogans like "Long live the Nepal Communist Party-Maoist!" she said.

So... is brainwashing the way to go now?


the student wing of the Maoists stated that the Maoists were going to raise a fifty thousand strong child militia in order to counter a sharp dwindling of their ranks.161 “There is no age limit for recruitment to the child militia but bona fide rules of war will apply,” said Maoist student leader Kamal Shahi. “None will be coerced. One militia will be levied from each school.”162 Children who have been taken into the Maoist forces and then released have also reported to human rights groups that they received guerrilla combat training.163

Anyone else see another potential "Childrens Crusade"?

[Karl Marx's Camel]

Sounds like a credible article, doesn't it?

[RedFlagOverTrenton]

I doubt the veracity of POUM's quoted article, somehow.. Prachanda has said repeatedly in a number of interviews that the absolute minimum age for joining the people's army and picking up a gun is 18, period - although people younger than that are allowed to help and work with the party - and that although errors may occur in the course of war, child recruitment is certainly not party policy.

[Red Heretic]

the RCP ran a great article on this by Li Onesto: http://rwor.org/a/1274/nepal-children-war-zone.htm

[Severian]

Because if the holy Prachandra says it, it must be true. Papal infallibility, I guess.

As Human Rights Watch points out, the Nepalese Maoists said the opposite initially...HRW links their webpage in the footnotes. But they're capable of changing their PR line for international consumption.

It'd be interesting to see more of their within-Nepal propaganda translated. I've seen some Spanish-language Sendero literature and it's remarkably cultic gibberish.