CPN(M) call General Strike in Kathmandu

[A.J.]

Nepal rebels oppose appointments

The rebels warn the appointments smack of a controversy
Nepal's Maoist rebels have called a general strike in the capital, Kathmandu, to protest against key government appointments in the country.
On Monday, the government announced a number of appointments, including ambassadors to 14 countries.

The positions had fallen vacant after King Gyanendra ended his direct rule after a popular uprising in April.

A Maoist leader warned that the appointments may endanger the current peace process to end the insurgency.

The one-day strike disrupted normal life in Kathmandu and the neighbouring Lalitpur and Bhaktapur towns.

Maoist workers forced schools, factories, and markets to shut and stopped vehicles.

Conspiracy

On Monday, the government appointed the chairman and members of the national human rights commission.

It also appointed ambassadors to 14 countries including neighbouring India and China, and the United States.

The Maoists renounced violence following a recent peace accord.

But rebel spokesman, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, warned that the government appointments could derail the peace process.

He said that the appointments smacked of a conspiracy against recent accords between the Maoists and the seven-party government for an interim government which would include the rebels.

He did not elaborate.

The Maoists are believed to have been angered that key decisions had been made before the new administration was in place.

On Saturday, the two sides approved an interim constitution, a key step on the way to implementing the peace accord and bringing the rebels into government.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6192119.stm

[RedStarOverChina]

LOL already?

Those naughty, naughty Maoists.

[Ander]

Those Maoists certainly mean business. It's reassuring to see that they have enough power to simply stop life in the capital like that. Hopefully this will keep the current regime from stepping out of line.

[Red Heretic]

There is also video with this article here:

Video (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stm)

EDIT: Nevermind, you have to click the link on the original page.

[Joseph Ball]

This report is from the Ekantipur online website. It's worth quoting in full. There is actually a rolling program of general strike action. We also hear of 800 Maoists leaving their camp with thier guns to protest the government's underhand tactics. So much for stories about sell-outs and Maoists being disarmed.

Maoist-called strike cripples normal life across nation

Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 19 - Protesting the government decision to name ambassadors, the CPN (Maoist) on Tuesday called a Kathmandu Valley bandh (general strike), crippling life across the valley.

Talking to ekantipur, Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that such “unilateral action by the government could seriously affect the ongoing peace process.”

"Our party decided to announce 6 hour bandh (from 10 am to 4 pm) today in the valley and from 10 in the morning to noon outside the valley protesting the Government decision," said Mahara, adding, “The decisions including nomination of the ambassadors were a violation of the government-Maoist agreements reached in the past.”

The strike disrupted normal life in the capital and the neighboring Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts.

While Kathmandu residents could be seen heading to their destinations on foot, the Maoist cadres could be seen enforcing their strike on vehicles.

Party cadres of the various sister organizations affiliated to the CPN-Maoist forced markets, schools, to shut and stopped vehicles.

Likewise, the Maoisr affiliated ANNISU-R today took out protest rallies from different colleges in the capital.

The Maoist cadres burnt tyres at various parts of the valley including Ratna Park, Putali Sadak, Naya Baneshwore, Balaju, Gongabu, and Maharajgunj.

One Ramesh Dhungel of Kavre was injured critically in the capital today after being beaten up by Maoist cadres while a motorcycle was torched and a private car vandalized during today's protests.

The agitators misbehaved with taxi drivers in addition to letting off air from the bicycle tires.

Security has been beefed up.

Similarly, today's strike affected life outside the capital as well.

Maoist cadres halted traffic at Dhading's Gajuri and Naubise stretch while Dolakha's Charikot market remained shut today.

Likewise, the strike also affected traffic on the different highways across the country.

Long distance buses plying the Butwal-Bhairawa, Butwal-Narayangadh stretch, Tansen-Tamghas stretch of the Siddhartha Highway, Neejgadh-Pathalaiya stretch of the Mahendra highway, were also affected by the strike, leaving thousands of passengers high and dry.

The Maoists also padlocked the District Development Committee office in Rasuwa.

According to sources, Maoists have called on a Pokhara strike today from 1 in the afternoon to 4pm.

The cabinet meeting on Monday had nominated 14 individuals as the country's ambassadors abroad and appointed chairman and members of the national human rights commission.

The names of the proposed envoys will be forwarded for parliamentary hearings before the appointments are made.

Of the names, four are university teachers, three are career diplomats with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(MoFA) and a parliament secretariat official. The rest are politicians.

According to a cabinet source, the names will be sent to the relevent country for agreement once the parliamentary special committee gives its clearance. Most of the Nepalese missions abroad have remained without ambassadors after the new democratic government called back royal appointees immediately after the success of the democratic movement in April. No one has been nominated for the Nepalese Embassy in Paris.

Serious violation of agreements: Prachanda

Maoist Chairman Prachanda said that the government decision to nominate the ambassadors was a serious violation of agreements reached between the government and the Maoists in the past.

"We are involving in the government soon and have requested the incumbent government not to take any remarkable political and so other decisions alone. However, the government made such decision bypassing us. So, it is a serious violation of the agreement and accord between the party and the government," Maoist Chairman Prachanda told state-owned Rastriya Samachar Samiti on Monday night.

He made it clear that the political decisions have been carried on with the joint agreement of the government and the Maoist following the Eight Point Understanding. "However, the government made a unilateral decision this time."

Stating that there is still the suspicion on the activities of the "reactionary rogues" to foil the changed context where the people are being sovereign and victors, Prachanda said, "This very decision of the government is not sagacious one. It is very critical and serious."

He also said he had frequently requested the government not to hasten in the reinstatement of the police posts but after their involvement in the government.

PLA fighters protest govt decision

Meanwhile, Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA) fighters came out of the PLA First Division camp at Chulachuli in Ilam district to protest the government decision to appoint ambassadors.

Talking to ekantipur over the phone, commander of the PLA First Division Shantu Darai "Parwana" said some 800 PLA fighters with their weapons left the cantonment site for an hour this afternoon to protest the government decision.

"We were forced to stage a protest demonstration from 12 pm to 1 pm this afternoon within our perimeter after the government began to make decisions without our party's consent, breaching all agreements reached in the past," said Parwana.

[Severian]

Originally posted by Joseph [email protected] 19, 2006 05:45 pm
This report is from the Ekantipur online website. It's worth quoting in full. There is actually a rolling program of general strike action.
Funny, that's not exactly how the article describes it:

While Kathmandu residents could be seen heading to their destinations on foot, the Maoist cadres could be seen enforcing their strike on vehicles.

Party cadres of the various sister organizations affiliated to the CPN-Maoist forced markets, schools, to shut and stopped vehicles.

Likewise, the Maoisr affiliated ANNISU-R today took out protest rallies from different colleges in the capital.

The Maoist cadres burnt tyres at various parts of the valley including Ratna Park, Putali Sadak, Naya Baneshwore, Balaju, Gongabu, and Maharajgunj.

One Ramesh Dhungel of Kavre was injured critically in the capital today after being beaten up by Maoist cadres while a motorcycle was torched and a private car vandalized during today's protests.

The agitators misbehaved with taxi drivers in addition to letting off air from the bicycle tires.

That doesn't sound like a strike, a mass action by workers. It sounds like the Maoists' old tactic of enforcing a shutdown by threats - only they don't have weapons now. Still, the old fear is enough to make it effective - for part of a day.

Also take a look at what the issue is: the government appointed ambassadors without consulting the CPN(Maoist). That doesn't seem like an issue likely to have mass resonance.


We also hear of 800 Maoists leaving their camp with thier guns to protest the government's underhand tactics. So much for stories about sell-outs and Maoists being disarmed.

Here also, the article says:


Talking to ekantipur over the phone, commander of the PLA First Division Shantu Darai "Parwana" said some 800 PLA fighters with their weapons left the cantonment site for an hour this afternoon to protest the government decision.

"We were forced to stage a protest demonstration from 12 pm to 1 pm this afternoon within our perimeter after the government began to make decisions without our party's consent, breaching all agreements reached in the past," said Parwana.

Big deal. But if accurate, that's a technical violation of the peace accords. Are you claiming the CPN(Maoist) are likely to break them on a significant scale?

It's also interesting to note that the CPN(Maoist) didn't feel able to protest over this minor issue without rattling their weapons. They're unaccustomed to other means of action.

But all this is a tempest in a teapot: the disagreement will be ironed out. Already legislators from some of the governing parties are objecting to the appointments without consultation. (From the CPN(United Marxis-Leninist) and the People's Front Nepal).

[Janus]

That doesn't sound like a strike, a mass action by workers. It sounds like the Maoists' old tactic of enforcing a shutdown by threats - only they don't have weapons now. Still, the old fear is enough to make it effective - for part of a day.
With the peace treaty so far, would the Maoists still be able to pull this off in the gov. controlled cities? I would think that the gov. would surely complain that this would be a breach in their agreements and at least stop the Maoists from physically threatening the populace.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 30, 2006 01:59 am
With the peace treaty so far, would the Maoists still be able to pull this off in the gov. controlled cities? I would think that the gov. would surely complain that this would be a breach in their agreements and at least stop the Maoists from physically threatening the populace.
Have you been following the news from Nepal at all? The government and all kinds of people have been complaining about all kinds of violations of the peace accords, and obviously leaving the camps with weapons is a violation.

There's rarely much effort to stop them with armed force, probably for a couple reasons. One, it might derail the peace process, and two, the armed forces at the government's disposal aren't that reliable....they were the king's forces 'til recently.

Complaints haven't stopped the CPN(M)...partly this may involve local leaders who aren't fully with the new program, but the top leadership also seems to be trying to get away with as much as possible without fully scuttling the peace process.

I think it's unlikely they will wholly abandon or wreck the process, since that'd put them back in square one, with less popular support....and they don't seem to be keeping the accords in more respects than they're breaking them.

Anyway, the CPN(Maoists) has called off its bandh, (http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/dec/dec23/news04.php) which was previously set for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. [/url] The PM, Koirala, is still saying the appointments will stand.

The Maoists probably overplayed their hand with this one. There seems to be a bit of a backlash against their behavior. (http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=96023) Also: ]this (http://[url=http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=95922) and this. (http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=96025) A bit of a pattern when you put 'em together.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

That doesn't sound like a strike, a mass action by workers. It sounds like the Maoists' old tactic of enforcing a shutdown by threats - only they don't have weapons now. Still, the old fear is enough to make it effective - for part of a day.

Also take a look at what the issue is: the government appointed ambassadors without consulting the CPN(Maoist). That doesn't seem like an issue likely to have mass resonance.

You can't "force people to strike". If the workers support the people's war they're not going to go to work. By driving around, they are trying to encourage people to act in resistance.

The appointing of government resistance is a big issue. It defines Nepal's attitude on foreign policy. The maoists don't want to be marginalized, first this than something bigger like signing some free trade agreement.

[Janus]

Have you been following the news from Nepal at all? The government and all kinds of people have been complaining about all kinds of violations of the peace accords, and obviously leaving the camps with weapons is a violation.
Well, news coverage has died down since the peace treaty so I haven't heard of any violations 'till this.


One, it might derail the peace process, and two, the armed forces at the government's disposal aren't that reliable....they were the king's forces 'til recently.
Yes, but they do have police forces.


One, it might derail the peace process
Both sides are obviously trying to get as much out of this peace as possible but if the Maoists continue to committ actions such as this, then they might just stretch negotiations to the breaking point which is what I was getting at originally. Anyways, it looks like they weren't exactly willing to risk it this time.


You can't "force people to strike".
I think it's been shown that you can get people to do just about anything through force. Of course, it's quite possible that the workers participated in this strike entirely on their own volition but it still shows that the Maoists have hijacked the worker's movement to a certain degree for their own benefit.


By driving around, they are trying to encourage people to act in resistance.
That's a very unique way of explaining it.

[The Grey Blur]

And another proclamation by the Maoists that the proleteriat promptly ignored...stop wanking over a bunch of shithead neo-Stalinists!

I think you'll only be convinced when you see Prachanda sitting down in an armani suit with the rest of the capitalist politicians. Hopefully you'll wise up before that.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

I think it's been shown that you can get people to do just about anything through force. Of course, it's quite possible that the workers participated in this strike entirely on their own volition but it still shows that the Maoists have hijacked the worker's movement to a certain degree for their own benefit.


No if they don't support the movement their not going strike for it. The Maoists are doing what unions do during strikes, make sure they work; you can't tell me you've never heard of strike breakers and scabs being attacked during mass strikes.


And another proclamation by the Maoists that the proleteriat promptly ignored...stop wanking over a bunch of shithead neo-Stalinists!


How sectarian do you get?

[Janus]

The Maoists are doing what unions do during strikes, make sure they work; you can't tell me you've never heard of strike breakers and scabs being attacked during mass strikes.
The CPN(M) isn't an union and therefore not the representative of the workers themselves. I don't see how that analogy holds here.

[The Grey Blur]

The Maoists are doing what unions do during strikes, make sure they work
A Union is a union of workers ready to defend it's members - Maoists are peasants with guns and a muddled ideology


How sectarian do you get?
:lol: You really need to find a better definition of sectarianism - Critiscism is not sectarianism - to think like that is childish.

Dropping all dogma, what do you think of Prachanda admitting he would not interfere with the economic running of Nepal, saying the Maoists did not want an October 1917, declaring his intention to protect private property?

[Severian]

In another thread, somebody (SPK?) wondered how many knots the RCP had tied themselves into over this. At this time, they still hadn't posted anything on their website about Nepal - since May! Quite a change, since the RCP had been giving heavy coverage to their comrades in the CPN(Maoist), which they've portrayed as a mass revolutionary movement advancing towards victory.

Well, they finally put something up, and it turns out that they're having trouble deciding what to say about this. That is, the article expresses no explicit opinion, also unusual for the RCP.

Originally from the Maoist "A World to Win News Service" (http://www.rwor.org/a/072/nepalagree-en.html)
We need to understand this current agreement more fully, and in particular the thinking of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). We do believe that revolution is what’s needed. In Nepal that means a new democratic revolution which is a step in a socialist revolution there, and part of a struggle toward the goal of communism worldwide. This requires a whole new state—a revolutionary state which gives backing to the masses of people in making deep changes, including in fundamental economic and social relations.

The article goes on to recount the provisions of the peace accord, in particular the features that make it plain the old state machine will remain intact.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 31, 2006 01:21 am

The Maoists are doing what unions do during strikes, make sure they work; you can't tell me you've never heard of strike breakers and scabs being attacked during mass strikes.
The CPN(M) isn't an union and therefore not the representative of the workers themselves. I don't see how that analogy holds here.
They're calling the strike, they have thousands of members and about a third of the parliament. They are based in rural impoverished areas. They are a central force in the Nepalese worker movement. Just as when a union calls a strike, and tryies to block of factories etc... the Maoists are entitled to do the same. That said, I think the article posted takes an inch and turns it into a mile. The author no doubt is a capitalist who has strong biases against the Maoists, and probably exagerated the facts. Notice how it is briefly mentioned in passing.


You really need to find a better definition of sectarianism - Critiscism is not sectarianism - to think like that is childish.

That wasn't critiscism that was "you guys are stupid neo-stalinists" it was the shit you'd expect to here from a 8 year old Trotskyist (hypothetical). Critiscism means you analyize the situation and make intelligent comments based on material conditions. What Severian and Janus are doing, for the most part, is criticism, you're just whining.


Dropping all dogma, what do you think of Prachanda admitting he would not interfere with the economic running of Nepal, saying the Maoists did not want an October 1917, declaring his intention to protect private property?

When did he say that? All the Maoists have agreed with in joining the SPA is supporting free speach, free press, and free elections.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 31, 2006 03:14 am
In another thread, somebody (SPK?) wondered how many knots the RCP had tied themselves into over this. At this time, they still hadn't posted anything on their website about Nepal - since May! Quite a change, since the RCP had been giving heavy coverage to their comrades in the CPN(Maoist), which they've portrayed as a mass revolutionary movement advancing towards victory.

Well, they finally put something up, and it turns out that they're having trouble deciding what to say about this. That is, the article expresses no explicit opinion, also unusual for the RCP.

Originally from the Maoist "A World to Win News Service" (http://www.rwor.org/a/072/nepalagree-en.html)
We need to understand this current agreement more fully, and in particular the thinking of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). We do believe that revolution is what’s needed. In Nepal that means a new democratic revolution which is a step in a socialist revolution there, and part of a struggle toward the goal of communism worldwide. This requires a whole new state—a revolutionary state which gives backing to the masses of people in making deep changes, including in fundamental economic and social relations.

The article goes on to recount the provisions of the peace accord, in particular the features that make it plain the old state machine will remain intact.
The RCP has been focusing on other things and leave coverage of international issues to the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (which they are part of). The website is usually only two articles from the biweekly Revolution Newspaper we print. On December 10th issue for example, we had an article on the issue and I think we also have one in the lastest issue.

[Janus]

They are a central force in the Nepalese worker movement.
How is that possible when they have little presence in the urban areas.

Just as when a union calls a strike, and tryies to block of factories etc... the Maoists are entitled to do the same.
Like I said, the CPN(M) isn't a true worker's institution, it is a political party. When a union decides to strike, it is basing its decision on the workers who make up it and gains its legitimacy through this relation; when the Maoists ordered the strike they based their decision on their own political goals and thus are attempting to subordinate the worker's movement to themselves.

[The Grey Blur]

That wasn't critiscism that was "you guys are stupid neo-stalinists" it was the shit you'd expect to here from a 8 year old Trotskyist (hypothetical). Critiscism means you analyize the situation and make intelligent comments based on material conditions. What Severian and Janus are doing, for the most part, is criticism, you're just whining.

Read my first post - I stated the fact that the proles totally ignored the Maoists - they are not representative of workers and never will be.

And whining? I think you should be the one whining here, what with your "glorious people's war" ending like a wet fart and the abondoning of any Socialist pretensions on the part of the Maoists.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 30, 2006 09:36 pm
The RCP has been focusing on other things and leave coverage of international issues to the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (which they are part of).
A World to Win and other RIM websites also seem real low on Nepal coverage since May. Unless you can point to something, I gotta conclude they've been avoiding the subject too. Of course, the English-language face of the RIM seems to be written by RCPers.


The website is usually only two articles from the biweekly Revolution Newspaper we print.

Honestly, now: are you claiming they had a substantive analysis of what this peace process is all about in the print edition - just left it off the website?

Anyway, if you look before May, there was a lot more on the RCP website about Nepal.

They also have entire issues up, in a more difficult form, here (http://www.rwor.org/quick/index.htm) I googled that section and also got the picture there was a real dropoff in Nepal coverage between May and the December 10 article I posted. And there doesn't seem to be anything since December 10.

From that, and especially from the content of the December 10 article, I gotta conclude: the RCP doesn't know what to say about developments in Nepal. I think they will have some trouble explaining the fizzling of what they claimed was a revolution advancing towards victory. It's quite possible they might even come out against the decisions of the CPN(Maoist)'s leaders, similar to what some Indian Maoists have done.