Daily Archives: June 16, 2006

Prachanda In Baluwataar, Parleys Peace With Prime Minister

Posted on June 16, 2006 by | 121 Comments

Finally, Prachanda, the Maoist supreme leader, is in Kathmandu is holding talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in the latter’s official residence in Baluwataar. A large group of journalists is curiously waiting outisde the residence. Dr Baburam Bhattarai, second to Prachanda in the party hirerarchy, is also present in the meeting. Since both sides (government and the Maoists) have agreed in principle on holding the election of constituent assembly, it is widely believed that they are talking on the process to reach there: formulating an interim constitution and an interim government. This is the first time in the history of a decade long Maoist “peoples’ war” that their supreme leader has come to the talks table. People are extremely hopeful yet a bit skeptic about the success of the ‘Peace Summit’ considering the procedural difference between the two sides. Continue reading →

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Posted in Peace Process

Maoists and Main Stream Politics of Nepal

Posted on June 16, 2006 by | 53 Comments

Instead of joining the mainstream the Maoists intend to define the mainstream.

By Neil Horning (Updates on Peace Process- inside)

Maoist cadre playing with children

A Maoist guerilla plays with children in a village in Myagdi. Pic by Neil Horning

About a year ago, while trekking in Nepal I took a photo of the distant Annapurna mountains framing a precariously perched, tin-roofed shack, scrawled on the side in bright blue English read, “Political power flows out of the barrel of a gun. -Mao Tse Tung.”

A year later, the graphite is reality.

The recent “April Uprising” has been lauded by the international community as a triumph for democracy and “people power.” The 19 day strike and protest program defied all conventional expectations and forced the increasingly dictatorial king Gyanendra to give up nearly all of his power. Most likely, the rest of it will be striped away as a result of Constituent Assembly elections in the weeks and months to come. Continue reading →

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Posted in Nepali Politics 2

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