Nepali people are in a historical juncture to decide on what they want: constitutional monarchy or a republican Nepal
By Srijan Nepal
When does a person become the most dangerous? It’s when he loses touch with reality. If the person in question is a common man, say you or me, then it’s not much of a problem. But when that person happens to be the king of a country, who decides the fate of millions around him, well seriously, it can’t get any worse than that.
Take our king for example. The first evidence he gave of not being in sync with the people’s want, was when he addressed the nation on the first anniversary of his royal move. It was shocking to say the least, to hear him say that the Maoists movement had dwindled down to a few criminal activities and the municipal polls had been a great success. It was that businessman hidden inside him that spoke that day I guess; it couldn’t have been a king’s speech. You see, people may not mind being lied to by their friends, or by their girlfriends and wives but certainly no one wants the head of their country to lie to them, and especially if that person happens to be the king of their nation. Frankly, the movement that had been going on against the king got real impetus only after that address. I don’t know what was it, just plain ignorance or shrewd and calculated words, yet whatever it was, it was enough to snap up the public’s patience, at least that was the case with me. And by the way, if those were well calculated words, I’m afraid the king’s calculators aren’t functioning that well. (I guess you people know who the calculators are).
I don’t know why much was not made about those apparent lies, apart from a few cartoons here and there. But they definitely deserved a lot more hullabaloo. And it’s not only him who’s been lying, it’s his whole government. Given that he leads the council of ministers and they all answer to him and only him, he must be held responsible for each and every decision the government has taken so far, including all those lies we Nepalese have had to digest (though I agree few of them were not digestible at all). There is this case of Enron going on in the United States. I believe the accused stand in to get a hefty jail sentences, and all they did was report false income and profit statements. Isn’t the case here in Nepal similar to that of Enron, albeit of a gigantic scale? Gigantic in the sense that lies are not limited to only our economic condition, they span every area of the nation. And it’s not only about lies is it? Just recall all those things that have happened during the course of 2062. Would anyone from a civilized society in this day and age, believe what has been happening here in Nepal?
Nepal is turning into a despotic state, a state comparable to the likes of North Korea, Zimbabwe and so on with utter disregard for human rights, development, and the people’s plight. The rule of law has vanished, the courts have been turned into puppets, and government owned media turned into jokers. The king said one of the chief reasons for his action was uncontrollable corruption, did he not? Now tell me, has he been able to rein in that problem? Just look at RNAC, if anything is a symbol of the failure of democracy here in Nepal, it has to be the RNAC. Plagued by a number of huge scandals, RNAC barely survived and now look at what the king has done to the national flag carrier. In a country where it is possible to switch off the electricity for hours no end, so that a diesel plant can be bought (commission of course), is there anything that can’t happen?
Certainly all those corrupt politicians of the yesteryears now look like petty thieves.
You may wonder what I’m trying to arrive at. Well you see a lot of people didn’t buy my idea that Nepal was ready to be a republic. Republicanism is still an alien concept for many of us. But, tell me guys, do we have any other option? You would agree, I guess with the fact that no one wants to see the current crown prince become the next king. And so let’s look at the current king as the last of the capable monarch we have. And lets say we would want him to continue as the king, but the thing is can he be trusted? Let’s assume that he accepts to be a ceremonial king once again and strangely enough also accepts a huge cut in his annual budget, can anyone guarantee he will remain true to his words? He will always enjoy the support of the few of the top men in the RNA, and given that it’s him who controls the top, the very loyal Nepalese army will always be with him. But it is inevitable that the king has to bow down to the will of the people sooner or later, and it’s up to us, the people of Nepal, to decide what we want the new Nepal to look like. If in a few years from now, we are destined to be a republic, why not make the move now? I believe this is the right time to go for a republic.
But because we’re fighting for a free and democratic Nepal, I cannot in any circumstance force you to follow what I believe. You’re free to choose your own path. I personally want Nepal to be a republic and you might want Nepal to remain a constitutional monarchy. And that’s the sort of Nepal I dream of, where I’m entitled to my beliefs and you are to yours and both of our beliefs have the right to be expressed. That’s the beauty of democracy isn’t it? Each and every person has the right to exercise his rights and have his rights respected. And that’s what I’m going to do. I may support a republic, but if majority of Nepalese still support a constitutional monarchy, so be it. And that’s what we must all do.
UWB Note: Srijan Nepal writes his blog Blogger’s Nepal’
United We Blog 
Comments
57 responses to “Nepal at the Crossroads”
King should speak to the nation urgently about what to do. Otherwise, Americans have already given ultimatum and said that an Apache Helicopter would be ready for the King to depart. Is that true ? And if today’s Kathmandu Post has given the news of Indian Emergency cabinet meeting. If we delay the process of reconcialiation or whatever it is, among us Nepalese, Indian Miltary might intervene in Nepal.At that time it would be too late for us. Somebody should come out to save the country.Even a General of the army for that matter.
People thought this king is the smartest among three brothers: Birendra was drunkard, Dhirendra was womaniser and smuggler. King was supposed to be the smartest [icd]. That was the image. People, diplomats tirelessly talked about good things things about him, like he is the most learnt person, he has a big collection of books. May be he has, may be he is!
But, his brain is not seem to working at this moment. Thank god. Let him to continue like that. Let him dig his own grave. The way he could not grasp the worsening situation in Nepal, or the way he is ignoring things, he is going to face a biggest dhakka.
Hey, may he is the smartest! May be he too want to end this dynasty!
I think the monarchy of our beloved counter need to step aside and let the people decide what kind of democracy they need.Democracy is not easy, its not cheap andf it certainly doesn’t come without the sacrifice.Having said that the police force, the Army and everyone in the security force need to realize that if they obey every order, if they pursue every means from their superior’s command then they too need to face the consequences, the only other way to avoid that is to keep in mind that all of you security personalle are for the people, not a group, not a government, certainly not for the tyrannical,despotic monarch that we are ashamed to call “king”.If the palace continues to snub and defy the people of our country than i believe that monarch will go down the history in the likes of Stalin and Hitler alike, if not worse.
thank you
god bless Nepal
Is constitutional monarch still an option? I thought, with those people killed, we had put it aside.
You know we tried constitutional monarch, but seems to me these people are just power monger people, they don’t have any idea that majority of he people are not well off, or in poverty.
How can you have a king or monarchy who is so isolated from the rest of the everyday hard working people, and only seem to play the blame game, it’s absurd.
I used to support a monarchy, but i think there comes a time when people need to say enough is enough, just pack your belongings and go live your comfortable asylem life some where before it’s too late, so we don’t have to drag you to some “crime against humanity court”, just my thought.
We could still agree for a constitutional monarch. But not any more with the Shah dynasty. Nepal has suffered a lot under the Shah kings, for past 240 years!
If nepali people could not imagine living without a king, hey why not have a separate election, just to find another a king!
Let’s have election for King, and let’s have another election for prime minister!
Let’s have a truly people based political system
what are you talking about?
I think time has come to have compromise with the monarchy about its role in Nepal. Ther must be a serious dicussion about the white elephant monarchy whether it is to keep or throw away. may be this time’s Andolan will fix it.
Interested to know how much it actually cost to keep the white elephant. Anyone hase accurate data?
well….talking about the speech of the king on the first anniversary of his move….he said that maoists have been reduced to few criminal activities…ya in a way it is socking….but it was basically to boost the morale of the security personnels who were fighting against terrrorism….ya but for public it was really shocking news that their head saying such words just at the time when palpa headquarter was burning…..and if anyone has seen documentaries about peru then one can just relate the words said by our king to the then dictator of peru ALBERTO FUJIMORI…he also use to say the same things as king gyanendra does…but it was all fake…so all the rulers over the world bank on lies then speaking truth…..but our nation is really in the crossroads of a great change which may be positive or negative…a lot depends on how SPA deals with it and all how maoists show up…..but one thing is sure….king will surely disappear….i have heard from many people in the streets and also all my fellow mates ….they all want end to monarchy……i think king gyanendra will be the last hindu king of this planet…..
I think the official budget is approx. 60 crore. Since Nepals annual budget is around 100 billion approximately around 0.6% of the country’s annual budget. Still quite a lot isn’t it? But that’s only the official budget they top that off with other expenditures as well.
We are at a dangerous crossroads.
If the King and the political parties do not compromise and soon, there is hell to pay.
The Maoists are threatening the parties not to compromise, but this will only lead to the King to have no choice but to declare an emergency and then marshall law. Then we will really get a taste of dictatorship. If the parties reach a compromise with the King, then the Maoists will continue their movement they have said.
If there ever is a moment in history where a leader risks all for the country, this is it. Someone has to step up to the plate.
600000000 for 1 Year
50000000 for 1 Month
1666666 for 1 Day ( 16 Lakh)
69000 for 1 Hour
My God average Nepali do not earn 69000 in a year which
our head of state earns in 1 hour. That too for no work
or better to say for bad work.
Guys read this article and think how international community and people are concern about Nepal, King & on going movement? Hopefully this give to you good stuff.
Colonize Nepal!!!
April 15th, 2006 by Chirol
The West must step in and take control of Nepal! Though politics is usually the study of picking the lesser evil, I’d like to propose my own to Nepal’s continuing anarchy. When it comes to choosing between the Maoists or the King, most debates end up going nowhere with misguided idealists attacking the King’s autocratic rule and forgetting the Maoists daily atrocities and the lessons from Cambodia. Realists acknowledge the King is the worst thing for the Nepalese, except for the Maoists and thus are left with supporting him. Yet, what would a third solution look like?
Firing up Coming Anarchy’s Wayback machine, we’re whisked back in time to the Philippines under the Marcos regime in the 80s. On November 3rd 1985, Ferdinand Marcos, then dictator of the Philippines, announced a general election to be held and dismissed claims of past election fraud as “silly” and that he was ready for a fair one. Through considerable US pressure and assistance of the opposition as well as a US delegation of election monitors, Marcos was eventually forced to step down as his attempts at election fraud were exposed.
Behind the scenes, the United States decided Marcos had to go. Through pressure, and a sweet deal allowing him to keep his looted millions and fly off to Hawaii, Marcos peacefully left and moved to Honolulu. With mass demonstrations in Nepal against the King and the majority of the country under Maoist control, King Gyanendra has painted himself into a corner. My solution looks something like this:
1) The US (with preferable EU, UN and Indian backing) offers the King a similar sweet deal. He keeps his money, and anything he can fit on the next plane out of Kathmandu. He’s offered exileand immunity from prosecution in his choice of countries (US, Switzerland etc.). He also can also go down in history for helping save Nepal instead of his harsh governing. This is mostly behind the scenes.
2) After “consulting” his advisors and a UN delegation, he “decides” to step down and turn the country over to the United Nations (setting up a kind of UN protectorate like in Kosovo). The UN receives much of the credit and immediately dispatches a peacemaking force to Nepal composed of European and Indian soldiers.
3) With Nepal now under international interim rule, the Maoists are forced to make a tough decision. With the King gone and no legitimate excuse to continue their reign of terror, they must either lay down their arms and become a political party or officially become international “terrorists” of sorts.
4) The UN looks good and repairs its tarnished reputation somewhat. With the King voluntarily giving up power, the international community will be under intense pressure to send troops, supplies and money. The US chalks another one up for democracy and successfully outsources shrinking the Gap to others while achieving a fabulous victory. Both China and India are happy to have one less war on their borders.
Though convincing rulers to simply give up power seems unlikely, considering King Gyanendra doesn’t have much of it in the first place only lends credence to my plan. While I believe he can be successfully bribed into exile, convincing the international community to clean up Nepal will be the real challenge, especially if the insurgents continue their war. Even though UN interventions such as in Bosnia and Kosovo are still unresolved, the countries are both stable, relatively peaceful and finally have a shot at a real future. Nepal would be much better in a Kosovo-esque limbo than it is now
A republican Nepal with new leaders, people’s leaders……imagine where our country will reach in few years:->
An interesting read from Tiwari. I think he was on CNN recently.
Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Regional Dimension
by Dr. Chitra K.Tiwari
US-based international consultant on international affairs
Expert on communist affairs
(Sees it as primarily a national development as a result of corruption and inept political leadership against the backdrop of poverty.)
Nepal needs to maintain not ‘equi-distance” but “equi-proximity’ to both China and India in this age of globalization and in view of its national vision to serve as a ‘transit economy’ by disallowing anyone to use its territory against the strategic interest of any other states.
Our diplomacy must nevertheless must seek to bring all powers that be to conference on the Maoist insurgency as a threat to regional security since it is not in the interest of China, India, US, and Nepal. The continuation of guerilla warfare will send signals world wised on its potency and utility to redress all manner of socio-political grievances; bring disequilibrium in the Sino-Indian relations as Nepal moves closer to one rather than the other; cause a set back to US foreign policy of democracy and freedom; create the other-globalization—degenerating into narco-terrorism as as insurgents need funding for their cause — and also lead to a hugely lucrative market for small arms and alliances between terrorists of all hues in South and Central Asia.
HM must guarantee ‘unhindered democracy and the rule of law with full restoration of all electoral posts IF the international community (a) backs the HMG with budgetary support for national security with resumption of full military supplies to contain the insurgency and expand its military strength (b) recognize Nepal as a zone of peace (c) facilitates the agreement amidst all constitutional forces with appropriate innovations over the roles and responsibilities of each national institution during ‘national emergency’ /counter-insurgency to contain the insurgents, stabilize the polity and economy and speed up growth, employment and development with inclusion of all ethnic minority an dalits
Nepal at the cross roads: all are concerned as the Nepalese moves from the stage of ” strategic defence” to “strategic stalemate” to now “strategic offense” by ‘capturing’ towns and cities through urban guerillas supporting their cause.
India has over-reacted by openly facilitating the terrorists to have an understanding with the political parties for the restoration of “full democracy” which while exposing nakedly the ultra-nationalist posture of the Maoists to so-called Indian “revisionism” ; has brought rebuke from both US and UK as they see this turn of events as providing the Maoist with a blessing for their outdated ideology; and which, if it moves forward successfully, will lead to greater bloodshed and regional insecurity;
India opted to deal with the Maoists even while declaring them terrorists before Nepal did so clearly fully exposing its dual standards in the war on terrorism. It sees this as a better option that directly intervening with its troops, such as the Gurkhas which would require Nepal to ask for such assistance as per the 1950 treaty that would unite the nationalist forces against the Indians including provoking counter-actions from China while easing eye brows, at the least of the US and the European Union who may counter with UN intervention, which India opposes for its ramifications for the Kashmir problem mot to mention various insurgencies in the North East.
Further, invoking the 1950 treaty will be a hard sell for all the political parties, except the Terai-based regional parties, who have all near-unanimously called for a review of the 1950 treaty on grounds of it being an unequal treaty found on the legacies of British colonialism.
Indian tight rope walk has begun. They have opted to manepuvre the Maoists and the political parties to counter the King’s power as a counter balancing force as was done in 1950 and 1990. This ‘balance’ will be not to the liking of China as it is opposed to Maoism that is still not dead in China and so could be used as a counter weight to pressure China by India in addition to its influence over the Tibet question.
The first victory has been nearly achieved: namely, the attack on the Constitution under the banner of a new constitution famed by a constituent assembly with the political the major parties abandoning it lock-stock-barrel— surprisingly with the support of India. The next attack is on the Crown for a ‘democratic’ republic by appealing to the gullible middle class soaked in graft, corruption and hopeless naivete regarding freedom, the rule of law and the Maoist vision.
Counter-insurgency must comprise attack, through special infantry-cum-air force commandos on Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Salyan, Gorkha and Sindhuli primarily as the place where they claim territorial sovereignty.
Special, innovative regional development programmes are needed for the Mid-West Region, using Pokhara as the growth centre, being the most heavily affected along with the Karnali Zone being the most backward.
National vocational and technical education programme in partnership with the private sector needs to be formulate for the 11th Five Year Plan as a major goal.
Place in the forefront of politics the Dalits and Janajatis, divide the Brahmins, Chetris and Newars that form the elite of Nepalese politics; give maximum space to the private sector to lead economic growth;
Profiteers from the insurgency are the corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, NGos who have syphoned development funds and they must be bough to justice with full confiscation of their loot through a powerful, independent, clean Judiciary and CIAA. Direct aid must be restored to based on the concept of matching grants from the centre using CBOs and TVOs to the maximum to do their own thing fully accountable to the community. Direct aid cold also be used to provide each household with the per capita entitlements for basic needs vis schooling, health, drinking water, and in support of the household economy by curtailing unnecessaru bureaucracy at the centre and privatizing the pes and pis
A Round Table on Combating Graft and Corruption is a dire need to defeat Terrorism and Maoist Insurgency.
Deadline for CONSTTUTIONAL MONARCH is over. He has not only spoilt his image he has also completely damaged the image of Monarchy. So we have not left with any choice but to go with Democratic Republic. From humanitrian reason, nepalese people may leave him unhurt. That is all I wish for him and his corrupt, filthy rich family.
Ram,
lets assume for the time being, February 1 was a smart move by king. But whatever he did after that only proves that he is one of the half-witted leadres in Nepal’s history. here are some examples of his horsefeathers.
reducing the petrolium products price right after his takeover and hiking it within the intervals of two months. He could have at least waited for one more year..if that was not possible, why did he decrease the price momentarily in the first place?
formation of Sahi Aayoug was another stupidity..He could have easily given more power to Akthiyar..and made them do whatever he wanted..
Spliting the royalist party, RPP, into three fraction just to teach a lession to pasupati samsher..If he had taken the RPP into confidence, which was not so difficult I guess..he would possibly have not faced the current situation…
bringing some notorious lads like jagat gauchan, mandal, tulsi giri and others into goverment…yes I firmly belive that those were the prime actors of the grand design behind the curtain..but he could easily have asked them to wait for one or more years..or he could have simply given them other oppurtunities not the ministership..
he could have expelled at least badri mandal after the fertilizers scam to show people that his intention is very good and at the same time asking mandal to keep quite for some time..
the biggest step he made was he put sher bahadur deuba into jail..I dont understand why he took such an action against royalist deuba..had he built a strong rapport with deuba and RPP and requested them to go for the electoral process..non of the international communities would have pointed their finger against the legitimacy of the election….
now he is making more stupid mistakes not trying to bow down..If he agrees with the ceremonial monarch..He could be here for some more years..but I fear, this is too late as well.
The official budget is about 60 crores a year. That is 0.5% of the total buget.
Points on the budget and income of royalty without being sensationalist:
1. They should pay income, land and house tax.
2. If the royalty remain as constitutional, then the govt. has to provide a budget, as long as taxes are also paid.
3. Royal family members should be allowed to invest in businesses as long as they pay taxes. However, members of the royal family should not be allowed to directly run businesses unless they give up their titles. Case in point the Kumar, who is directly working for Spice Nepal and Soaltee group as Chairman or somethiung like that. He should either step down or give up his title.
4. All royal members should be paying their electricity and telephone and water bills in their private homes. This would only exclude the King because he lives in Narayanhiti which is owned by the government and not the royal family.
5. Having suggested the above, one should mention here that the 60 crores budget does not go to the royal family members as cash in hand. The budget includes the salaries of all the staff that work for them and in Narayanhiti who are all government employees, the electricity, telephone and water bills of all the royalties of which the bulk is also comes from narayanhiti’s running costs (they house numerous government staff and the army barrack also).
My point being that the budget can be a bit misleading as the bulk of it goes on the operations expenditure of the palace (i.e. staff salaries and utilities). It should be stressed again that Narayanhiti belongs to the government of Nepal and not the King personally.
However, what do the royal family get in their pockets? Not a lot in royalty standards if they pay taxes and household bills, this is why I stress they should pay taxes and household bills. But if they do not pay taxes and household bills (my estimates):
King: 10,00,000/month
Queen: 500,000/month
CP: 500,000/month
CP’s wife: 300,000/month]
CP’s children: 50,000/month
Other royalty: 50,000/month
Total: around 30,00,000/month, 3 crores 60 lakhs a year.
I think it is still quite a lot if it is tax free. Pay taxes then I dont feel most would mind the King earning 1 million rupees a month, there are Bank CEO’s who earn more.
It’s easy to talk about a Republic but do you think we have the insitutions in place to safeguard a proper democractic republic especially with the Maoists ultimate aims not yet clear? What if the Maoists actually want to implement Chairman Mao’s teachings or Prachanda path? Is that acceptable to a common Nepali? Think carefully guys-a ceremonial monarch like that in the UK at present might be a better option.
This king gyanendra is the one who has no PAST(how he has come to power after massacre).
he has no PRESENT (u see it well).
and no FUTURE (his super son paras, eveybody has known him too.)
our PAST and PRESENT has been a hell due to this monarchy…why ruin our FUTURE??
Bravo,
Yes those point are valid but you could also look at other things:
1. Talking about petrol prices, I think the issue of privatising petroleum distribution and pricing by sellers was a move in the right direction by the govt. No previous govt. attempted it. I still think petrol prices are unrealistic and should be higher if you are to follow market economics.
2. The RCCC went all wrong, but the intention was correct. Maybe the CIAA was thought to be too weak and under the influence of the likes of Girija to do anything. Going after Deuba first was a mistake, Girija should have been first, but Deuba is no clean man either.
3. The Gauchan stint I agree even confused ardent supporters of the Feb. 1 move. Thing’s went downhill from then.
4. Badri Mandal, like him or hate him is important as a Sathbhavana leader. Besides the fertilizer scam was a total fabrication by Kantipur, no other media supported it. Kantipur was reporting on events that was allegedly about to happen not even on events that had already happend. The CIAA themselves have diregarded that case as pure hearsay.
Besides these issues, the step of liberaling and allowing foreign direct investment, and lowering of customs duties is all good positive steps. However, we will not be able to benefit from it as the politics is all wrong.
Anyway, waht does any of this matter now.
Kirant,
u have a point.
significance of monarch is justified to counter-balance maoists.
actually i am a bit confused in this regard. ok we will have a ceremonial monarchy, then we will get maoists in track. Once we get rid of weapons of both sides,and democratic forces have the control,
we will kick away that ceremonial stuff too.
maoists can compete within multiparty system.
Some of their points are really appreciable..we can utilise that.
If the protestors are hell bent on having a republic, which of course has to be seen through a nationwide referendum (I doubt people here propose that we just agree to what the politicians say). We still live in a democracy and everyone should have their say.
So the options are:
The democratic option:
1. Nationwide refrendum on whether to have a monarchy or not.
(At the same time maybe we can squeeze in a nationwide referendum to see if we need armed Moaists or Maoists at all or not.)
The compromise option (not very realistic):
2. Let Gyanendra live out his reign and then revert to a republic. That should give us enough time to build our institutions.
The undemocratic option:
3. Just chase him away as a few here suggest.
But, this third option I fear may lead us to what England had after beheading Charles the first under Oliver Cromwell and his rump parliament – Civil War.
Therefore,after years of civil strife the English had to put another monarch (Charles the 2nd) in place to bring back stability to Britain.
I think it would suite the parties if we were to remain a contitutional monarchy. Getting rid of Gyanendra from the throne could mean he will have the freedom to comeback with his own party and as a politician under a democratic republic. With his money, his experience, and cunning – other parties beware. Come to think of it I think he would fare much better as a political leader than a monarch.
Why are some of you so stupid enough to think that if we remove the king then the maoist will be a step closer to their goal(Communist Dictatorship). If that is the case then most of the countries in this world,as they dont have kings, would be under communist dictatorship.
What brings the maoist more closer to their goal is not the removal of king but his existence. Infact with the king gone maoist will have one less thing to talk about and one less item in their propaganda.
“1) The US (with preferable EU, UN and Indian backing) offers the King a similar sweet deal. He keeps his money, and anything he can fit on the next plane out of Kathmandu. He’s offered exile and immunity from prosecution in his choice of countries (US, Switzerland etc.)”
Is Nepal the rumourous hinterland, halla nagarne:
Forget about Switzerland, he is definetly not welcomed, no king in Switzerland since more than 700 years, and criminal accounts in Swiss banks are returned, se Marcos etc
Chanke,
I do agree that hiking the petrolium prices was a right move, the oil corporation could not bear that much of loss by subsidizing it. But why did he reduce the price in the first place, just to give false a impression that the earlier decioin by UML minister was not pro-people and just to gain a cheap popularity that too momentarily.
if he thought that CIAA was weak and inclined to Girija, he could have easily changed its composition as he did to several other instituion
I was not aware that the fertilizer scam was fabricated by kantipur..but if we see the other side of the coin..the issue might have been anhilated under the lack of democratic and transparant syestem…
RSS,
Either you have’nt been followinng what many intellectuals,analysts, democratic governments, and even politicans say and think(worldwide) or you are a Maoist yourself.
The countries you mention who don’t have Kings are not under Maoist dictatorship because there was no Maoist movement like here in Nepal to begin with OR the countries that had Maoist movements, came very close to collapse or had massive genocide or are still living under their threat (eg. Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, El Slavador, Peru (Shining Path), Cambodia (FARC) etc.). None of these movements ended in compromise and democracy, they are either struggles that was cleverly thwarted by governments or are still going on or movements that suceesded and ended up in massive scale genocide (Cambodia). They all followed the Maoist philosophy like Prachanda path and it has always (100%) caused more hardship, death and economic disaster for the nation involved and has always been (100%) failures as a system of governance.
The Maoists have never fought against one person (the King for example), their strugtgle has always been against the system – the feudal system they call it. Feudal to them means – the monarchy, the educated, the english speaking, the rich, the middle class and obviously anyone who says anything against them (that would include most of us).
So RSS, if you have’nt yet got the picture, the next time maybe you should refrain from using the word STUPID and maybe insert it as your middle initial.
St
I go with your first option..let people decide whether they want Monarchy or not
Bravo,
I think with the state of affairs today it is pointless discussing these issues.
RSS,
You mention that:
“What brings the maoist more closer to their goal is not the removal of king but his existence.”
In Cambodia the Maoist Khmer Rouge actually used the King to come to power. Like I said they will use any means possible to achieve their goal. They are not against one King, they are on a war path to overturn the system.
RSS,
You mention that:
“What brings the maoist more closer to their goal is not the removal of king but his existence.”
In Cambodia the Maoist Khmer Rouge actually used the King to come to power. They will use any means possible to achieve their goal. They are not against one King, they are on a war path to overturn the system.
Chankhe,
just a retrospect…whether the king could have done better and justified his move..these may be good lessons to be learnt by the goverment in the forceeable future
ya u r right st. people should decide abour monarchy… but i most of the people as they say in nepal do not want monarchy..because kings never want to give power to others…..its their nature and in their blood.. they want to rule…yah we may keep king now but after some time the same FEB 1 may repeat…we cant revolt again and again..so i think once for all monarchy should come to an end in this nation….after that people should deal with the maoists…..but the major concern now is the US. they can never see a communist government established in this nation…..and the maoists have said that their last goal is to establish a republic nation where they have full power….so nepal seems to be in big hole…monarchy should be removed from our nation but everyone is confused about one question…what after that???…
Sr.,
Confused indeed. However, you mention that majority of the people do not want monarchy. I really would not jump to such conclusions. That is why a referendum is a must. Maybe when you talk of the majority you mean majority do not want absolute monarchy. As for avoiding Feb. 1 , well the constitution has to be changed to prevent such occurrences.
referendum ….hahaha… u kidding huh…how can u have a referendum?….never….referendums, elections are out of question until maoists are with their arms sitting in the villages….80% of the country is under their control…so all those means are useless…its better to throw the monarch…coz its the nature of monarchs. we should not blame king gyanendra for this..even if it would have been king birendra he would have done the same…….so its better to end monarchy once for all….lets have a system where only the people have right to do anything…
Thank you ‘ug from Papua’
You always give us new and interesting informations insted of useless discussions!
yes u r right mr. sr. thik ho…raja lai hatauna parcha ani maobadi haru le rule garcha….all of u got it…..maoists are the ultimate rulers of nepal and they will make it prosperous and rich nation….so support maoists or die….
Uh Sr,
Now you are confusing me. When you said that “people should decide about monarchy”, what did you mean? Did you mean that you should decide or everyone should be included in the decision?
Sr,
I do not know about other issues, but whether to keep the monarchy or not is very much a maoist issue, and I am sure they would not mind a referendum on this matter. Of course, they would not allow elections to be held or a referendum on whether we want them or not, but that is another matter.
I just thought I would make an observation. I feel that although we all should thank the UWB team for their site, they should now thank us, as it seems the quality of many of the voices here is far more in depth and well argued no matter what the political thinking then that of the UWB journalists themselves. So much so that many of the bloggers here pay less heed to the UWB article and more to their own line of thought, which makes it even the more interesting. I’m sorry UWB but your bloggers have stolen the show. But that is why you exist I suppose.
Maoists or no Maoists, days of monarchy in Nepal are very limited now and nobody but the KIng himself is to blame for it. He has made so many mistakes that politically he has got supporters just like Kamal Thapa, Badri Mandal, Ms Durga Subedi or Rajeshwar Devkota who have big rhetorics but non significant popular support and ideologically he is bankrupt. The only support till now is the army. But how long? RNA is not a gang of thoughtless cronies of royalties. When they see the people’s mood and find a proper instituion to follow, they will shift their loyalty. SPA is delaying to form all side representative body.
Gyanendra is not welcome in the USA either! whoever said that has got to be kidding! If we were to allow him exile, then we would also have to have allowed Charles Taylor of Liberia exile, or Pol Pot or Alberto Fujimori (probably the most apt comparison to Gyanendra,that of the 20 year long maoist insurgency in Peru-finally, a Truth Commission was convened and Fujimori was recently caught in Chile trying to sneak back into Peru and is now sitting in prison awaiting his due punishment for the crimes he committed in Peru)…the USA is not a haven for former despots!
I, however, agree that if the king is not allowed to be a constitutional monarch, the country may well erupt in all out civil war. The hatred among the different ethnic groups is palpable. They (perhaps rightfully) will want to take revenge and establish their rightful place in Nepal society. In fact, I support the ethnic minority rights groups, as under the guise of a “hindu kingdom”, these groups have been ill treated and marginalized in favor of the ruling elite brahmins and chettris…enough is enough.
shadowrati says:
“the ethnic minority rights groups, as under the guise of a “hindu kingdom”, these groups have been ill treated and marginalized in favor of the ruling elite brahmins and chettris…enough is enough. ”
–right you are, thats the problem–
Aru le j bhane pani….King has a very significant role as a symbol of unity..Gyane should forget his ambition to be a dictator and remain as a ceremonial King letting RNA under the control of people….otherwise there will be a civil war…n i’m sure India n US will be happy to see that..
Hellow Ub team,
what a joke you said, “The courts have been turned into puppets in Nepal”.
Are you sure for that?? I think you yourselves made it by your say and your analyse piece of think of writing.
[…] Nepali people are in a historical juncture to decide on what they …United We Blog, Nepal - 18 hours ago… to him and only him, he must be held responsible for each and every decision the government has taken so far, including all those lies we Nepalese have had to … […]
[…] Nepali people are in a historical juncture to decide on what they …United We Blog, Nepal – 18 hours ago… to him and only him, he must be held responsible for each and every decision the government has taken so far, including all those lies we Nepalese have had to … […]