Nepal King Sacks Government, Assumes Power

india-defence ^ | 1/2/2005 | NDTV, BBC, Reuters

[sukhoi-30mki]

Umm,have you ever heard of the (proposed) policies of the Maoists in Nepal??First it's the usual stuff of finishing off the Monarchy etc & then to distance Nepal from India.The Indian military has opened several lines of credit enabling the RNA to buy Advanced light helicopters,'Lancer' CAS choppers,artillery & other weapons.I find your logic of India abetting the Maoists in Nepal in order to protect itself bizarre to say the least.The Maoists in Nepal are ideologically affiliated to their buddies in Bihar-what makes you think they will stop with Nepal??The US,UK & India have all increased help to Nepal with the express purpose of weakening Chinese expansion to the region,with the UK having given money for 2 MI-17 choppers.

I once met an Indian evangelist working in Nepal who said that it is common knowledge there that the current king & his offspring,Paras engineered the assasinations of King Mahendra & his family in 2001 in order to assume power.Gyanendra was supposedly not in favour of greater democracy,which would dilute the monarchy's power.It was Mahendra,who under Indian pressure,established a democratic government in Nepal.Hence Gyanendra was seen by many intell agencies in India as being against New Delhi & therefore pro-Beijing.

[contemplator]

Democracy must be the current buzzword internationally.

I have been amazed at how many, and who began applying the term 'terrorists" to their enemies to justify themselves over the last couple of years.

Now we have the Monarch of a country who has just exercised the ultimate totalitarian authority by disolving everything and putting himself in charge, and claims he is doing so in the name of democracy.

It's all about the terminology. Sheesh.

[rabidralph]

King Gyanendra

Didn't Godzilla defeat Gyanendra?

[InvisibleChurch]

what kind of king doesn't already have power? .... and why would he claim to want to institute a democracy? ... sounds like a xxxlinton appointee

[ovrtaxt]

Ah, a Rush fan! Love that album!

[ovrtaxt]

This obviously biased Reuters story leads me to believe that th eking is the good guy in all this. Hopefully it plays out well.

Is India supporting him?

[tjwmason]

The steady decline of monarchy worldwide continues to baffle social scientists.

Thankfully we can be pretty certain that it's just a bad phase which the world is going through, Monarchy is the most stable and most conservative form of government known to mankind (I would add, when combined with some form of wider representation as in the British constitution, it is also the best by far).

Also, what a surprise to see that communists oppose the Monarchy. But then anti-Monarchism is the most constant element of leftism.

[sukhoi-30mki]

India raises alarm, says it’s a setback to democracy

Reuters
Posted online: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 at 1626 hours IST
Updated: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 at 1637 hours IST

New Delhi, February 1: Nepali King Gyanendra's decision to sack the government and assume power was a setback to democracy and would benefit Maoist rebels fighting against the monarchy, India said on Tuesday.



New Delhi's criticism came hours after Gyanendra fired Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, declared a state of emergency and assumed power saying the leadership had failed to hold elections or restore peace shattered by an increasingly violent Maoist revolt.

"These developments constitute a serious setback to the cause of democracy in Nepal and cannot but be a cause of grave concern to India," an Indian foreign ministry statement said.

"The latest developments in Nepal bring the monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation with each other," it said.

"This can only benefit the forces that not only wish to undermine democracy but the institution of monarchy as well," it said referring to the Maoists who have been fighting since 1996 to topple the monarchy and establish Communist rule.

India is Nepal's largest trading partner and the two countries have strong religious and cultural links. They also share an open border and tens of thousands of poor Nepalis work in India.


http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=41473

[Srirangan]

The King is seen as pro China, and till now has favoured peace and talks with Maoists, although he claimed to dismiss the democratic govt due to the "govt's failures" with regard to the Maoist insurgency.

[ovrtaxt]

We have an individual like that here in America.

He is known as 'Howard Dean'.

[ovrtaxt]

Wow, thanks for the quick info.

[Rutles4Ever]

All your Himalayan Kingdom are belong to us.

[Lazamataz]

Nepal's King Gyanendra ... assumed power in the Himalayan Kingdom.

When you ASSUME, you make and ASS of U and ME.

[Lazamataz]

I'm not too fond of Monarchism my own durned self.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

This is one of the few examples in history where the transition to a constitutional monarchy was probably an unwise decision.

[aculeus]

But the monarchy's reputation nosedived in 2001 when the crown prince, Dipendra, killed his father, the popular King Birendra, and several other royals in a palace massacre.

Nepalese public opinion is notoriously fickle.

[angkor]

I met a few Maoists in Pokara in 1996, they were my hotel staff.

They were convinced that Maoism (Communism) was the only way to overturn the Rana monarchy, because "Nepal is a poor country" (a rationale I was to hear over and over again, even though it made no logical sense). They were a bit peeved and embarrassed when I reminded them that Communism had failed everywhere it had been tried. I checked out the next morning, not wanting to have my throat cut while sleeping.

But something I also heard again and again was the absolute and total corruption of the monarchy. According to the locals, they stole the trekking fees, visa fees, aid money, and virtually anything else they could get their hands on. Evidence was all around: everywhere in Nepal there are half-completed bridges, buildings, roads. Even if brand new (and supported by foreign aid) buildings and structures were falling apart due to shoddy construction and substandard materials (the rest going to the monarchical pocket).

It's also true (notoriously so) that Cambodia is or at least was supplying arms to the Maoists. After 1975 and then in 1979, Cambodia was awash in arms (AKs, M-16s, B-40s, grenades, mines) supplied by both the U.S. (pre-1975) and China (from 1975 to 1979). It was proved beyond mere anecdote that several Tamil restaurants in Phnom Penh were illicit arms depots supplying various South Asian insurgencies, notably the Tamil Tigers and the Nepali Maoists. The arms trade operated almost openly out of (for example) the "Rani" restaurant on Street 53 and also from another Tamil restaurant (name forgotten) on Street 130 directly across the street from Sharkey Bar.

Both restaurants had great Tamil food, by the way. You just had to ignore (or pretend you were ignoring) the constant stream of shady characters carrying Zero aluminum briefcases back and forth through the restaurant, filled with either heroin or bundles of Ben Franklins.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Simply because these Communist bandits are able to muster some marginal support among a small segment of the Indian peasantry proves nothing.

The government of India is doing everything within its capacity-and keep in mind, it has to concern itself with jihadi incursions into Kahmir, Qaeda agents being funneled into Bangladesh in order to support the insurgency there, and a host of other internal rebellions-to stop the Maoist terrorists from seizing control of Nepal.

They interdict arms shipments on a routine basis.

It is ludicrous to even suggest that the Indian government-even one controlled by the socialist Congress Party-would want a proxy government, established by PRC-inspired henchman, on their border.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Especially those in Australia.

:)

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

The Tamil insurgency-like the IRA violence that flared in Northern Ireland for over thirty years-is one that is fueled-almost exclusively-by illicit money flowing into that nation from the West.

By cutting off the funding source, you are effectively cutting off the oxygen supply that fuels the fire, which means that it will soon be extinguished.

These insurrections/terrorist campaigns are fueled almost exclusively by money and grievance. Once you have a government-as in the cases of the current Sinhalese government in Colombo, or the current British government at 10 Downing Street-that is willing to address the demands of the aggrieved minority in an honest manner, all you need to do is quell the flow of blood money into the center of the conflict.