Here is some interesting information. In Nepal, there is a Muslim Mukti Morcha (MMM), which is “a mass people’s organization affiliated to to the party of the Maoist Revolutionaries”.
According to a report circulated by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), CPN-M Chairman Prachanda addressed a gathering of the MMM on Wednesday.
Excerpts from the report:
The Nepal Maoists, who played a key role in abolishing the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and turning the country into a secular state, have vowed to ensure special rights to the minority Muslim community in the Himalayan nation.
"It is not enough to provide equal rights to the Muslims but they should be given special rights as compensation for having been suppressed," Prachanda said.
His support for special rights for the Muslims is seen as an attempt to mobilise the muslim community, which mainly resides in the Terai-plains bordering India and unleash potential for Revolution. Also the aim is to show to oppressed Muslim masses the world over that only Maoist-led people's revolution is key to liberation and new life!
Declaring Nepal a secular nation was one of the 40-point demands put forth by the Maoists in 1996 when they started the peoples war in the country.
Prachanda, who is poised to lead the new government in Nepal, promised to form a `Muslim Commission' for the welfare of the minority community and develop historically important pilgrimage sites of the community as tourist destinations.
MMM leader Mohammad Kasim Miya asked the Terai-based Madhesi leaders not to categorize Muslims as Madhesis, alleging that the regional parties of the plains were trying to deny Muslims their rights.
Showing posts with label Nepal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nepal. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Growing popularity of Chinese language in Nepal
Many Nepalese people learn English, French, and Japanese. But for the past few years, many Nepalese are also learning Chinese.
In the past, some public and private institutions used to run limited Chinese language classes. But with the increasing interest of many Nepalese in learning Chinese, some institutions have begun teaching Chinese. The Confucius Institute, affiliated to Kathmandu University, has been teaching Chinese for about a year to many different levels.
The institute runs basic, intermediate, Diploma and Degree levels. The institute teaches Chinese through English, so Nepali students can sharpen their English while learning Chinese. Writing, speaking, audio and visual aids are used in the classes.
With the increasing number of Nepali people learning Chinese, it is playing an important role in developing a good relationship between the two countries.
The Confucius institute celebrated its first anniversary on 13th June.--The Red Star, Kathmnandu, June 16-30, 2008)
Another report from the Red Star is reproduced in BHASKAR Blog
In the past, some public and private institutions used to run limited Chinese language classes. But with the increasing interest of many Nepalese in learning Chinese, some institutions have begun teaching Chinese. The Confucius Institute, affiliated to Kathmandu University, has been teaching Chinese for about a year to many different levels.
The institute runs basic, intermediate, Diploma and Degree levels. The institute teaches Chinese through English, so Nepali students can sharpen their English while learning Chinese. Writing, speaking, audio and visual aids are used in the classes.
With the increasing number of Nepali people learning Chinese, it is playing an important role in developing a good relationship between the two countries.
The Confucius institute celebrated its first anniversary on 13th June.--The Red Star, Kathmnandu, June 16-30, 2008)
Another report from the Red Star is reproduced in BHASKAR Blog
Friday, May 2, 2008
A "Vimochana Samaram" in Nepal?
On May 1, Labour Day, a Maoist group in Chicago handed out at a rally by immigrants a flyer in English and Spanish, which hailed the electoral victory of Nepal’s Maoists and voiced fears of the US, the Indian and Nepalese armies and the parties lost the elections attempting to upset the people’s mandate.
The Maoist statement brings back memories of the so-called "Vimochana Samaram" (Liberation Movement) which brought down Kerala’s first elected government 50 years ago.
The following is the text of the statement:
On May First, International Workers Day:
Revolution is Happening in Nepal!
The world's first communist revolution in decades is on the horizon. Look to Nepal in the foothills of the world's highest mountains, the Himalayas. It is one of the very poorest countries in the world.
But the people of Nepal are leaping forward in their millions -- daring to make a revolution – to challenge the old ways, to overthrow their king and all the old
parties. To remake all of society!
Fighters led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), waging guerrilla war for ten years, liberated over 80 percent of the countryside. To win over the urban people of Nepal, they took part in elections for a "Constituent Assembly" – a historic gathering expected to throw off the hated king and create a new political order.
Already there are rumblings that the U.S., the Indian and Royal Nepalese Army and the old political parties will try to prevent this change. A sharp test of strength --a seizure of power -- may lie just ahead.
The people have said "ENOUGH!" to:
--The bitter poverty of scratching crops from hillsides without sanitation, electricity, communications or even roads – controlled by a feudal state and landlords.
--The vicious power of the capitalist world market that drives so many Nepalese farmers to leave families and homes – to travel to India seeking work.
--The subjugation of women, the arranged marriages and thousands of girls forced into sexual slavery in urban brothels.
--The domination of foreign powers that keep Nepal dependent, poor, and under constant military threat.
Billions of people around the earth suffer all this too! Hundreds of millions drawn across borders trying to find a way to live – a way out of the poverty of farm labor and deep debt. All over the world countries suffer the domination of imperialism – especially US imperialism and the demands of its power.
How many of us, marching today in the streets on May First, know exactly what the people of Nepal are suffering?
Do we share their dreams of revolution and a new world?
Is revolution really impossible? Is capitalism permanent? In this distant corner of the world, our brothers and sisters raise the red flag. This is hidden from us.
The world must know of this Maoist revolution.
The people can make revolution and fight to create a new world!
Stop U.S. moves against the revolution in Nepal!
Learn about Nepal's revolution:
southasiarev.wordpress.com
Contact Kasama, a new communist project:
kasamasite@yahoo.com
The Maoist statement brings back memories of the so-called "Vimochana Samaram" (Liberation Movement) which brought down Kerala’s first elected government 50 years ago.
The following is the text of the statement:
On May First, International Workers Day:
Revolution is Happening in Nepal!
The world's first communist revolution in decades is on the horizon. Look to Nepal in the foothills of the world's highest mountains, the Himalayas. It is one of the very poorest countries in the world.
But the people of Nepal are leaping forward in their millions -- daring to make a revolution – to challenge the old ways, to overthrow their king and all the old
parties. To remake all of society!
Fighters led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), waging guerrilla war for ten years, liberated over 80 percent of the countryside. To win over the urban people of Nepal, they took part in elections for a "Constituent Assembly" – a historic gathering expected to throw off the hated king and create a new political order.
Already there are rumblings that the U.S., the Indian and Royal Nepalese Army and the old political parties will try to prevent this change. A sharp test of strength --a seizure of power -- may lie just ahead.
The people have said "ENOUGH!" to:
--The bitter poverty of scratching crops from hillsides without sanitation, electricity, communications or even roads – controlled by a feudal state and landlords.
--The vicious power of the capitalist world market that drives so many Nepalese farmers to leave families and homes – to travel to India seeking work.
--The subjugation of women, the arranged marriages and thousands of girls forced into sexual slavery in urban brothels.
--The domination of foreign powers that keep Nepal dependent, poor, and under constant military threat.
Billions of people around the earth suffer all this too! Hundreds of millions drawn across borders trying to find a way to live – a way out of the poverty of farm labor and deep debt. All over the world countries suffer the domination of imperialism – especially US imperialism and the demands of its power.
How many of us, marching today in the streets on May First, know exactly what the people of Nepal are suffering?
Do we share their dreams of revolution and a new world?
Is revolution really impossible? Is capitalism permanent? In this distant corner of the world, our brothers and sisters raise the red flag. This is hidden from us.
The world must know of this Maoist revolution.
The people can make revolution and fight to create a new world!
Stop U.S. moves against the revolution in Nepal!
Learn about Nepal's revolution:
southasiarev.wordpress.com
Contact Kasama, a new communist project:
kasamasite@yahoo.com
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A peal of spring thunder over the Himalayas
It was 41 years ago that China, hearing a peal of thunder from Naxalbari, proclaimed the arrival of spring in India. That sound quickly subsided. The hopes that it raised dimmed. Now the sound of thunder is being heard even louder from atop the Himalayas. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is getting ready to assume office and write a new Constitution for the country. But China is not showing the kind of enthusiasm that Naxalbari had aroused. China has changed.
What has happened in Nepal is an event that is far greater than the one India witnessed in 1957. When the undivided Communist Party of India came to power in Kerala through the ballot, there was change of government in a state that which did not enjoy sovereignty. There was above it a regime that could control it. When CPN (M) comes to power, a sovereign state is coming under Communist rule through the ballot. More precisely, under rather tougher Maoist rule. Yet, so far, it has not aroused in imperialist quarters the kind of reaction that Communist rule in Kerala evoked. The world, too, has changed.
Nepal is almost four times the size of Kerala. But its population is only 25 million. The CPN (M) is a party that waged an armed struggle for 10 years. About 13,000 people were killed in that war. After that the party decided to experiment with carrying forward the revolution through peaceful means. It was the mass agitation that it conducted demanding abolition of monarchy that led to the election of a Constituent Assembly. Under Maoist pressure the administration brought about several changes even before a new constitution was drawn up. For instance, the world’s only Hindu kingdom became a secular state.
There were beneficial interventions from abroad to resolve the crisis in Nepal precipitated by the mass agitation. From India, the government and the CPI (Marxist) played a part in the process. Former US President Jimmy Carter was among the foreign observers who arrived to ensure that the Constituent Assembly elections were free and fair.
A total of 240 members were elected to the Constituent Assembly from territorial constituencies. Just over half of them are Maoists. But they will not be in a majority in the house. This is because 335 more members are to be elected on the basis of party lists. Each party will be allotted seats in proportion to the votes polled by it. The NPN (M) polled about 30% of the votes. So it will only get as many seats. In the circumstances, even though the other major parties are way behind it, the party can only create a set-up that is acceptable to them too.
CPN (M) leader Prachanda has stated that there will be coalition government and that he will head it. Even Nepalese know very little about this 54-year-old, who was underground for long. Prachanda is the nom de guerre taken by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who began life as a teacher, when he went underground. In a BBC interview, he revealed that his wife too was an office-bearer of the party and that they have three children.
According to those who have known him, he is really not a fierce character, as suggested by the assumed name, but is a mild-manner person, as suggested by his real name. (Prachanda means fierce one, Pushpa means flower and Kamal means lotus). But he has no hesitation to take tough action as party leader. A few years ago, he had expelled Baburam Bhattarai, who is No. 2 in the party, and his wife from the party for saying he was ‘power-hungry’. A few months later he took them back.
Prachanda is coming to power at a time when the Congress, which heads the Central government, and the Bharatiya Janata Party and the CPI (M), which head some State governments, are showing up India’s Maoist parties as a major threat. Like Maoists all over the world, the CPN (M) draws inspiration from Mao Thought. Although during the ‘people’s war’ against the royal administration, Prachanda often spent time in India, it was to China that he looked for help. The CPN (M) had formed a coordination committee with 10 other Maoist parties of South Asia. Of these, five were in India. As a result of the merger of some groups, the Indian membership of the coordination committee has now come down. According to a document prepared by the committee, the common enemy of the people of the region is “Indian expansionism, backed by world imperialism, particularly US imperialism”. These are words copied from old Chinese literature.
Like the Communist Party of China, the CPN (M) too has changed in the recent past. Now the ideological base of the CPC is not ‘Marxism-Leninism, Mai Thought’ but ‘Marxism-Leninism, Mao Thought, Deng Theory’. The Nepal party has defined its ideology as “Marxism-Leninism, Mao Thought, Prachanda Path’. The content of Prachanda Path is not clear. An anti-communist commentator wrote mockingly: “Mao Theory plus Swiss Model equals Prachanda Path.” Prachanda, who visited Switzerland last year, sees it as a model for Nepal. Like Nepal, Switzerland is land-locked and inhabited by different peoples. Although it follows the capitalist system, Prachanda and his colleagues had decided even during the revolutionary phase that Nepal could adopt its federal structure.
Prachanda realizes that although the CPN (M) has the people’s mandate, it cannot fulfil its mission without the cooperation of other parties. Even as the results of the elections started coming in, he made it clear that he would continue to work together with the other parties and the international community. His declaration that all previous agreements would be respected is indicative of his desire to go forward without rocking the boat. The attempt to harmonize Communist ideas and democratic ways through the Prachanda Path desires to be watched with interest.
Based on column "Nerkkazhcha" appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated April 24, 2008
What has happened in Nepal is an event that is far greater than the one India witnessed in 1957. When the undivided Communist Party of India came to power in Kerala through the ballot, there was change of government in a state that which did not enjoy sovereignty. There was above it a regime that could control it. When CPN (M) comes to power, a sovereign state is coming under Communist rule through the ballot. More precisely, under rather tougher Maoist rule. Yet, so far, it has not aroused in imperialist quarters the kind of reaction that Communist rule in Kerala evoked. The world, too, has changed.
Nepal is almost four times the size of Kerala. But its population is only 25 million. The CPN (M) is a party that waged an armed struggle for 10 years. About 13,000 people were killed in that war. After that the party decided to experiment with carrying forward the revolution through peaceful means. It was the mass agitation that it conducted demanding abolition of monarchy that led to the election of a Constituent Assembly. Under Maoist pressure the administration brought about several changes even before a new constitution was drawn up. For instance, the world’s only Hindu kingdom became a secular state.
There were beneficial interventions from abroad to resolve the crisis in Nepal precipitated by the mass agitation. From India, the government and the CPI (Marxist) played a part in the process. Former US President Jimmy Carter was among the foreign observers who arrived to ensure that the Constituent Assembly elections were free and fair.
A total of 240 members were elected to the Constituent Assembly from territorial constituencies. Just over half of them are Maoists. But they will not be in a majority in the house. This is because 335 more members are to be elected on the basis of party lists. Each party will be allotted seats in proportion to the votes polled by it. The NPN (M) polled about 30% of the votes. So it will only get as many seats. In the circumstances, even though the other major parties are way behind it, the party can only create a set-up that is acceptable to them too.
CPN (M) leader Prachanda has stated that there will be coalition government and that he will head it. Even Nepalese know very little about this 54-year-old, who was underground for long. Prachanda is the nom de guerre taken by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who began life as a teacher, when he went underground. In a BBC interview, he revealed that his wife too was an office-bearer of the party and that they have three children.
According to those who have known him, he is really not a fierce character, as suggested by the assumed name, but is a mild-manner person, as suggested by his real name. (Prachanda means fierce one, Pushpa means flower and Kamal means lotus). But he has no hesitation to take tough action as party leader. A few years ago, he had expelled Baburam Bhattarai, who is No. 2 in the party, and his wife from the party for saying he was ‘power-hungry’. A few months later he took them back.
Prachanda is coming to power at a time when the Congress, which heads the Central government, and the Bharatiya Janata Party and the CPI (M), which head some State governments, are showing up India’s Maoist parties as a major threat. Like Maoists all over the world, the CPN (M) draws inspiration from Mao Thought. Although during the ‘people’s war’ against the royal administration, Prachanda often spent time in India, it was to China that he looked for help. The CPN (M) had formed a coordination committee with 10 other Maoist parties of South Asia. Of these, five were in India. As a result of the merger of some groups, the Indian membership of the coordination committee has now come down. According to a document prepared by the committee, the common enemy of the people of the region is “Indian expansionism, backed by world imperialism, particularly US imperialism”. These are words copied from old Chinese literature.
Like the Communist Party of China, the CPN (M) too has changed in the recent past. Now the ideological base of the CPC is not ‘Marxism-Leninism, Mai Thought’ but ‘Marxism-Leninism, Mao Thought, Deng Theory’. The Nepal party has defined its ideology as “Marxism-Leninism, Mao Thought, Prachanda Path’. The content of Prachanda Path is not clear. An anti-communist commentator wrote mockingly: “Mao Theory plus Swiss Model equals Prachanda Path.” Prachanda, who visited Switzerland last year, sees it as a model for Nepal. Like Nepal, Switzerland is land-locked and inhabited by different peoples. Although it follows the capitalist system, Prachanda and his colleagues had decided even during the revolutionary phase that Nepal could adopt its federal structure.
Prachanda realizes that although the CPN (M) has the people’s mandate, it cannot fulfil its mission without the cooperation of other parties. Even as the results of the elections started coming in, he made it clear that he would continue to work together with the other parties and the international community. His declaration that all previous agreements would be respected is indicative of his desire to go forward without rocking the boat. The attempt to harmonize Communist ideas and democratic ways through the Prachanda Path desires to be watched with interest.
Based on column "Nerkkazhcha" appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated April 24, 2008
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